One of the first good news from 58th Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity arrived today’s morning: the jury of the festival decided to give the prestigious Advertiser of the Year Award to the Sweden-based home furnishing retail company IKEA.

This highly-esteemed award is presented to acknowledge the advertisers who venture to implement the most innovative ideas to market their products or services. If you followed the news, for say, throughout the year, you will see that IKEA’s advertising campaigns stand out for the impeccable sense of humor and unconventional creativity as well as a special relationship between the brand and the customers of all the national markets where the brand operates. More than that, IKEA builds its customer communication based on the values which vary from market to market and from country to country as the brand is eager to listen to its customers, tell them what they want to hear (not to mention, it gives them the product they want to use).

IKEA received its first Cannes Lion award back in 1991. Since then, the company was presented with 50 awards of this festival including the Film Grand Prix in 2003 for ‘Lamp’ and a Titanium Lion in 2010 for ‘Facebook Showroom’.

On June 25, the award will be presented to Noel Wijsmans, Global Retail Manager and Vice President of IKEA Group, during the Film, Film Craft, Titanium & Integrated and Creative Effectiveness Lions.

Image: Noel Wijsmans, Global Retail Manager and Vice President of IKEA Group

When being asked to comment on the award, Noel said, “I am honoured to receive this award on behalf of IKEA. It is a great recognition of IKEA advertising that speaks to all of us who want to have a functional and beautiful home. We want to inspire people to fulfill needs and dreams in their everyday life at home. And we want to do that with a smile. I would also like to thank all the creative agencies we work with worldwide, our in-house agency IKEA Communications in Sweden and all our fantastic co-workers around the globe.”