Lately everyone has been buzzing about the little Ikea campaign that could. In case you hadn’t heard, for the launch of Ikea’s newest store in Sweden, the global McFurniture giant (I just like that term – my apartment is obviously littered with their affordable gems) asked their agency to make a big impact on a small budget (a favourite challenge of ours). Their breakthrough idea was to set the store manager up with a Facebook account and upload pictures of Ikea showrooms. They then did two things very right:

1. They provided a value-add for people to get engaged with brand (here the face of the brand being the store manager).
2. They asked people to engage using a Facebook function everyone was already very familiar with – phototagging.

This happened:

Simple, engaging and buzz worthy – and thus effective and smart in my books. Now, before you run off to your manager and exclaim that you’ve got the best idea for their newest breakthrough Facebook campaign by mimicking this one, know that… you can’t.

As per Facebook’s promotion guidelines updated on November 4th 2009:

Section 3.  Administering a Promotion Through the Facebook Platform

You may not administer any promotion through Facebook, except that you may administer a promotion through the Facebook Platform with our prior written approval. Such written approval may be obtained only through an account representative at Facebook.

3.2 You will only allow users to enter the promotion in the following locations on Facebook:

3.2.1 On the canvas Page of an application on the Facebook Platform.

3.2.2 On an application box in a tab on a Facebook Page.

This amendment means that you cannot engage users for promotional purposes anywhere but the two locations identified above. It’s unclear as to whether this particular amendment was made after the Ikea campaign or if it had existed before and thus the reason the campaign was run through the store manager’s account, as a workaround to this rule. Either way we can see Facebook’s message to marketers very clearly.

Yes, dear marketers, of course we want you engaged with our users – just don’t try getting too creative and doing it without our knowledge. Or, more importantly, payment.

From a business perspective, this is actually valid. A large network like Facebook needs rules by which brands can be guided to avoid having it turn into a virtual Times Square overnight with everyone trying to yell the loudest.

It does, however, remind us again how quickly the landscape is changing. To stay ahead of the proverbial curve and continue to produce groundbreaking digital work, we must constantly stay on top of the platforms available to us and  how they can be utilized – before someone else does.

The key lesson here reminds me of something Google Canada’s CEO said at Marketing Week here in Toronto a few weeks ago: “You either search for the next trends and take chances on them, or you fall victim to them.” This idea applies to brands very differently depending on what their strategy is and who they are targeting. A consistent and cohesive brand message paired with the platforms most effective for their audience and objectives is key. It’s just figuring out what those platforms are that can often be the source of so much confusion these days.

So, how do you stay ahead in today’s fast paced times? Need help chartering the digital grounds?

Might I suggest you infiltrate now?