While other companies are building branded widgets or partnering with Facebook for campaigns, Swedish furniture retailer IKEA used one of the social network's most basic features to promote a new store.
IKEA's agency, Forsman and Bodenfors, created a Facebook profile for Gordon Gustavsson, the manager of IKEA's new branch in Malmo, Sweden. The agency uploaded several images from IKEA showrooms to Gustavsson's photo album, then told consumers that the first person to tag their name to a product got to take that item home, CNET reports.
Consumers promptly swooped in and were feverishly requesting more photos so they could snag more free furniture. In IKEA's view, it had "hijacked" one of Facebook's most popular features and discovered that consumers were more than happy to add themselves to a virtual furniture catalogue. As consumers tagged themselves, the IKEA images were seen by friends via profile pages and Facebook's news feed, spreading the word about the new store as the brand sat back and watched.
