Pets doing naughty things is irresistible watching. INGO Hamburg has very cleverly turned this into an IKEA campaign for the United Arab Emirates. The ads in the campaign, Don’t Worry, You Can Afford It, show a range of IKEA products – planters, mugs, cushions, and vases – that have been destroyed by an adorable pet. You can guess the strategy from the campaign title. You can also see that the prices of the products are included in the ads. 

The strategy has also picked up a boom in pet ownership worldwide, with the UAE estimated to have around 1.5 million pet parents itself. For pet parents, both the damage and the cuteness of the pets are hugely relatable.  

Thirdly, the campaign defies the low-price campaign format. Gives it chic and positions Ikea where it wants to be – middle class plus value rather than cheap.

“For the past few years, we have noticed a growth of pets in households in the region, and we wanted to introduce this topic through this campaign for the first time,” stated Carla Klumpenaar, general manager of marketing, communication and interior design for IKEA in the UAE, Qatar, Egypt and Oman. “Over the next few days, we will also launch a collection of household products for pets.”

The campaign will run throughout the region across out-of-home, print, digital, and the brand’s own social channels.

“We are excited about this campaign, which, on one hand, brings the unskippable cuteness of pets, and on the other hand, challenges marketing conventions by showing the products damaged,” stated Tobias Ahrens, global chief creative officer at INGO. “An honest story that refreshes the usual IKEA price communication style.”