Advertising Design Graduates Win 2019 AAF Mosaic Award

Oct 25 2019
Stevie Miller and Marissa Morrison, both 2019 graduates of CCS Advertising Design, won the Student Multicultural Integrated Campaign Mosaic Award for their campaign case study, “IKEA’s Coming Out.” Sponsored by the American Advertising Federation (AAF), the Mosaic Awards celebrate excellence in multicultural advertising and honors companies, agencies and individuals who demonstrate dedication to diversity and inclusion.

Miller and Morrison received their award at ADMERICA, the AAF’s annual national conference, on June 6 in Hollywood, Florida.

Created while the women were CCS seniors, the “IKEA’s Coming Out” case study focuses on the company’s reputation for maintaining a diverse and inclusive workplace and answers the question of how to bring IKEA’s inside values outside. The campaign covers advertising and branding across media featuring members of the LGBTQ+ community, including digital billboards, in-store kiosks, transit advertising, and a dedicated micro website.

Excerpt from Morrison and Miller’s winning entry:

“IKEA practices important key values inside their workplace such as togetherness, caring for the people and planet, renewing and improving, and leading by example. Inside the workplace, they are a company of inclusiveness, diversity and improvement. Yet their image was still biased towards stereotypical families in their campaigns. It’s time for IKEA to bring their inside values out. To celebrate the three-year anniversary of marriage equality in the United States of America, IKEA is coming out in June of 2018. During this month, IKEA is launching an LGBTQ+ inspired furniture collection called ROYGBV. ROYGBV features six pieces of furniture to represent each color of the LGBTQ+ flag. The furniture line is available through ikeascomingout.com, where users are allowed to come out with them as part of the LGBTQ+ community, or as an accepting friend or family member.”