In a quiet forest town in southern Sweden, Christmas arrives in May, Lunar New Year blooms beside midsummer, and a kitchen packed with hanging bananas waits for its moment on camera. This isn’t a surreal fever dream—it’s Ikea’s global content powerhouse: the Ikea Marketing & Communications studio, or IMC.

Tucked away in Älmhult—the same small town where Ikea was born—this 8,600-square-foot creative campus functions like a full-fledged production studio. And not just for catalog photos. Each year, the IMC churns out more than 70,000 productions, ranging from global ad campaigns and 3D product animations to the step-by-step assembly instructions that frustrate and unite furniture lovers around the world.

“We call it the home of homes—the dream factory,” says Mia Malmström, IMC’s managing director.

IMC is far more than just a brand studio—it’s the content engine behind Ikea’s global identity. Serving 63 markets and over 600 stores, its 450-person team (and growing) represents 34 nationalities and a staggering range of talent: art directors, developers, 3D animators, interior designers, strategists, software engineers—even AI specialists. Together, they’re shaping not just how Ikea sells furniture, but how it tells its story.

From Flat-Pack to Full-Fledged Studio System

Ikea’s roots in content run deep. When 17-year-old Ingvar Kamprad launched his mail-order business in the 1940s, it was already clear that storytelling would be central to the brand. Ikea’s first catalog arrived in 1951—with Kamprad himself writing much of the copy. That catalogue became iconic enough in Sweden that homeowners stuck signs on mailboxes reading: “No ads please, just the Ikea catalog.”

“It was never just about selling products,” Malmström explains. “It was about making a home—and making it inspiring.”

Though the final print catalog was retired in 2020, Ikea’s visual storytelling never stopped. It simply evolved—with IMC embracing CGI, 3D renderings, and immersive brand films that maintain the brand’s warm, human touch, even in a pixel-driven age.

The Studio Model, the Ikea Way

As more brands build in-house creative capabilities, Ikea has quietly constructed a mini-Hollywood for home design, complete with production workflows and talent pipelines to rival a boutique agency. But unlike most agencies, Ikea’s IMC works hand-in-hand with product development teams, shaping the creative direction from ideation to launch.

“We always ask: how do we tell this story?” says Malmström.

That question recently led to a short film spotlighting the designer behind the Zebrasäv pendant lamp, who became captivated by Swedish light after immigrating. It’s a poignant example of IMC’s ethos—designing content that makes products feel personal, emotive, and lived-in.

On any given day, you might find an interior designer collaborating with a 3D motion artist on how to visualize a small-space living room for the web—or a photographer styling fake bananas for a kitchen vignette.

“Everyone in the building carries our home furnishing knowledge,” says creative director Amy Leo, “but the interior designers carry the torch.”

Navigating AI, TikTok, and Global Scale

As with any studio, IMC faces the challenge of doing more with less—especially in an era dominated by short-form video, social virality, and audience-generated hacks. The team is increasingly exploring “quick, fun, lo-fi” social content while also developing large-scale global campaigns and toolkits for local markets to adapt.

And yes—AI is very much on set.

IMC is already using Microsoft Azure AI and Adobe Firefly to generate metadata, storyboard concepts, and assist in post-production. But Malmström is adamant: AI is a collaborator, not the auteur.

“We’re still telling stories about homes. That’s tactile, it’s emotional. That will never go away,” she says. “We want to spark something human—not just type a prompt.”

Staying Iconically Ikea

More than anything, IMC’s mission is about keeping Ikea both radically relevant and distinctly itself.

“We’ve learned that you can’t control the conversation on social media,” Malmström says. “You have to be brave enough not to interfere.”

The studio’s internal compass points to one clear north star: be more Ikea, not less. Don’t chase trends—set them. Don’t dilute the brand—own the quirks. And as the content landscape continues to fragment, IMC is betting big that storytelling, scaled with precision, is still the secret ingredient behind emotional connection.

“We want to dare to be even more Ikea,” Malmström says. “Not just in how we look—but in how we behave.”

So while Hollywood churns out summer blockbusters, Ikea’s dream factory in the Swedish woods is quietly producing something else: a world of stories built on sofas, meatballs, and a vision of home that feels just as cinematic.