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Dried Flowers

Case Study

Campaign Overview

Client:
My Roles:
Campaign Goal:

IKEA

Creative strategist, design director, copywriter, media buyer

Drive traffic to IKEA website for back-to-college shopping

Creative Goal:

Develop thumb-stopping assets that resonate with Gen Z college women and exceed platform benchmarks for performance.

Final Assets:
Instagram/Snap 9x16 Ad 1
Instagram/Snap 9x16 Ad 2
Instagram/Snap 9x16 Ad 3
Instagram 1x1 Ad

Ideation

IKEA provided four thematic directions for the campaign: small-space living, wide product range, sustainability, and organizational solutions.

 

Leaning into current Gen Z trends around personality content (horoscopes, “what’s your vibe,” quiz-style formats), I chose to emphasize IKEA’s wide range of options and position them as a match for every aesthetic.

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This approach allowed us to:

  • Tap into a format already culturally relevant to Gen Z

  • Showcase multiple product styles instead of forcing one look

  • Create content that felt like a personalized shopping experience

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Research & Refinement

I conducted research on:

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  • Audience behavior (Gen Z): Curating shopping visions on Pinterest, saving mood boards, and self-identifying with aesthetics

  • Competitive landscape: Dorm-focused retailers using interactive web experiences and quizzes (example: Dormify’s “Find Your Aesthetic” tool)

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Insight: Gen Z prefers vision-boarding and aesthetic identity content over traditional “product dump” ads. So we built creative that felt like scrolling through Pinterest, blending mood-board visuals with TikTok-style trend language.

I then explored two conceptual directions:
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  1. Style-based content

  2. Housing-based content (dorm, off-campus, at-home)

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Style-based performed stronger in testing as it was more playful, identity-driven, and aligned with Gen Z trends so I created a long style list.

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Initial List: That Girl, Cottagecore, Preppy, Barbiecore, Earthy Boho, Sustainable, Coastal Cowgirl, Coquette, Fangirl, Eclectic Maximalism, Retro Vintage

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Final Selection: Coastal Cowgirl, Preppy, Maximalist

Copy Development

Writing effective copy is about finding the balance between what the client wants to communicate and what the audience will resonate with.

 

IKEA wanted to communicate:

  • Maximizing small spaces

  • Affordability

  • Variety of styles

  • A playful humor without using words like “cheap,” “stressful,” or “aesthetic”

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I know that Gen Z values independence and personal expression, especially when moving into their first adult space. So I leaned into copy that highlighted choice, identity, and empowerment.

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Exploratory copy included themes like:​

  • Save money and maximize space with design solutions for every style

  • Major in space this semester

  • No matter your style, we’ve got you covered

  • Your space has always been chosen for you, now it’s finally yours.

  • IKEA has everything you need, at student-friendly prices, to dive into your independence

  • Reject tradition. Design your space your way.

  • Do school your way with IKEA

  • Wherever you school, make it more YOU

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Final Direction: I leaned into identity language + playful “find your vibe” positioning to come up with the final copy:​

Whether you're a ___ girlie, IKEA has you covered.

Wherever you school, make it YOU.

CTA: Shop now at IKEA

Paid Social Strategy

Creative and copy are not separate, they function as one symbiotic unit. So once the concept was locked, I shifted into paid-social execution mode.​

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Format + Placement Strategy

  • Designed in 4:5 and 9:16 for optimal reach across Feed, Reels, and Stories

  • Feed: Multiple aesthetics cycling within one asset → users keep watching to see “their” style

  • Stories/Reels: Split into three separate creatives, one per aesthetic → allows the algorithm to match users to their vibe + improve relevance score

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Audience Psychology

​Gen Z loves content that “tells them who they are.” I used:

  • Style discovery language ("Discover your style")

  • Countdown mechanic to build curiosity + retention

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My hypothesis: Identity hook + countdown = improved watch-through + clicks

Results: Confirmed through a high VCR and strong retention after 2s

Results

Assets were run on Instagram and Snapchat with the Awareness and Traffic objectives targeting 18-24F college women.

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Instagram

Clicks: 1,364

CTR: 0.48% (Almost 5x the 0.10% BM)

ER: 4.9% (1.9pp above the 1-3% BM)

VCR (3s): 91%

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Snapchat

Swipe-Ups: 812

CTR: 0.62% (Over 2x the 0.30% CTR BM)

ER: 3.8% (0.08pp above the 3% BM)

VCR (2s): 89%

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Overall Highlights

  • CTR 2-4x above benchmark across platforms

  • Strong VCR even with countdown feature

  • Higher-than-expected swipe-ups on Snapchat (identity content trend aligns with platform behavior)

  • Feed creative saw longest watch times, Stories drove lowest CPA

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