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Marketing News Roundup: January 12, 2023

Today we feature a round-up of some big events and recent industry happenings.

New IKEA campaign shows we can make any home happier
Daughter Creative is Transforming Calgary into Canada’s Newest Creative Hub
Aveeno® Canada Launches New Information Resource to Expand Knowledge
PLAY launches in Canada offering low-cost tickets to Europe

Read more below!

New IKEA campaign shows we can make any home happier

“The Troll” is a two-minute film about a lonely troll and the boy who helps to brighten his life (with an assist from IKEA, of course). This is the next iteration of the IKEA Bring Home to Life platform, which launched in 2022, and focuses on unlocking our emotional connections to home and the life we live there.

In the film—shot in Slovenia, both on location at a bridge and in-studio too—we meet a grumbling troll who works as a toll booth collector and lives under a dark, damp bridge. When a young boy takes an interest in the troll and offers an IKEA lamp to brighten up his living space, things begin to change. Together, they transform the space into a bright and cozy home. In the end, it’s more than the Troll’s physical surroundings that have improved, as we see him go from a sad lonely troll to a happy one. And as the boy and the troll enjoy the comfortable space, the long-tormented villagers above are finally free to cross the troll’s bridge.

“We know through our annual Life at Home research that there’s a direct relationship between how our homes feel and how we feel,” said Johanna Andren, Head of Marketing at IKEA Canada. “With this campaign, we wanted to demonstrate how IKEA can influence that relationship between our home and wellbeing.”

“The story of the troll, while fantastical, is also grounded in a human truth that we can all relate to. Through the relationship between the caring boy and the grumpy troll, we see that with a little meaningful attention, we can transform our space, and our lives,” continued Andren.

The film was directed by Nick Ball, and the troll was created by Czech puppet maker Martin Pec and brought to life using both animatronic and post elements.

“Nick is such a talented world-builder,” said Robbie Percy, Partner and Creative Director at Rethink. “From the toll booth to the design of the troll to creating his little home under the bridge, every detail was crafted and considered to create a stunning world and story that was both believable and beautiful.”

The campaign will be running in Canada and Australia, January to April 2023. In addition to the film, the campaign also includes OOH, in-store and social and digital elements.

Daughter Creative is Transforming Calgary into Canada’s Newest Creative Hub

Daughter Creative, a Calgary-based, women-led advertising agency, recently won Bronze for Strategy Online’s Small Agency of The Year and Design Agency of The Year Awards.

Daughter Creative established itself in the Calgary market as an agency to watch by mastering the craft of branding and packaging while simultaneously honing their skills to break into new markets, including advertising and exceptional client services. As a small and intimate team of 13, Daughter Creative understands their strengths and sets themselves apart from other agencies by leading with empathy and creating an emotional bond between brands and their audiences.

AVEENO® CANADA LAUNCHES NEW INFORMATION RESOURCE TO EXPAND KNOWLEDGE

Aveeno® is committed to building awareness with Canadians and helping to close the education gap on how eczema presents across diverse skin tones. Launched in 2021, Aveeno®’s #SkinVisibility campaign aims to address the underdiagnosis, care and treatment of eczema on diverse skin through providing resources, tools, and representation. As part of this campaign, Aveeno® has collaborated with industry experts and healthcare professionals to advance skin health equity and continue elevating important conversations about skin health, inclusive of skin of colour.

As part of this ongoing effort to help sufferer's recognize key symptoms and find solutions, Aveeno® Canada is proud to release the #SkinVisibility table book.

Medical textbook images of eczema have historically shown how it appears on light skin — red, scaly, and inflamed. However, eczema looks quite different on darker skin tones — appearing darker than the rest of the skin, including grey, purple, pink or red hues, and as a result, misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis can occur. The book will help:

Amplify and bring awareness of eczema on diverse skin to improve care and treatment
Offer a visual resource for those who may be struggling with eczema
Provide advice directly from dermatologists and patients on how to identify symptoms and get the correct diagnosis

“Eczema is a chronic inflammatory skin condition, characterized by intensely dry and itchy areas of the skin, and people of all skin colours, races and ethnicities can be affected by eczema, yet very few images in general medicine textbooks show the condition on darker skin,” said Dr. Sonya Abdulla. “This shortcoming has left doctors with difficulties in recognizing eczema on skin with darker pigment, leaving many without the proper resources and information needed for diagnoses. The #SkinVisibility book can help bridge the gap by providing people of colour with a visual reference to help them get the treatment needed.”

The curated table book includes educational context from dermatologists and individual experiences from Canadian people of colour diagnosed with eczema. A limited number of physical copies of the book will be distributed within Canada but will be available through the Eczema in Skin of Colour Hub on the Aveeno® Canada website.

To help sufferers recognize key symptoms and find solutions, the #SkinVisibility campaign has additional resources which includes:

For more information on Aveeno® and the #SkinVisibility campaign, please visit Aveeno.ca/skinofcolour.

PLAY LAUNCHES IN CANADA OFFERING LOW-COST TICKETS TO EUROPE

PLAY, a low-cost airline operating flights between Iceland and Europe, has announced service in Canada, with the first flights to Europe taking off in summer 2023. Travellers can book tickets from John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport to 26 European destinations including London, Paris, Berlin, Copenhagen, Dublin, Brussels, Stockholm, Gothenburg and more. Flight service from John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport will begin on June 22, 2023.

To celebrate its inaugural flights from Canada, PLAY is offering travellers tickets for as low as $169 to 13 destinations across Europe, including Berlin Brandenburg (BER), Brussels (BRU), Copenhagen (CPH), Dublin (DUB), Göteborg Landvetter (GOT), London Stansted (STN), Paris-Charles de Gaulle (CDG) and to Keflavik (KEF) for only $129. This deal is valid for the Canadian departing flight of a roundtrip booking for flights scheduled between August and October 2023. The $129 and 169 price is inclusive of all mandatory taxes, fees and carrier charges, and is available until Jan 31 at midnight Eastern Time. Restrictions and baggage fees apply, additional details of this promotion are available at flyplay.com/play-to-europe.

“Travellers around the world are hungry to venture to new destinations and recent data shows that 73 per cent of global travellers want vacations outside of their comfort zone,” said Birgir Jónsson, CEO, PLAY. “We’re proud to expand PLAY service to Canada with service in Hamilton, offering both Canadian and European travellers a new way to reach iconic destinations. With our reliable and affordable flights, travellers can enjoy their destination rather than overspending on the flight to get there.”

PLAY offers a streamlined, no-frills service without costly features such as magazines, Wi-Fi, and entertainment, allowing travellers to pay less and “play more.” Rather than spending on travel extras, PLAY passengers can instead allocate their budget to the meaningful experiences, dining, and excursions that make a trip memorable — or even add a stop to another destination along the way.

In 2022 PLAY flew 800,000 passengers across Europe and North America with an on-time arrival rate over 96 per cent. PLAY’s pay-for-what-you-need model keeps its fares affordable. A personal item is included for the flight, and passengers can choose which upgrades they need for their trip, such as an in-flight meal, carry-on, checked bag, special bags for items such as golf sets, skis, strollers, and musical instruments, seats with extra legroom, cancellation protection and more.

Compiled by Emma Whiten, Former Editor of Marketing News Canada