IKEA x Contiki
Travel brands are running out of the unexpected, pop-up, takeovers, influencer collabs. Everyone is trying to grab attention by imitating the same things already done.
But Contiki is a leader. Unlike most travel brands who visit culture, we occupy it.
If an experience exists, Contiki will be the first to share it.
The Idea:
To celebrate the launch of our new Scandinavia trip, two iconic brands partner for one unforgettable experience that will get the world talking.
When IKEA closes for the night, it reopens for one group only, Contiki travellers. Not a showroom visit, or brand tour, but a sleepover inside Sweden's most recognisable brand. Travellers choose between curated ‘worlds’ they want to stay in, or different living rooms/lounges they want to socialise and eat iconic IKEA Swedish meatballs in.
Instead of showing travellers Sweden’s icons, we let them live in it. We reframe Contiki from travel curator to cultural occupier, but also the IKEA store overnight. We make it more than a maze of displays, we prove they’re spaces to be lived in. Both brands reinforce they’re about participation, rather than observation.
The impact:
Immediate PR. Why? Everyone knows IKEA, and knows you’re not meant to sleep there.
Social currency. Contiki becomes the brand bold enough to sleep where others wouldn’t.
Reinforces Contiki as a challenger brand.
Establishes a repeatable behaviour platform: Special Stays or Experiences where others can’t. Reframing Contiki from travel curator to cultural occupier.
Impact:
By closing the store and revealing it as a surprise stay, the experience becomes scarce and unrepeatable. That exclusivity makes it iconic. It’s not a bookable gimmick; it’s a moment. That creates PR because it feels brave and logistically insane — which reinforces Contiki as culturally confident, not promotional.