The social truth is: IKEA fans invented the selfie. The internet is full of self-portraits taken by customers shopping at IKEA. Mirror selfies, happy shopping moments, eating hot dogs without using hands, romantic kisses with furniture or running through the bed section – naked. Yeah, we had them all.
For the 40th anniversary of IKEA Germany, we celebrated our fans and their social snapshot dedication. So we introduced the hashtag #IKEAselfie.
In four stages, the hashtag became a code word for our fans to meet and become a selfamily:
1. Make sure everybody knows about it
With Facebook info graphics and #IKEAselfie brochures handed-out at the store, we illustrated how to take the perfect #IKEAselfie – using the iconic figure of the assembly instructions.
2. Let the boss be part of it
The CEO of IKEA Germany, Peter Betzel himself, took the first official #IKEAselfie and posted it on Facebook.
3. Reward the crowd
The most charming #IKEAselfie is rewarded with a trip to #IKEAland: Stockholm. The selfie-takers felt so inspired, they decieded to real-time document and #IKEAselfie their trip on social media. Shopping at IKEA Barkarby included.
4. Give inspiration
To motivate late movers, we publish the best and funniest #IKEAselfies on Facebook and keep curating new fan images that are published every day. Ongoing. #IKEAselfie forever.
On Facebook, the contest generated more than 4.000 applicants – a social reach of approx. one million people.
So the hashtag did what every hashtag is really supposed to do: address a topic that explains itself naturally and inspire people to act and interact with it.
IKEA is the first brand name in Germany that, instead of creating a cryptic tag and trying explain it artificially, became a successful hashtag itself.
