IKEA spotlights mums in social campaign with a sense of humour

IKEA Hong Kong has launched a social media campaign for its range of bedroom storage products created around the theme of “Keep your room tidy, make your mum happy” (收納好睡房 阿媽唔再講).

Done in collaboration with local creative agency Narrow Door, the campaign was launched on 19 March and will run until the end of June on IKEA Hong Kong’s Facebook and Instagram. 

Through a series of social media posts, the campaign takes a humorous approach to depict family life, showcasing a fictional yet relatable Hong Kong family. The son in the family chronicles his mother’s daily crusade to keep her home in a state of show-flat-worthy tidiness, while his mother is portrayed as the resident nagger and the organiser-in-chief. 

Meanwhile, the mother's efforts are often frustrated by her husband, son and daughter, whose housekeeping standards are rather less exacting than her own. The result is a series of grumbling, bantering WhatsApp exchanges between the family members that paint a hilarious but endearing portrait of domestic relationships.

In the first post, the son reports an alarming discovery: his mother has compiled a “grievance photo album”, an expanding collection of snapshots that offers compelling evidence of her family’s talent for turning their home into a perpetual mess. This sets the stage for the introduction of popular IKEA bedroom storage ideas as effective counter-measures against mum’s sly tactics.

The plot thickens when it is announced that a comely, long-legged cousin will soon arrive for a short stay with the family – an event that fills the son with anticipation but creates further home storage complications. The family’s headache is then aggravated by the father, who, as it turns out, has been persuaded by oily-tongued store staff to buy a large collection of down jackets in an end-of-season sale. 

The family drama culminates in a social post by the mother herself, in which she shows off her new gel nails but unwittingly causes a sensation among her homemaking friends with the bedroom organising perfection that can be seen in the background, achieved with a little help from IKEA.

According to Narrow Door, the social posts that make up the campaign adopt an irreverent, tongue-in-cheek tone in a mischievous exposé of the little annoyances and frictions that are part of the fabric of family life. Together, these posts make for an innovative creative idea - a social media version of a family sitcom that is as funny as it is relatable to Hongkongers.

Simon Chan, integrated media manager, IKEA North Asia, said, “Few things are more coveted by Hong Kong families than storage space. The small living spaces, coupled with mum’s home-organising zeal, offer many opportunities for comedy, and for highlighting the efficacy of our storage solutions in a way that is exceptionally relevant to many people.”

Terry Tsang, director of Narrow Door, said: “The campaign is in fact a tribute to mum, the unsung heroine behind every well-kept home. It’s also the story of every Hong Kong family. We’re glad to have delivered the client’s brief in a way that has so many Hong Kong people nodding and saying, ‘That’s my mum, and my family!’”

Don't miss: HKTVmall and IKEA HK trendjack name of new Chinese boyband

Back in March, IKEA Hong Kong trendjacked the group name of the new Chinese boyband, “Loong 9”. The term “Loong” represents dragon “龍” in Chinese and symbolises the Year of the Dragon. Meanwhile, “9” signifies the nine members of the boyband and is pronounced in English.

In response, IKEA HK created a trendjacking post featuring a hot dog with a tongue-in-cheek caption calling it "Long yit 9" on its social media channels including Instagram and Facebook. 

Join us this coming 26 June for Content360 Hong Kong, a one-day-two-streams extravaganza under the theme of "Content that captivates". Get together with our fellow marketers to learn about AI in content creation, integration of content with commerce and cross-border targeting, and find the recipe for success within the content marketing world!

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