IKEA Alsulaiman turns shopping backwards with Droga5 London’s ‘Reverse Shop’

IKEA Alsulaiman is flipping everything on its head with Reverse Shop, a launch campaign for the brand’s new Buyback Service in Saudi Arabia, created by Droga5 London.

The new service acts as a step forward in IKEA Alsulaiman’s circular efforts and sustainability commitment.

With the brand’s new Buyback Service, customers sell their used IKEA furniture and IKEA buys it back. It’s shopping, in reverse. To launch it, every element of the campaign flips iconic IKEA assets. The BILLY bookcase, the famous STRANDMON yellow wing chair and other pieces are shown from behind. From headlines to prices, everything is backwards.

It’s a campaign designed to make people look twice.

The idea kicked off with a social teaser featuring the ‘DOG HOT,’ a backwards take on the brand’s iconic hot dog, accompanied by the message ‘IKEA goes reverse on September 6.’ The DOG HOT was created for the campaign teaser stunt using real IKEA buns and sausages.

On launch day, IKEA officially rolled out its first backwards campaign. Digital ads present IKEA furniture, prices and headlines backwards, and films play in reverse, complete with backwards music. Users of the IKEA app received a surprising push notification: “?yub ew dna lles uoy fi tahW”. Email newsletters announced the campaign, written backwards, of course. A backwards IKEA Instagram account is posting reverse content. And influencer activations are challenging creators to try everyday activities backwards, demonstrating that while doing things in reverse can be difficult, reverse shopping at IKEA is easy.

The campaign marks Droga5 London’s first project for IKEA Alsulaiman and is running across social, digital, film, CRM, IKEA’s website and app, as well as in-store communication and other media.

Tara Ford, Chief Creative Officer at Droga5 London, said: “Iconic brand. Brilliant service. Bold and simple idea. It’s a killer combination for any campaign.”

Rami Rihani, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer at Alsulaiman Group, said: “The strongest ideas are often the simplest. IKEA’s Buyback Service reverses the traditional relationship between IKEA and our customers: they sell and we buy. We loved the idea of our ads doing the same. It’s an idea that rewards people when they see it, using the familiarity of IKEA in an unexpected way. It’s been a great first project with Droga5 London, bringing a new perspective that complements the work we’re already doing and finding new ways to connect with our customers.”

Juliana Paracencio, Executive Creative Director at Droga5 London, added: “The idea was almost annoyingly simple. IKEA’s Buyback Service is shopping in reverse. So we reversed IKEA. The logo, the furniture, the copy, even the hot dog. Once we landed the thought, the job was not getting in the way of it. The temptation is always to add more, but this idea was all about keeping things simple and pure.”

The Dog Hot teaser launched on September 3rd, followed by the full Reverse Shop campaign on September 6th in Saudi Arabia.

IKEA Alsulaiman is the official franchise holder for IKEA in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

Client: IKEA Alsulaiman (Part of Alsulaiman Group)
Group Chief Marketing & Communications Officer: Rami Rihani
Group Marketing Manager: Wid Sindi
Social Media Leader: Raneem Kayal
Social Media Marketing Specialist: Rafal Flimban
Marketing Specialist: Payaswini Prasad
Customer Engagement Specialist: Lian Bahaddad
Performance Marketing Leader: Haadi Farooqi

Agency: Droga5 London
Chief Creative Officer: Tara Ford
Executive Creative Director: Juliana Paracencio
Creative Director: Jackson Byrne
Creative Director: James Leake
Art Director: Amanda Weber
Copywriter: Katherine Roddam
Head of Production: Montgomery
Producer: Ed Webster
Project Manager: Nikki Ford
Creative Director of Design: Dan Roberts
Head of Design Studio: Tim Larke
Design Director: Ryan Belmont
Senior Designer: Joel Brunn
Motion Lead: Meric Pine
Motion Designer: Rob Wicksteed
Motion Designer: John Beechey
Head of Studio: Mike Almond
Lead Artworker: Paul Callaby
Retoucher: Ray X Lee
Retoucher: Luke Sneddon
Retoucher: Sam Coyle
Head of Strategy: Matthew Waksman
Strategy: Liv Francis-Cornibert

Production Company: Metcalfe Lancaster
Photographer: Tal Siverman
Food Stylist: Kostas Starvrinos
Producer: Julie Metcalfe
Food Styling Assistant: Graham Tait
Digi Tech: Dan Burwood

Audio Post Production Company: 750mph London
ADR Mixer: Tristan Rose