Furniture shopping is one of those things where visuals matter… a lot. If you want to know which couch will work well in your living room, or which bed frame will fit in your bedroom, the best way to visualize it is through OOH advertising. People like to be able to imagine a room with furniture in it, and for some people this is extremely hard to do without help. Visual demonstrations, such as a billboard, or a truck-side ad, or even an actual make-shift rendition – are the most effective way to demonstrate to consumers what their own houses could look like. That’s why IKEA, the Swedish ready-to-assemble furniture store, is so beloved. They create replicas of rooms that they then decorate with their furniture, allowing consumers to envision what their own rooms could look like. They also spend a significant amount of their time coming up with extremely creative OOH ad campaigns that provide consumers with that same kind of impactful visual rendering. In this article we’ll take a look at some of the many reasons why furniture companies should be using OOH advertising to promote their products and some insanely creative examples of OOH campaigns done right.
Why OOH
Don’t get me wrong, online shopping for furniture can be extremely fun. However, online images never really give you the full scope of what you’re buying – especially when it comes to large products like furniture. OOH advertising on the other hand, definitely does. Big, bold, and sometimes even 3D advertising, are the perfect visuals for displaying furniture. Not only does it give the viewer a better understanding of the dimensions of a piece of furniture, but also how it will actually look in your home.
OOH advertising is also great for spreading the word about furniture sales. End of year sales or season-ending sales are huge for furniture companies looking to get rid of older products before bringing in new ones. The most effective, cost-efficient, and exciting way to do this is through OOH advertising. Billboards, posters, and truck-side ads are all great ways to get the word out in the most extensive way possible.
More specifically, truck-side advertising is the most beneficial way to advertise a furniture company – especially in this climate. The pandemic has pushed people indoors, which means there is a lot less in-store purchasing. Because more people are having their purchases delivered to their homes, there’s no better way to advertise your brand than on a delivery or service truck. Furniture has always been delivered by trucks, so it would be most beneficial to utilize not only the inside, but also the outside of the truck by displaying an ad there. When dropping off a mattress for example, the purchaser and their neighbors might be looking out their windows and doors or walking by the truck and see the truck-side ad. Now more than ever, the best way to gain exposure for your ad is through truck-side advertising.
IKEA’s use of OOH
Let’s take a look at some brilliant examples of OOH ad campaigns done by one of the biggest and most popular furniture companies in the world, IKEA.
Back in 2014, IKEA unveiled one of their most creative OOH ads to date, a rock-climbing wall styled as an apartment to celebrate the opening of the 30th store in France. Standing 9 meters high and 10 meters wide, passersby are actually invited to climb the wall and relax on the sofa, sit at the dining room table, and touch the accessories. To date, this is one of IKEA’s most engaging and innovative OOH ads and it definitely helped to instill excitement about IKEA in the eyes of consumers, as well as promote their products.
In 2018, IKEA created what they called, “The Wonderful Everyday” campaign. The iconic furniture company created bus stop panels across Exeter, Ontario that would give passersby a glimpse into the world they could have if they were surrounded by IKEA furniture. IKEA used minimalist furniture that was placed at every bus stop and then decorated the bus stops with IKEA advertising – including a DOOH ad that would display various furniture items. By sitting inside one of the bus stops, the visitor would be treated to a beautiful experience that livened up their surroundings and introduced the new Exeter store opening date.
More recently, IKEA teamed up with the Russian DOOH company called Russ Outdoor, in order to launch a pilot project to analyze who and how consumers are impacted by IKEA’s ads. Russ Outdoor used Wi-Fi sensors and photo systems on one of IKEA’s billboard advertisements to analyze who saw the ad. According to the findings, “IKEA saw up to 124% more new customers among those who had been exposed to digital OOH”. Thus, it comes as no surprise that in terms of its effectiveness, OOH advertising shows exceptional results.
That same summer, IKEA worked alongside Ubi Bene, a French advertising agency, to create a campaign that would encourage Parisians to take more eco-friendly cars. A bunch of Autolib’s, electric environmentally friendly cars, were driven around Paris with cardboard boxes from IKEA stacked on top of them to showcase their ability to carry heavy loads despite their small size. The cars were meant to look as though the drivers were on their way home from a trip to IKEA. This was another successful OOH campaign that made all passersby stop and stare.
Just last year, IKEA partnered with Mother, an advertising agency in London, England, to promote environmentally friendly shopping and sustainable consumer behaviour. IKEA repurposed their already existing billboard ads all over the city of Greenwich that encouraged people to travel to IKEA using public transit rather than private cars. The billboards included charging stations for electric vehicles and covered cycle bays at specific advertising locations. However, IKEA suggested that the best way to reduce customers’ carbon footprints is by travelling on foot. Each billboard directed consumers to their nearest IKEA by displaying the number of steps that are required to get there combined with specific directions. Overall, this campaign was a huge success for IKEA because it allowed them to demonstrate to their customers their corporate responsibility in upholding eco-friendly habits, while at the same time, promoting the company as a whole.
Now let’s take a look at some other furniture companies that have taken advantage of the OOH advertising arena.
Movia and Casper
In 2019, Movia Media teamed up with Cossette Media to create a truck-side ad campaign for Casper, a mattress company that sells sleep products. Casper was opening up two new locations in Calgary and Vancouver and wanted to promote their inception as well as the company itself. Casper decided to team up with Movia in order to reach consumers wherever they go – on the road, on the streets, and in their homes. Movia sent out 10 trucks wrapped with Casper advertising on the side, and in 24 short weeks, Casper earned 104 million impressions, which became their most successful launch to date.
B&Q digital OOH campaign
Back in 2017, B&Q, a multinational DIY and home improvement retailing company, ran a dynamic OOH campaign using DOOH technology. B&Q, with the help of Infectious Media, placed digital OOH ads across the UK that were timed so that they would be displayed depending on the weather. B&Q’s research suggested that in the summer and winter, unexpected weather conditions such as strong winds, snow, and extreme cold have a real impact on consumers’ purchasing decisions. The ads displayed real-time weather predictions that also accounted for past and current weather reports. The ads would then display furniture and appliances that are most beneficial to purchase during those specific weather conditions. The campaign was well-received upon its execution and is still being used by B&Q today.
Rana Furniture truck-side campaign
Just last year, Rana Furniture store in Florida, created a mobile billboard campaign that ran for four straight weeks during the holiday season. The truck-side ad travelled along a custom route that included the Rana Furniture, encouraging all shoppers in the vicinity to shop there, and passed competitor furniture stores to drive potential customers towards their store instead. The campaign took place during Black Friday and holiday sales, which increased brand awareness and drove sales. Overall, the campaign was a huge success in boosting foot traffic and awareness towards the store.
Conclusion
The most effective way to advertise a furniture company is through OOH. A lot of the time, furniture shopping can be extremely tricky, not to mention stressful, and consumers often need all the help they can get when making large purchasing decisions, such as buying a bed. By using OOH advertising correctly and in a creative way, the stress and difficulty of deciding which furniture to buy becomes simplified. Just take IKEA (one of the world’s most popular and profitable furniture companies) as one of the best examples of a furniture company that trusts OOH advertising time and time again. They use it because it can connect and engage with consumers in the most effective way possible. Demonstrating exactly how a room can look with your furniture in it is exactly what consumers want to see. You can’t go wrong with investing in OOH advertising for your furniture company, so don’t wait!
