IKEA Australia celebrates 50th birthday with mateship and flatpack FLIP FLÖPS in new campaign via Havas Host and Mango Comms / DDB Sydney

2025 marks 50 years of IKEA bringing Swedish design and high-quality, affordable home solutions to Australians, following the opening of its first store in St Leonards, Sydney, in 1975. To celebrate this milestone, IKEA Australia has launched a new brand campaign ‘Just the Start’ via Havas Host and the world’s first-ever flat-packed FLIP FLÖPS via Mango Communications/DDB Sydney.

The 360-degree campaign reflects on the brand’s impact on Australian homes over the past five decades, while signalling that it’s only just getting started, with even more to come over the next 50 years.

IKEA Australia’s locally produced TVC taps into a very Australian insight: we don’t do life’s pivotal moments alone. Whether it’s moving out, moving in, upsizing, downsizing, setting up the nursery, we call on our mates – especially the ones with a ute – to help us shift the sofa, reassemble the bed frame and hold the other end of the flatpack. The creative is an ode to that beautiful chaos, where friendship turns stress into stories. IKEA is proud to show up for Aussies at these moments, too.

The ‘Just the Start’ creative will activate across FTA TV, BVOD, SVOD, YouTube, cinema, paid social and outdoor.

Says Kirsten Hasler, Head of Marketing and Insights, IKEA Australia: “We had a rare opportunity to create a distinct local campaign which blended global brand consistency with local authenticity. Across the campaign there is a clear sense of Australianness achieved by celebrating people, places and scenarios that Aussies can relate to. We placed iconic Australian cues throughout with the likes of cars, flies, art deco housing, streetscapes and busted thongs that make the campaign unmistakeably us. We surrounded the Australianness with our iconic global IKEA brand cues to make it equally unmistakeably IKEA.”

Says Olly Taylor, Chief Strategy Officer, Havas Host: “Just the Start doesn’t just celebrate the role IKEA plays in our lives – it shines a light on the quintessential Aussie value of mates helping each other out. At a time when we’re craving connection more than ever, this campaign is an ode to those who show up, pitch in, and carry the heavy end of the load.”

Kirsty Hunter, Mindshare Client Partner, said the campaign reflected IKEA’s work to build a strong and long-lasting connection with Australian consumers: “We were incredibly excited to collaborate with IKEA on their 50th anniversary campaign, an amazing achievement that speaks to Australia’s now flat pack-loving culture. We’re proud to help IKEA celebrate its role in Australian homes and look forward to being part of what they have in store for the next 50.”

Leaning heavily into IKEA brand heroes, with some Aussie twists, is a constant throughout the campaign when it comes to earned media and communicating to its 4000 strongest advocates via co-worker communications.

The canvas of the famous ‘big blue box’ IKEA stores across the country are being utilised to drive visitation during IKEA Australia’s birthday weekend, Saturday 31 May – Sunday 1 June. The beloved Swedish hot dogs drop to just 50 cents during the weekend, and IKEA is offering an unprecedented 50% off one of its most famous products owned by 1 in 10 Aussies: the POÄNG armchair.

Already sparking a media and social media frenzy, on 13 May IKEA Australia, in collaboration with Mango Communications and DDB Sydney, released the world’s first-ever flat-packed FLIP FLÖPS, which yes, must be assembled yourself, as a hyper limited-edition item for customers to win. Each of IKEA Australia’s co-workers were the first in the country to receive a pair.

Says Patricia Routledge, Head of Communications, IKEA Australia: “We have been there for so many big moments in Australians’ lives, and we saw an opportunity to bring that magic to life in exciting ways for both IKEA co-workers and consumers.

“The simplicity of the flatpack FLIP FLÖPS – fusing a key brand cue with one of our national icons, is a really special way for us to unleash that trademark IKEA ‘twinkle in the eye’ as we call it, and say thanks to Australians for welcoming us into their homes for the last five decades.”

Says Tabitha Fairbairn, Managing Director, Mango Communications: “It’s rare to receive a brief that enables you to go full Aussie with a global icon.  We were tasked with bringing IKEA’s 50th to life in an earned-led way that would drive mass attention – and it was a joy for all of us.

“The idea: bringing together an iconic Aussie item with the IKEA ingenuity by creating flatpack FLIP FLÖPS. The detail and thought that went into every touch point – from the intrinsically funny copy and line drawings in the manual, the box and packaging design, the tongue-in-cheek ‘simple three-step assembly process’ – all of these bring the brand to life in a way that is naturally newsworthy. I’ll never say driving the earned strategy was easy, but there are certainly harder jobs out there.”

The ‘Just the Start’ campaign honours this milestone and reminds Australians that IKEA will continue to be there for every new chapter of their lives. For more campaign info, visit 50 years of IKEA in Australia – IKEA

Agency: Havas Host
Media agency: Mindshare Australia
TVC Production company: Rabbit
Director: Dylan River
Executive Producer: Marcus Butler
Sound design and music: Massive Music / Big Sync
Audio Branding: Resonance
Editor: Adam Wills
Online & Colour: Matt Fezz
Photographer: Alexander Parker / Photoplay

PR agency: Mango Communications and DDB Sydney
Tabitha Fairbairn, Managing Director, Mango
Renay Hung, Account Manager, Mango
Gunjan Kaur, Account Manager, Mango
Eliza Staples, Account Executive, Mango
Matt Chandler, Chief Creative Officer, DDB Sydney
Jenny Mak, Creative Partner, DDB Sydney
David Jackson, Creative Partner, DDB Sydney
AB Maclean, Strategy Director, DDB Sydney
Paul Jansen, Senior Designer, DDB Sydney
Andy Flemming, Senior Copywriter, DDB Sydney
Cushla Morton, Senior Producer, DDB Sydney

PR photography: Kim de Leon, Sunday Collective

IKEA:
Kirsten Hasler, Head of Marketing and Insights
Erin Falconer, Head of Marketing Communications
Peter Moore, Head of Integrated Media
Patricia Routledge, Head of Communications
Natalie Turner, Communications Manager
Emma Losco, PR Leader

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