Never only | MarkeTHINK zone

Life at home

The communication campaign today is developed by ad agency “Uzina” for IKEA Portugal with the partnership of CIG (Portuguese Commission for Citizenship and Gender Equality), which main mission is to support victims of domestic violence.

IKEA is famous with its convenient products, making each home a better, cozy and safe place. In fact IKEA’s entire brand territory is “life at home” and the campaign is using exactly this positioning to address the idea that for some women and their children home is not a safe place.

The social cause of the campaign is to raise awareness about the domestic violence and how it affects children, destroys the meaning of “home” and remains underreported.

Having in mind this, IKEA is communicating with this campaign its discreet customer support line, where by selecting option 8 the victims are redirected confidentially to specialized support service. Meanwhile this call discreetly appears as an IKEA customer-service call.

This idea is illustrated on the key visuals in a symbolic way:

the child’s plush toys (octopus toy, monkey toy, panda toy etc.) represent children affected by domestic violence;
the empty dark room is symbolizing the fear and emotional trauma;
and the absence of adults makes the emotional impact even stronger;

On these dark visuals with the big white letters of the hope is written the key message of the campaign: “Violence against women is never only against women.”

And below it are written the dark facts of the reality: “In 2025, more than 90% of the people sheltered in CIG safe houses were women. More than half brought children with them. If you are a victim of domestic violence, call IKEA Customer Support, select option 8, and report it.”

All this is in line with IKEA’s minimalist communication style: