Åhléns – Ett varuhus för alla
Repositioning an icon for a new era
Role: Strategy
Agency: Forsman & Bodenfors
After more than a century in business, Åhléns was in danger of becoming a wallpaper brand. Almost 100% brand awareness in Sweden, but liked rather than loved – an expected presence on the high street that people wouldn’t miss if it disappeared.
The brand had always believed it was a department store for everyone. The problem was that nothing in its communication showed it. My job was to build the platform and strategy that would change that.
The insight was rooted in what Åhléns had always stood for but never fully expressed: radical inclusion. Not as a trend or a campaign idea, but as a genuine business truth. The brief was to shift people’s attitude from like to love – and to do that, Åhléns needed a strong personality and the courage to take a stand.
Part of the strategic shift was structural. Åhléns had been advertising by category – competing with fashion retailers on fashion, beauty retailers on beauty – which meant it was losing on every front. The insight was that its real competitive advantage was the department store itself. We repositioned Åhléns as a conscious department store that carefully selects for everyday life, and moved from siloed category campaigns to a unified, brand-led platform.
That platform became the foundation for a series of campaigns that deliberately broke with the norms of Swedish advertising. A transgender model at a time when that was far from industry standard. The world’s fastest 70-year-old fronting a sports and wellness concept instead of a 25-year-old athlete. Eight children from one of Sweden’s smallest schools in Lapland as the faces of a back-to-school collection. Women of different backgrounds in outdoor advertising, reflecting the customers actually shopping in the stores.
Each campaign was a deliberate expression of the same idea: that everyone is welcome, and that Åhléns means it. The platform carried a commitment: that over time, anyone should be able to see themselves in Åhléns’ communication. Not as a gesture, but as a consistent standard.
The work sparked significant public debate, with both strong support and vocal criticism. But that was part of the point. Taking a genuine stand on values means accepting that not everyone will agree – and that tension is what earns media and a place in people’s minds and hearts that money can’t buy.
