BBH set to defend Ikea creative duties in Southeast Asia

BBH Singapore is preparing to defend its creative mandate from Ikea Southeast Asia, after the furniture retailer invited creative agencies to a competitive pitch.

BBH has held the account for the past six years, running integrated communications campaigns for Ikea in Singapore, Malaysia, and later, Thailand. During that time, the agency scored hits with Ikea's local catalogue campaigns, including the "Bookbook" in 2014 and "Human Catalogue" in 2017 and a hilarious dance tune to open its Cheras store in Malaysia in 2015 with lyrics based on Ikea item names.

Nigel Richardson, head of marketing for Ikea Southeast Asia, noted in a release that the brand had an "excellent working relationship" with BBH, but the review was a part of a regular internal process.

“We love to experiment and innovate," Richardson said. "We look forward to a competitive pitching process to see the fresh ideas that BBH and other parties bring to the table.”

John Hadfield, CEO of BBH Singapore, added, "We understand and respect the decision to conduct a statutory pitch process. We are hugely proud of the work, outcomes and relationships that we have built with the IKEA team over the past six years and are fully committed to renewing these."

Last September, Ikea switched creative agencies in China following a competitive pitch won by Wieden+Kennedy after BBH China had held the account for several years.