2026 Winner

IKEA is rarely considered during holiday gifting, seen more as a place for practical purchases than presents. “Twelve Days” set out to change that by showing that the most useful gifts are often the ones people actually want. The campaign reimagined “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” bringing each verse to life inside a single home. As the song progressed, the space filled with birds, animals and performers, escalating into holiday chaos. Visual effects were central to that buildup. Live-action elements, like swans, were combined with digital duplication, while other elements, including the calling birds, were fully CGI, rendered to match the physical environment. When the IKEA gift card appears, the chaos stops, reframing practicality as the more desirable choice. The film ran across broadcast, OLV, cinema, social and 3D OOH, generating 281M impressions, a 2% increase in store visits, and a 12% increase in top-of-mind awareness.

Credits

Chief Creative Officer: Aaron Starkman
Chief Creative Officer: Mike Dubrick
Group Creative Director: Robbie Percy, Caroline Friesen
Group Creative Director/Copywriter: Geoff Baillie
Group Creative Director/Art Director: Zachary Bautista
Copywriter: Rachel Taylor
Art Director: Chloe Shapiro
Chief Strategy Officer: Sean McDonald
Head of Strategy: Julian Morgan
Strategy Director: Emma Bayfield
Strategist: Sydney Pottow
Group Account Director: Kiara Wilson
Account Director: Tori Zenko
Account Supervisor: Rachel Rava
Account Manager: Liz Maxwell
Associate Director of Broadcast/Producer: Nadya MacNeil
Senior Integrated Producer: Agnes Gilchrist
PR Account Director: Chenda McKissick
Public Relations Specialist: Claire Tam
Production House: The Salmon
Executive Producer: Natalia Winardi
Line Producer: Shannon Barnes
Director: JJ Adler
DP: Chris Mably
Production Designer: Jesson Moen
Designer: Donna Irvine
Editorial House: Nimiopere
Editor: Graham Chisholm
Assistant Editor: Lucas Wurstlin
Producer: Jenna Edwards
Transfer: Alter Ego
Colourist: Wade Odlum
Producer: Andrew Tavares
Online/VFX: The Vanity
VFX Artist: Naveen Srivastava
Producer: Katie Methot
Audio House: Grayson Music Group
Music and Voice Director: Tyson Kuteyi
Composer: Andrew Austin
Sound Designer: Ben Swarbrick
Vocalists: Andrew Austin and Ali Milner
Engineer: Vlad Nikolic
Producer: Sharon Yokoyama
Media: Planning by Carat
Loyalty & CRM: Wunderman Thompson
Strategy Director: McKenzie McCart
Account Director: Maryam Asad
Account Supervisor: Sanya Bharti
Account Executive: Maria Kotob
Client:
Country Marketing Manager, Jonelle Ricketts
Country Marketing Communications Leader, Jacqueline Wark
Country Marketing Communications Specialist, Patrick Dennis
Country Marketing Communications Specialist, Nadia Kassam
Marketing Performance Leader, Carlo Franco
Public Relations Leader, Alicia Caroll
Integrated Media Leader, Samantha Loosley
Integrated Media Manager, Agamemnon Spiridoulias
Loyalty Leader, Musab Memon
Customer Engagement and Loyalty Manager, De'ana Torresan
Local/In-Store Marketing Specialist, Sushmitha Malali Ramesh
In-Store Interior Design Manager, Christina Martinez
In-Store Interior Design Leader, Jaycel Herring