Creative Campaign Interview: The Sleepiest Print Ad Ever Made

Gary Rolf
Creative Group Head Memac Ogilvy, Dubai
 

 

Tell us about your role in the creation of this work.

My name is Gary Rolf, I’m Creative Group Head at Memac Ogilvy, Dubai. As the Art Director on this IKEA campaign I was responsible for idea generation, design and working closely with the production team to create the finished ad.

 

Give us an overview of the campaign, what is it about?

The IKEA SÖMNIG idea came as a result of the 2018 bedroom campaign. The overall campaign was all about encouraging the people of the UAE to upgrade their sleep. Scientists are proving more and more that sleep plays a hugely important role in our immediate wellbeing as well as long term health. Our job was to highlight the importance of sleep and point out that our bedroom range at IKEA can help improve the quality of your shut-eye.

 

Tell us about the creative brief, what did it ask?

In a nutshell, the brief was to encourage people to upgrade their sleep. A comfortable bed with the best supporting mattress results in happy sleep, which is essential for a great day ahead and overall wellbeing. With IKEA, the experts in sleep, you’re bound to have happy sleep due to the quality of their bedroom products.

 

Which insight led to the creation of this piece of work?

At the start of the campaign IKEA carried out some research into the sleep behaviour of those living in the UAE. They found that “about nine in ten people in the UAE are not getting the ideal eight hours of sleep a night”. They also found that “a third are seriously deprived, with 32.4% admitting their nightly shut-eye averages only six hours.” (Gulf News, Health 18/02/18) In terms of the creative process, we wanted to make something that genuinely helped people get the quality sleep they need through an ad. Our aim was to simulate what you can expect from the IKEA bedroom products - a great nights sleep.

 

IKEA designs products for real life so interestingly, the idea was actually inspired by a real life situation. My twin boys, Escher & Mylo were just 18 months old when the brief came in and as a family we struggled with sleep. After consulting the twin group we belong to, they suggested we use white noise to aid the boy’s sleep. I’d never heard of it before but it turns out it’s a sound frequency that helps induce deep sleep. We were also advised to use a lavender aroma in their bedroom because the scent is known to relax muscles and lower heart rate. Seeing as these two sleeping tips worked so well with the boy’s (and us as parents) I thought let’s use them so we made a flat pack sleeping aid in the form of a print ad.

 

Can you share with us alternative ideas (if any) for this campaign? Why was this idea chosen?

The IKEA SÖMNIG ad was one part of a larger campaign, which featured 3 short online films, outdoor ads as well as an activation called Nap Delivery. Nap Delivery came from the same insight and was designed to help people get some much needed sleep by sending them sleep wherever they may be. It was the perfect accompaniment to the sleepiest print ad ever made.

 

How did the client initially react to this idea?

I remember presenting the idea to the client and them being extremely impressed and excited. They were also slightly sceptical about how we would produce the ad so we had to work really hard as an agency to make it happen and convince the client that it was possible. In the end, they were very happy with the results and all the attention the ad has received globally.

 

Talk about the greatest challenge that you and your team faced during development.

The execution came with a number of challenges. Firstly, we wanted the SÖMNIG ad to be useful for a long period of time so the standard small battery that the micro speakers came with simply weren’t good enough. These had to be replaced with slightly larger, rechargeable batteries but we also wanted to keep the ad as thin as possible. At times we felt like we faced the same challenges as Tim Cook and Sir Jony Ive from Apple – We were constantly saying to the production team, “Make it thinner but increase the battery life.”

Another problem we faced was ensuring that the lavender scent lasted for more than just a few nights. The lavender infused ink was perfect for an initial burst of aroma but for a longer lasting fragrance we added a lavender port at the back of the ad, which has a slower scent release.

 

What did you enjoy most about seeing this campaign through? Did you learn anything new from the experience?

For me, the most enjoyable part of the campaign was crafting the ad. In terms of design, we went through many rounds, constantly finessing what we had. Then working with the production team to execute SÖMNIG in a flawless way. It became a labour of love for me and the team.

 

Where do you see this campaign going in the future?

The IKEA SÖMNIG print ad was well received and I believe we can take it much further. Currently I’m looking into developing the idea into a real product for IKEA to sell in stores around the world. Watch this space.