Behind the scenes of Ikea’s rapid-response social team

This story is the latest in a series exploring how brands craft standout social media strategies. If you’d like to chat about how your brand is approaching social, Katie Hicks wants to hear about it. Reach out to her at hicks@morningbrew.com.

Blink and you’ll miss a social trend. Unless you have a team that rarely blinks.

Since 2024, Ikea has operated a rapid-response social media strategy operated by what it calls the Responsive Project Team (RPT). Elissa Wardrop, global social media specialist at Ikea, told us that the team was formed after colleagues from more than 30 markets expressed a desire for a more “timely, culturally relevant” social media strategy following the success of posts like the Balenciaga-inspired towel skirt in the UK.

Wardrop is now one of four “core” members of the RPT who work in an “always on” capacity, keeping an eye on what’s happening in the world and online and deciding when Ikea should weigh in and where. To date, the team has been behind viral posts about everything from Punch the monkey to Bridgerton.

In an email, Wardrop broke down the operation behind the scenes, how her team decides when to jump on a trend, and what marketers can learn from their hits (and misses).

Tell me about the “always on” communications on the RPT. Are you chatting with each other 24/7?

We’re definitely not expected to be in communication 24/7, but occasionally we’ll spot something while scrolling outside of work hours and drop it into the chat so we don’t forget about it. Then we can pick it up first thing the next morning. Our Teams chat is a constant mix of news articles, TikToks, examples of other brands jumping on trends and discussing the sentiment around them, suggestions for Ikea products we could use, and quick feedback on mock-ups. Sometimes a discussion in the chat will turn into a quick call or office chat if we think there’s an immediate opportunity worth exploring.

We also have regular meetings throughout the week. This includes a longer one on Mondays where we discuss upcoming moments we can plan for, whether that’s key dates like Christmas and Valentine’s Day or upcoming movie and game releases. We then have one or two quick 15-minute check-ins throughout the week to see if we’ve spotted anything worth jumping on.

How many ideas thrown out in the chat end up moving to the next stage?

In the beginning, quite a lot of ideas were thrown around that didn’t make it any further. But over time, we’ve developed a much better understanding of what works, what’s on brand and what’s worth pursuing, so we’re pretty good at filtering ideas early on.

For example, just this morning, we were discussing whether we should do something around Heidi Klum’s Halloween costume over the weekend where she dressed as a severed hand. Ikea actually sells a hand decoration, so there was a natural connection. But we quickly decided that it’s already November 2, [and] the moment has passed. That doesn’t mean we stop sharing ideas, though. Sometimes an idea that isn’t quite right for the moment can spark something else or be worth revisiting in the future.

How do you decide which online trends are worth engaging with and which are worth sitting out?

Just because something is trending doesn’t mean Ikea needs to be part of it. We have a checklist that helps us assess opportunities, looking at everything from public sentiment and cultural sensitivity to safety, sustainability, copyright and IP, and of course, whether it aligns with our Ikea values…One of our principles is “innovate, don’t imitate.” We want to add something original to the conversation, not just re-create what every other brand is doing. Ideally, the idea should be so distinctly Ikea that you couldn’t simply swap our logo for another brand’s.

Some examples of trends this year we’ve opted against include: putting wigs on Ikea products around the Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary Special, the fake brand apology letters, bedazzling products with jewels, the viral proposal by two climbers who scaled the Empire State Building in New York, and the trend of covering up brand logos after Levi’s Stadium had to conceal its branding for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Sometimes we can see how Ikea could participate, but that doesn’t necessarily mean we’d be adding anything new or interesting to the conversation. And other times, the trend simply doesn’t align with our values or isn’t worth the potential risk.

What does your approval process look like with legal and higher-ups, and how long does that process typically take?

We’ve managed to keep our approval process quite simple. Most of the time, it’s just our project lead who needs to sign off on the content, which allows us to move quickly. If an idea is a little riskier, cheekier, or involves taking inspiration from existing intellectual property, we’ll also involve our legal team and a senior communications manager. Thankfully, they understand that we’re working with tight turnarounds and are usually able to get back to us quite quickly.

What does operating the RPT look like on the creative side? Do you have a library of product images that you can easily reference and/or pull from?

We have a huge library of Ikea product images that we can access. About half the time, we’ll use these directly, particularly when we’re re-creating our classic Ikea style with a solid background color, bold headline, product, price, and logo. Or we’ll take an existing product image and give it a quick Photoshop edit to add more context. The other half of the time, we’’re creating something ourselves, whether that’s taking photos on our iPhones or getting a little help from AI. We try to keep things fairly simple and lo-fi, which makes it much easier to respond quickly without needing a big production setup.

What is it like operating a RPT while also coordinating across global teams and time zones?

Normally, we’re able to create content centrally and share it directly with our markets, who can then decide whether it’s relevant for their local audiences. That’s one of the benefits of having a global team: we can create something once and make it available to more than 30 markets, rather than everyone having to produce their own version.

What metrics do you use to measure success?

We look at a combination of metrics, including impressions, engagements, shares, and how many of our Ingka Ikea markets choose to use the content. Of course, it’s incredibly exciting when we see a commercial impact too, but driving sales isn’t the primary objective of responsive content. It’s more about building brand love, highlighting our products in unexpected ways, staying culturally relevant, and creating content that people genuinely want to engage with and share. If that also leads to people buying something, it’s the cherry lingonberry on top!

Are there any posts that come to mind that felt risky at the time but paid off in the long run?

Our Severance post felt like a bit of a gamble because we were taking inspiration from such a recognizable TV series, so there were naturally some considerations around intellectual property, but it ended up being one of our biggest successes. MrBeast commented on it, and the show’s Emmy award-winning production designer, Jeremy Hindle, went on to feature our post during his keynote at Figma Config 2025 in San Francisco, in front of 10,000 attendees, where he jokingly exclaimed that he’d “made it” in life after seeing Ikea re-create his set. Apple even included it in their Silver-winning Cannes Lions entry for the Severance Season 2 campaign as an example of the show’s cultural impact and how brands were capitalizing on its popularity. It’s pretty surreal to see something we created as a playful response to a TV show end up being recognized by the people behind it.

Any posts that didn’t resonate that helped redirect your strategy?

We don’t invest money in production, just our time, so we’re happy to try things knowing not every idea will be a winner. One example was when Sabrina Carpenter released her song “Tears” in 2025, which included a lyric about assembling an Ikea chair. We had a response live in less than 10 hours, but in hindsight, we may have been too fast. A few weeks later, the song started trending on TikTok and she performed it at the VMAs, so more people would have understood the reference had we waited. It was a good reminder that being first isn’t always the same as being timely. We’ve also learned that if a pop culture reference needs a caption or audio to explain the joke, the visual probably isn’t doing enough of the work.

What are your best practices for ensuring ideas not only make it through approvals but also resonate with your audience?

Our strongest content tends to be relatable, clever, unexpected, and simple. The best ideas are usually the ones where people instantly get the joke without needing to read a lengthy caption or have someone explain the reference. We also have to remember that we’re creating content for a global audience, so we try to find that sweet spot where something feels culturally relevant but is still recognizable and relatable to the majority of people.

When it comes to approvals, knowing our brand values and guidelines really well helps us identify potential issues early on. We also include a risk rating (a mild-to-wild scale) when submitting ideas for approval, so everyone has a clear understanding of the potential risks involved.

How has the success of the RPT influenced Ikea’s broader social strategy? Any learnings you’ve applied to posts planned further in advance?

One of the biggest learnings has been that content doesn’t need a huge production budget or look like a polished advertisement to be successful. Some of our best-performing posts have been incredibly simple, created in a matter of hours with little to no production cost. It’s reinforced the importance of thinking social-first, even when we’re planning content months in advance. Rather than just thinking about what we want to communicate, we need to consider what people actually want to see, what they find relatable, and what would make them stop scrolling or share something with a friend. We’ve also seen how effective it can be to connect Ikea products to pop culture, nostalgia, and everyday experiences, finding clever and unexpected ways to make them relevant beyond their traditional functions. These are all learnings we can bring into our more planned commercial content too.

Any tips for social marketers on how to engage with trends in a timely manner?

My biggest tip would be to actually immerse yourself in internet culture rather than just monitoring trends from a brand perspective. Follow creators, explore different communities, and get into Reddit forums and YouTube comment sections to understand what people are genuinely excited about. For example, that’s how we discovered just how highly anticipated the bath scene in Bridgerton Season 4 was because fans who’d read the books knew what was coming.

Of course, you can’t be across absolutely everything, so another tip is to find people in your life, whether that’s friends, family, or colleagues, who are really into particular things like gaming, music, or movies. Use them as your test bunnies to see if they understand the reference, find it funny, or think you’re completely missing the mark.

I’d also recommend keeping a cultural calendar of upcoming game, movie, and TV show releases, album drops, award ceremonies, sporting events, and key dates, from Valentine’s Day to World Cat Day. It’s a simple way to keep track of what’s coming up and spot potential opportunities in advance, rather than always reacting once something is already trending.