Case: How Elon cut through the Christmas noise

Our strategy for Elon—the leading chain for kitchen products and home appliances—was to use the traditional Swedish Christmas feast (*julbord*) as a theme to create inspiring content that would capture consumers’ interest.

We wanted to showcase the products in a natural way, making them feel like an integral part of Christmas preparations. The goal was to both engage consumers and provide them with added value through our content.

At the same time, it was important to achieve effective organic and paid distribution. The solution was to have star chef Niklas Ekstedt—known for his Christmas cookbooks and his own *julbord*—prepare his absolute favorite dishes for Elon’s audience, set within an attractive store environment and featuring relevant products.

Target audience: Swedish home cooks

The target audience was Swedish consumers, with a particular focus on home cooks and those with an interest in cooking.

We set ambitious KPIs for our social media channels: over one million impressions, more than 200,000 ThruPlays (15 seconds), and 2,500 outbound clicks on Facebook and Instagram.

For the new YouTube channel, we aimed for thousands of organic views and hours of watch time.

We also planned to achieve broad reach through Elon’s own channels, including their online magazine, newsletters, and a printed customer magazine with a circulation of half a million copies.

The series, titled *Ekstedts julbord* (Ekstedt’s Christmas Table), featured classic Christmas recipes such as butter toffee, meatballs, pickled herring, *Janssons frestelse* (Jansson’s Temptation), and saffron pancake.

We selected dishes that both drew on tradition and suited households’ tight budgets, which increased the relevance of our message. Ekstedt shared expert tips and hacks to help home cooks use the products during their Christmas preparations.

Recipes and products in every episode

The products were thoughtfully integrated into every episode. For instance, Niklas Ekstedt demonstrated how to make the world’s best meatballs using a Bosch food processor.

We filmed in a warm, Christmas-inspired kitchen setting at Elon’s flagship store on Kungsgatan, which added to the festive atmosphere. Christmas colors infused all the material, making the products even more appealing and relevant.

Despite stiff competition, a limited budget, and a market characterized by reduced purchasing power, the campaign was a great success.

Our videos on Facebook and Instagram achieved high completion rates and a very low cost per view. We surpassed our KPIs by a wide margin.

On YouTube, we organically achieved 64,000 views, 2,700 hours of watch time, and an average view duration of 1 minute 38 seconds. The channel gained over 1,000 followers (and the subscriber count continues to grow). The videos became so popular that they were recommended on YouTube’s homepage.

Since its launch in Christmas 2023, Ekstedt’s Christmas spread has returned every year, featuring new recipes and filming locations.