Ikea urges adults to play to boost wellbeing in new push

Ikea is launching an integrated campaign designed to highlight the positive impact play has on the wellbeing of adults – not just kids – encouraging creativity and boosting mood.

The flatpack retailer reckons it is often forgotten that adults can, and need, play too. With no age limitations, it can provide a break from the mundane reality of everyday life, helping to turn stress into serenity and helping the mind unwind.

Launching across the UK and Ireland this week, the campaign – devised by agency Mother – will be led by a new ad which will appear on TV and in cinemas, as well as featuring on radio, a selection of podcasts and digital media. This will be supported by instore activities across the UK.

The spot opens on a family in their kitchen. While a young girl draws, her mum (Jasmine) is busily working from home on a grey and rainy day. Surrounded by half drunk coffees, reminders, and an overwhelming amount of phone messages, she shows visible signs of stress when her boss begins video calling.

Irritated by her boyfriend who has turned their Ikea Ronninge dining table into a ping pong court and has hit her with a ball, she decides to take a break and join in the game. The more she embraces play, the more she becomes carefree and relaxed. With each hit of the ball, the table grows longer and longer, pushing her further away from the kitchen and her opponent until she is unable to see them.

Jasmine closes her eyes and gravitates in the air in a meditative state, opening them to reveal a tunnel of Ikea Plufsig mats stretched out in front of her. She runs, twirling and jumping, while flashes of colour and light from the Ledberg lights illuminate the mats.

A robot hoover interrupts her flow, which she leaps over and into her daughter’s drawings on the floor. After free falling onto a hopscotch square, she begins completing the game with her family, hopping higher and faster as they reach each new square. She jumps off the final one and lands…on her Hemmahos hopscotch mat in her living room, looking brighter, lighter, refreshed.

The ad then cuts to the daughter, Dad and Jasmine on the sofa, with the living room now looking much more playful with the lights and mat in scene. Jaz closes her laptop and they settle down to watch a movie projected on a hung sheet together, as all three cosy up to watch.

The voiceover proclaims: “Let Play Unwind Your Mind. Ikea. The Wonderful Everyday.”

The integrated campaign will be supported with paid social content across Instagram and Facebook. Creatives will portray stressful situations and tips for how to turn stress into serenity.

Instore activities will further support the campaign launch with bookable events across the UK. Various elements of play will feature throughout stores to enhance the customer journey, while Ikea Family members will have access to dedicated activities and offers.

Ikea marketing communications manager Kemi Anthony said: “We understand the importance of play on our wellbeing. It’s not just for kids, but adults too. All too often, life can get on top us and we forget that making time for fun can help.

“When we think about unwinding or mindfulness, our thoughts usually turn to activities like yoga or meditation. But research shows that the more surprising and arguably, more effective way to achieve these things, could be through play. The host of benefits range from stress relief, to improved relationships and increased creativity.

“It’s why we believe, the more you play the better you feel and this is at the core of our new campaign, ‘Let Play Unwind Your Mind’. We want to encourage as many people as possible to discover the benefits of play and see for themselves how it can help to improve everyday life at home.”