For Its Most Sustainable Store, Ikea Is Advertising Directions via Steps and Mass Transit

Mother's ads for the eco-forward location keep things simple

April 10, 2019

Luckily, delivery is available so 'you won’t have to haul your Billy Bookcase on the Jubilee Line.'

Mother London

April 10, 2019

In America, we’re pretty used to ads telling us how to find a chain’s nearest location, but the directions are usually based on interstate exits or measured in miles—and we expect to find sprawling tracts of available parking when we get there.

Ikea’s new ads for its Greenwich location in London offer a refreshing alternative: directions that encourage you to hoof it or hop on mass transit.

Promoting the location as Ikea’s most sustainable ever, the campaign from Mother London has speckled the area with out-of-home ads that provide directions in steps or by the most convenient mass transit option.

In a particularly good execution, side-by-side ads even give slightly different step counts:

Mother London

The recently opened Greenwich Ikea features a variety of eco-friendly features in its design and offerings. The building was made with sustainable materials, draws power from solar panels and collects rain to conserve water. There’s a rooftop garden available for nearby residents to use, and the store sells a range of sustainable furniture.

The store’s developers also worked with the local government to create a layout that’s conducive to foot traffic and mass transit rather than being designed primarily for cars.

There are 80 outdoor ad locations in the campaign, and the messages will stay up for six months—unusually long for London out-of-home—to help locals become familiar with the directions.

All that said, obviously furniture isn’t the easiest thing to take home on foot or train, so Ikea is offering 24-hour delivery and a bike courier service “so you won’t have to haul your Billy Bookcase on the Jubilee Line.”