Ikea named Cannes Lions Advertiser of the Year 2011

Swedish home furnishing retail company Ikea has been named Advertiser of the Year 2011 for the 58th Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

The award recognises advertisers who have distinguished themselves for inspiring innovative marketing of their products, embracing and encouraging creative work produced by their agencies.

Ikea won its first Cannes Lion in 1991. Since then the Swedish retailer has brought home a total of 50 Lions, including the Film Grand Prix in 2003 for ‘Lamp’ and a Titanium Lion in 2010 for ‘Facebook showroom’.

According to a release, Ikea has encouraged creative, unconventional and humorous advertising to raise awareness of their brand and drive people to enter their stores. The brand has had the ability to localise its global target market and create advertising campaigns that vary significantly across territories, adapting to unique market conditions and cultural sensitivities in each country.

Global Retail Manager and Vice-President of Ikea Group Noel Wijsman, will pick up the trophy during the annual festival in Cannes on Saturday 25 June.

“Ikea’s approach to its marketing and communications, with its decentralised structure and strong relationships with many different kinds of agencies, has been hugely successful over many years,” said Philip Thomas, Cannes Lions CEO.

“The company’s superb track record at Cannes reveals a clarity of vision and an enviable willingness to allow its agencies to truly flex their creative muscles. We congratulate both Ikea and its many agencies across many countries on this well-deserved honour,” added Thomas.

Commenting on the award, Wisjman said, “We want to inspire people to fulfil needs and dreams in their everyday life at home. And we want to do that with a smile.” He goes on to thank all their creative agencies worldwide, co-workers and in-house agency Ikea Communications.

“I am honoured to receive this award on behalf of Ikea. It is a great recognition of Ikea advertising that speaks to all of us who want to have a functional and beautiful home,” said Wijsman.

Ikea currently has 284 stores in 26 countries, employing over 127,000 people.