Photo: OLIVIER MORIN/AFP/Getty Images
Ikea has selected McCann Erickson in New York as its global agency of record for the Swedish retailer’s catalog, which is mailed to 210 million homes around the world.
The assignment has been handled by ICOM, Ikea’s in-house agency in Älmhult, Sweden.
Ikea, named advertiser of the year at Cannes in June, awarded the business after a review. The company did not identify participating agencies, but Swedish creative exec Linus Karlsson, the new chairman, chief creative officer of McCann N.Y. and London, was a draw to the retailer.
“We choose partners we trust and who understand our brand and where we want to go,” Lena Simonsson Berge, Ikea’s head of global communications, said in a statement. “We found that in Linus and his team at McCann.”
The Interpublic agency will work closely with ICOM on recreating the catalog and incorporating new technology into it. McCann will also develop a global integrated campaign to support the catalog’s relaunch, and the agency is looking at the use of new technologies and experiences in Ikea’s store environments.
The catalog business at McCann does not impact work that continues to be handled by U.S. creative agency of record Ogilvy & Mather or that handled by regional agencies.
