Entertainment / We Go Behind The Scenes Of The Already Iconic IKEA “Chaiyya Chaiyya” Holiday Commercial

We Go Behind The Scenes Of The Already Iconic IKEA “Chaiyya Chaiyya” Holiday Commercial

Entertainment Dec 14, 2021

by Hina P. Ansari

The holiday season brings with a bevvy of smart advertising focused on making sure that all things festive is celebrated, commemorated and shopped for. This season, IKEA decided to really celebrate the diversity of this holiday season with their (now iconic) ad featuring a South Asian family getting together to SRK’s trademark song “Chaiyya Chaiyya”. We go behind the scenes with Johanna Andren, Head of Marketing at IKEA Canada who gave us the full deets on how this all came to be.

I chat with Johanna Andren, Head of Marketing at IKEA Canada about this viral ad:

Hina P. Ansari: Congratulations Johanna on this amazing ad! Tell me, how did this concept come to be?

Johanna Andren: Our goal was to drive awareness and consideration for IKEA during the holidays – a typically saturated communications season given the importance of the quarter to most retailers. We felt that it was important for us to demonstrate our understanding of life at home during the holidays and especially as we embrace the opportunity to gather again after so many months apart.

The idea for this spot came directly from a powerful insight about how Canada’s diverse
population have taken the holidays and made it their own, often blending cultural traditions, touchpoints, and varied lifestyle choices into their holiday celebrations. Canadian families have really reimagined how they want to celebrate the holidays and we wanted to reflect that, while still celebrating the essence of the season – gathering with loved ones to create memories, enjoying tasty food and of course, good music.

HPA: The song “Chaiyya Chaiyya” is one of Shah Rukh Khan’s iconic songs, can you tell me journey of finding the right song and landing on this one and what was it about this song that you realize it would work?

JA: The world-famous Bollywood track, “Chaiyya Chaiyya”, really helped a joyful, yet meaningful tone come together, and the music has a bit of nostalgia to it, even if you’ve never heard it before which also reinforced the universal appeal that we wanted to incorporate. When we collaborated with our agency Rethink Canada on the concept, we also asked for a song recommendation. Typically, in the past, we would source music afterwards, but we really wanted to understand the big picture of how this shoot would come to life. This was the first song that was recommended, and everyone was in complete agreement as it truly energized all of us while capturing the spirit we hoped to achieve.

HPA: Tell me about your South Asian consultants? Curious to see how you blended the magic of IKEA’s branding and storytelling with the South Asian content and vibe.

JA: The campaign was created by a team that included members from a diverse set of backgrounds and perspectives including Indian, Persian, Filipino and Italian (Canadian and Swedish too, of course). The diverse personal experiences, unique holiday traditions and celebrations from across this group helped to inform the campaign insight, creative execution, and production decisions. Additionally, we collaborated with a cultural consultant who advised on key elements such as casting, wardrobe and set design during the production process. Then, the creative was peer-reviewed internally by co-workers and partners from South Asian backgrounds across both IKEA and our creative agency’s offices.

**We Go Behind The Scenes Of The Already Iconic IKEA “Chaiyya Chaiyya” Holiday Commercial: Grandfather and granddaughter moment in the Assemble Together advertisement.** Photo Credit: IKEA Canada

HPA: When and where was the commercial filmed?

JA: The TV spot was also filmed in Toronto during a brutal heat wave – some of the warmest
days of the year – and the team was sweltering outside while they filmed a festive, cozy Holiday commercial inside a home. Conceptually we collaborated with our agency Rethink Canada back in April 2021, with the shoot being produced in 2-days in August; following a month of post-production ‘Assemble Together’ debuted on November 8th.

HPA: What was the feedback like from your South Asian cast and colleagues?

JA: Overall, we worked closely with our internal teams across IKEA Canada and across the agencies to ensure everyone felt the authenticity of the shoot. Response has been generally positive since the spot aired. Given Canada’s diverse makeup, holiday celebrations look different in every home as Canadians across the country take elements of their cultural traditions from décor and food to music and more, injecting varied, often blended touchpoints into their December holiday celebrations. Viewers have connected with our inspiration this year to share representation of a family with robust cultural traditions along with elements of cultural fusion enjoyed by many second-generation families celebrating the holidays in Canada today.

HPA: Where you nervous at all during the production phase that this may not work and
what was feedback when you first aired the commercial?

JA: The majority of early viewers felt that the spot reflected and appreciated the different ways that people come together to celebrate the holidays – it’s the commonalities in making our traditions that we hope will resonate with our diverse audiences. There are consistent elements of holiday celebrations that we can all relate to whether it’s holiday décor, entertaining, cooking, gifting and all the pains and pleasures of planning any of those elements as we strive to make memories together.

We previewed the new campaign with IKEA co-workers who really appreciated the feeling of inclusion, and the spot created a lot of energy among our many co-workers.

HPA: What I love about the ad that it’s a visual and musical feast. There wasn’t that
patronizing/tokenized vibe that sometimes happen when companies are trying to
advertise to our South Asian demo. I would love your thoughts on that.

JA: It was incredibly important for us to ensure we were reflecting communities leading with our values, and authenticity. By working closely with a cultural consultant and our wide network of South Asian co-workers and external colleagues we were fact checking, thoroughly reviewing concepts to ensure we were representing the community in the most authentic way. Aside from the shoot focusing on the South Asian community, we believe that the universal idea of ‘assembling together’ for the holidays whether you are in a small group with your household, connecting virtually with family or getting together with extended family, still reflects the idea of togetherness which everyone can truly connect with.

HPA:What’s next for IKEA are there more of these types of ads in the pipeline for future
season?

JA: At IKEA, we’re passionate about Life at Home. Since our early days we’ve been committed to helping more of the many thrive in their spaces and make the most of the relationships and rituals that make their spaces feel like home. The holidays, especially following the past 20 months of ongoing disruption, challenge and change that we’ve all experienced, is a time to collectively celebrate. Upcoming in our marketing efforts we hope to spotlight more bold stories of life at home which reflects all Canadians including the diversity across our country.

Main Image Photo Credit: IKEA Canada

Hina P. Ansari

Author

Hina P. Ansari is a graduate from The University of Western Ontario (London, Ontario). Since then she has carved a successful career in Canada's national fashion-publishing world as the Entertainment/Photo Editor at FLARE Magazine, Canada's national fashion magazine. She was the first South Asian in...

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We Go Behind The Scenes Of The Already Iconic IKEA “Chaiyya Chaiyya” Holiday Commercial

by Hina P. Ansari

Hina P. Ansari

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