This holiday season, IKEA isn’t selling furniture, it’s something of sale far rarer: attention. With its new campaign “The Best Gift Is Being Present,” the brand is urging everyone to “Activate Home Mode” and reconnect with what truly matters — quality time with loved ones.
Launched out of IKEA Spain, the campaign, developed by McCann Spain, trades flashy holiday consumerism for quiet emotional truth, spotlighting how presence, not presents, makes the season meaningful.
The film, directed by Alauda Ruiz de Azúa , who recently won the Golden Shell at the San Sebastián Film Festival for Los Domingos, captures that message with tender simplicity. In it, a young boy makes a holiday wish not for toys or gadgets, but for his parents’ time and attention.
His wish materializes as an IKEA BILLY bookcase, a gift that, by design, must be assembled, turning a mundane household task into a metaphor for connection.
Set against a cultural backdrop of constant distraction, the campaign calls out our collective disconnection. A 2022 National Library of Medicine study found that we spend 47% of our day thinking about something other than what we’re doing. This sobering stat fuels IKEA’s invitation to pause, unplug, and be fully present. Watch below:
“We’re back with a Christmas campaign to spark conversation and reflect the reality of Spanish households,” says Rafael Jiménez, Marketing Communications Director at IKEA Spain. “Our goal is for it to connect with everyone — families, friends, couples, colleagues — anyone who has ever felt they’re there, but not fully. And it’s not just about Christmas; we want this message to take root as a way of life.”
The campaign continues IKEA’s long tradition of emotionally resonant Christmas storytelling. In 2014’s The Other Letter, children asked their parents — not Santa — for more time together. In 2018’s Familiarizados, the brand tackled the isolating effect of screens in modern homes. This year, “The Best Gift Is Being Present” brings that message full circle with a story as timeless as family itself.
The campaign will roll out across television, social media, outdoor, and digital platforms in 110”, 60”, 40”, and 20” versions starting November 10. This Christmas, IKEA doesn’t just want you to decorate your home, it wants you to come home.
CREDITS:
BRAND: IKEA
- Rafael Jiménez
- Gabriel Ladaria
- Catarina Bastos
- Alejandra Sierra
- Manuel Delgado
- Alejandro Mujica
AGENCY: McCann, Madrid
- Eoin Sherry
- Miguel Madariaga
- Daniel García
- Natalia Ballesta
- Blanca Oriz
- Irene Ferreira
- Óscar Martínez
- Ander Mendivil
- Iolanda Casalá
- María Goñi
- Lara Bardal
- Javier Pascual
- Luisana Méndez
- Patricia Caramés
- Senior Production Consultant (MCA): Pablo Perez-Payá
PRODUCTION COMPANY: Igloo
- Director: Alauda Ruiz de Azúa
- Executive Producer: Meghan Shaw
- Producer: Laura Guerrero
- Director of Photography: Sergi Gallardo
- Art Director: Paloma López
- Stylist: María Elena Soria
- Digital Unit Director: Edgar Llauró
- Digital Unit DOP: Alberto Morago
- Photographer: Alberto Escudero
- Music: “Love Will Remain” – Bill Fay
PRODUCTION COMPANY, POST SOUND: CRAFT
- Audiovisual Production: María Iglesias, Bea Carnicero
- Post-Production: Vanessa Pizarro, Esther Ceballos, Marisa Mesonero
- Editor: Andrés Gil
- Color: Paula Ruiz
- Business Affairs: Laura Hernando
- Graphic Production: María Pastor, Raquel Riaño
REELated:
John Lewis says if you can’t find the words, find the gift
