When IKEA canceled its print catalog last year, it hinted at plans to venture into new formats to better reach an increasingly internet-dependent customer base. The world’s largest furniture company bolstered its e-commerce platform, built a better mobile app, and opened a string of small retail outlets in urban areas around the world. In what may be its zaniest gambit yet, IKEA has launched an audiobook.
Published on Spotify, Audible, and YouTube, the IKEA Audio Catalog is essentially a quippy version of its 288-page product book for the US market. Narrator Jasmin Richardson improves on humdrum product descriptions by ad libbing jokes and inserting wry observations throughout the almost four-hour audio track. For a section on home organization for instance, she riffs:
Did you know that research says we spend up to six years of our lives looking for things? Well, that explains a lot. If you’d rather spend that time doing something fun, we have good news for you. Getting organized is a totally doable dream. Underneath, we see some light gray cotton imported Ragissar baskets for $6.99 for a set of three. There are some knickknacks thrown inside. Each of these would be great for running out the door—and promptly forgetting your wallet or mask.
And for a page about clever solutions for wrangling small items around the house, she says:
Next, we see some interesting little uses for other things, like a Bergenes holder for a mobile phone or tablet for $3.99. Next we see a little rack holding some paper and some envelopes. The caption reads, “Technically it’s a plate holder. In real life, it’s an I’m-happy to hold-whatever-you need-me-to-hold” holder.
I, too, would love to be held.
Richardson, who has notable Broadway and television credits, was hired for her ability to convey a “smart but quirky and slightly off-beat fun” quality, according to Della Mathew, executive creative director of Ogilvy, IKEA’s advertising agency. Selecting a Black voice talent also underscores the Swedish brand’s “commitment to diversity and inclusion,” she adds.
IKEA’s foray into audio-based marketing capitalizes on the surge of podcast and audiobook consumption during the months of lockdown. “We thought that bringing a new kind of inspiration to people who could benefit from it during these difficult times,” a spokesperson said. “With audiobook and podcast listeners growing during the pandemic, we loved the idea of inspiring listeners by leveraging our iconic catalog in an entirely new, immersive, and completely IKEA-ish way.”
IKEA touts the audiobook as a first-of-its-kind production for its US operations. It produced a narrated version of its 2019 catalog for the Swedish market.
