Ikea launched a 300×250 ad that contains over 2,000 of their products, making this banner, the smallest IKEA store in the world.
Two reasons why this is great:
1) Stays true to the IKEA brand.
When I think of IKEA, I think instructions that come in only picto-format (which I usually have to do twice) and making the most out of limited space. This ad takes a traditional 300×250 and makes it into a browsing experience (not quite shopping experience as you can’t purchase inline in ad) much larger than the traditional constraints dictate.
2) Brings the store to the consumer.
Getting someone to passively engage with a banner can be difficult (please look over here at me, I’m not a monkey that needs to be punched, I promise). Getting them to disengage with the website that they are currently on is even more difficult. This IKEA ad doesn’t require the audience to jump to the brand’s site on the first level of engagement. It lets the consumer browse through and let the viewer find the object that suits their fancy.
Where this can be improved is by creating the full purchase experience inline. Make it like a mobile app where space is limited, so you have to be smart about UX in your limited 300×250, yet make it fully functional.
Where professional teams can use this is porting the shopping experience for tickets and merchandise on affiliate sites. Buy the local newspaper website and have a fully operational ticket store (complete with discounts and offers) rather than just having a picture of the upcoming opponent.