Ikea's outdoor ads direct you to walk, not drive, to its 'sustainable' London store

Environmental campaign via Mother measures exact number of steps from each poster site

Published On
Apr 10, 2019

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Ikea is continuing to promote its new, environmentally "sustainable" store in London's Greenwich, this time with an outdoor campaign encouraging locals to make the journey to the store on foot. 

The outdoor media campaign is running on 80 outdoor sites across South East London, repurposing them as directional signage towards the new Ikea Greenwich. Each poster site is unique, offering exact footsteps to the store (measured by walking between each poster site and Ikea Greenwich’s front door). Each also details a public transport route, provided by Transport for London, in case people aren't able to walk. The posters will remain up for six months in order to get people used to the directions.

As for how all these pedestrians are going to lug the tables and bookcases that they buy home, for the first ten weeks of the Greenwich store's opening, Ikea is subsidizing the standard delivery service for anyone who lives up to 40-minutes away. It will cost £15 instead of the regular £35 fee. Also, Hertz electric vans are available for rental by the hour from the parking lot, and local residents can also use bike courier service Zedify for same-day delivery. 

It's the latest in a series of campaigns and stunts by agency Mother London to promote the store: these having included floating a giant Ikea bath toy down the Thames to collect garbage and making a recycled travel pass wallet from upcycled Frakta bags.