New campaign makes those delicious IKEA meatballs a Pizza Hut Hong Kong topping

It is almost law that no visit to IKEA is ever truly complete without sampling a portion of its iconic Swedish meatballs; a deserved reward after navigating the maze. Realising the love people have for the foodstuff, Pizza Hut has collaborated with the flatpack furniture masters for a scrumptious campaign.

It seems like a wonder that it has taken this long for someone to snatch the potential of those tasty nibbles but Pizza Hut Hong Kong and IKEA have finally collaborated on a new recipe using the much-loved meatballs as a topping.

“This campaign shows the playful side of Pizza Hut, and that our credentials can move beyond the kitchen into new and interesting collaborations with other brands,” said Wendy Leung, marketing director for Pizza Hut Hong Kong. 

The campaign by Ogilvy Hong Kong kicked-off last week. Both brands teased the launch by swapping posts on social media. One included a photo of a Pizza Hut delivery driver asleep in an IKEA store, while another showed a eureka moment in a boardroom.

And the buzz is already proving a potential success. Within the first three days of it hitting stores, the Pizza Hut X IKEA Pizza has sold 67% more units than projected.

“We’ve been absolutely thrilled to see the launch the new Pizza Hut x IKEA pizza with a fun, cheeky campaign that has proven to be quite popular with the fans already on the first day! This is a great pizza, and this campaign really shows how collaborations can really benefit the fans - not just the brands,” commented John Koay, executive creative director at Ogilvy Hong Kong.

What makes this promotion just that little bit more special is that the collaboration has actually produced a special-edition pizza-themed piece of IKEA-style flatpack furniture. The SÄVA resembles those little stability tables one finds within a pizza box and not only can you get a full-sized one to take home, but it will come in packaging styled after (what else?) a pizza box.

There are some campaign partnerships that just click. Where the connection is just so simple its obvious but so brilliant that you want to high five the person who thought of it. This is one of those. Whether or not meatballs will have the same appeal for general diners as they do for exhausted shoppers (lugging round a blue bag full of floor mats and kitchen utensils they swear they never planned to get) remains to be seen. But in my opinion, you have to respect the sharp creative thinking on this one. This team can feel free to order themselves a massive slice of kudos.

Credits

Chief creative officer Asia - Reed Collins 

Executive creative director - John Koay 

Executive creative director - Matthew Nisbet

Creative director / head of art  - Michele Salat

Associate creative director - Ollie Davis

Associate creative director - Amy Cheng

Senior art director - Soenar Santoso

Photographer / senior art director - Lucy McNally

Executive group director - Iris Liu

Account director - Vincent Lam

Account manager - Rachel Tsui

Account executive - Clover Yuen

Content lead - Ray Lam

Content strategist - Jim Wong

Content specialist - Ricky Chung

Senior brand strategist - Kaycee Li

Head of production - Jacqueline Ho