IKEA Marketing Strategy Case Study

It’s difficult to talk about quality-made, affordable home furnishings without mentioning IKEA. The Swedish brand is synonymous with modernist designs, sustainability, affordability, and ready-to-assemble products. The retailing powerhouse has grown into one of the world’s most well-known and largest home furnishing companies in many ways because of its marketing strategy, which includes an iconic logo and various campaigns. In this in-depth overview, we explore the IKEA marketing strategy and highlight what has worked for the furniture giant.

IKEA’s Brand History

Before IKEA reached millions of customers in countries all over the world, the company started from humble beginnings. Ingvar Kamprad founded IKEA in 1943 at the age of 17 after receiving a small sum of money from his father. Ingvar was born in Småland, Sweden, a region known for resourceful people who are experts at making the most out of a little, a quality that remains at the heart of IKEA today.

The name IKEA is an acronym that celebrates the company’s Swedish heritage. The I stands for Ingvar, the founder’s first name. The K represents Kamprad for the founder’s last name. E is symbolic as it is meant to honor Elmtaryd, the farm where Ingvar grew up. The A stands for Agunnaryd, the name of the parish in Ingvar’s home village.

IKEA’s Core Values and Target Demographics

IKEA bases its operational decision-making on its core values. Shaped during a time when harsh living conditions were common for people in Sweden, these values have helped foster a culture of entrepreneurship and a celebration of hard work from when the company was founded to the present day.

While the business has evolved from its origins, IKEA still holds onto its core values. The brand continuously seeks innovative solutions for getting things done and bringing out the best in itself and others.

Togetherness

With a belief that it is strongest as a whole, IKEA’s culture is rooted in togetherness. The company believes it is better positioned to impact and succeed when everyone trusts each other, pulls in the same direction, and has fun making a difference together.

Caring For People and the Planet

While IKEA’s catalog includes home furnishings, the company sells more than that. With a commitment to being a force for positive change, IKEA’s values include a desire to make a significant and lasting impact on people and the planet. IKEA hopes to drive change for people today and generations to come.

Cost-Consciousness

IKEA believes beauty and function shouldn’t correlate with cost and that as many people as possible should be able to afford furnishings that complete their space. The retailer continually challenges itself to create more with less to achieve low costs while maintaining the high-quality products that have helped earn its reputation.

Simplicity

Simple, straightforward, and down-to-earth are qualities IKEA lives by. Always staying true to itself, IKEA prefers being close to reality, allowing it to remain informal and pragmatic.

Renew and Improve

IKEA possesses a relentless dedication to improving. This value instills the thought that whatever the furniture retailer does today, it can do better tomorrow. Finding new solutions and better ways of thinking has greatly contributed to IKEA’s success and is a source of inspiration for whatever the next challenge may be.

Intentionally Different

IKEA is not like other companies, and that’s on purpose. Forgoing the status quo and viewing bureaucracy as the antithesis of growth, IKEA prefers to approach relevant topics and business decisions in unconventional ways. This ideology encourages team members to dare to experiment and creates a culture that’s okay with mistakes.

Give and Take Responsibility

IKEA’s values include a mindset that empowers individuals to grow and develop by giving and taking responsibility. With an emphasis on trust, positivity, and a forward-looking mentality, IKEA aims to inspire everyone to contribute to development.

Lead By Example

Leadership is not viewed as a title of position at IKEA. Instead, it is considered an action that entails leading by example to bring out the best in everyone.

To achieve success through its campaigns and marketing channels, the furniture conglomerate has studied to understand its customer base. IKEA serves a diverse population of young and middle-aged consumers who seek affordable, functional, and stylish product offerings.

The Evolution of IKEA’s Logo

What is a well-known brand without an iconic logo, insignia, or emblem? IKEA’s blue and yellow logo is recognized by people all over the world, confirming the furniture retailer’s stature in the global market.

IKEA’s logo hasn’t always donned its hallmark blue and yellow colors. Keeping with its core value of continuously innovating and charging forward, IKEA has upgraded its logo many times throughout its history.

1950s

In 1951, IKEA introduced a round emblem meant to look like a red wax seal in connection with the company’s first home furnishing catalog. The logo featured the IKEA name in an italicized cursive font with all lowercase letters. The logo also included the tagline Kvalitets Garanti (quality guarantee). The seal design was short-lived and only used for one year.

The IKEA logo underwent a complete revamp in 1952. The updated logo embraced an abstract design with vertical lines. The logo’s focus resembled a cloud with the IKEA name placed diagonally in uppercase letters only. By this time in the company’s history, the furniture retailer was selling furniture in hardwood, which was represented in the logo’s cream and light brown color scheme.

The logo was revamped again in 1953, simplifying its design by removing the vertical stripes from the previous version. The tagline Agunnaryd was showcased at the bottom right corner.

In 1955-1956, the IKEA logo featured a yellow and black palette. The logo’s design remained consistent, only adding a black wordmark and yellow background. The tagline was moved from the bottom right corner of the logo to the right.

IKEA’s logo shifted to a light beige background with a black square and emblem from 1956-1957. The logo’s tagline was replaced with Almhult for the village where the brand began.

The logo took on bold colors for the first time in 1957. The black emblem was showcased on a bright yellow square outlined in black. The IKEA name appeared in white and was creatively outlined in yellow. Taglines Mobel and Almhult appeared in black on opposite corners of the logo.

Starting in 1958, IKEA removed the cloud design for an oval shape, with an emblem in white and the background in black. The logo’s lettering was designed to appear more refined, giving it a cleaner look.

1960s

By the 1960s, the IKEA logo began taking on a more standardized look and a resemblance to the IKEA logo seen today. In 1962, the accent above the E in the IKEA name was removed and the logo’s font was reimagined. IKEA stopped using a diagonal wordmark design and began using its iconic horizontal wordmark inside the oval emblem, resembling the modern logo. The logo’s tagline was now presented above and below the oval shape.

In 1965, the logo was further simplified with a monochrome look that featured a black emblem and white background. The tagline was moved again to the bottom of the oval emblem until it was completely removed in 1967. With no tagline or outline, IKEA’s logo only showcased the company’s name in a crisp font inside the oval shape for a sophisticated and refined design.

1980s

After a decade and a half with no changes, IKEA decided it was time for a new look in 1981 with the addition of red. This was the first time IKEA used red in its logo since 1951. However, it was brief, as IKEA transitioned to the familiar blue and yellow logo in 1982, becoming the hallmark of the brand’s identity.

Present Day

The IKEA logo underwent a minor refresh in 2019, producing the logo that is seen today. Slight changes to the logo’s spacing, serifs, and color provided a modern design while maintaining the brand identity.

IKEA Through the Decades

IKEA has a long-standing history dating back to when its founder, Ingvar Kamprad, started the company as a mail-order business, selling household goods. In 1948, the company began selling furniture, marking the start of the IKEA range. Even in its early years, IKEA stressed a consumer-friendly pricing strategy and aimed to maintain affordable prices.

The now-established furniture brand launched its first catalog in 1951 and its first showroom soon after in 1953. It wasn’t until 1956 when Ingvar would have a revelation that would change the company forever. As he saw two delivery men removing the legs from a table to fit it into their vehicle, Ingvar was sparked with an idea, which included the flat-pack furniture phenomenon that we know today.

After realizing the concept of manufacturing affordable furniture that customers could construct themselves, IKEA’s sales began increasing. While Ingvar and IKEA didn’t come up with the idea of flat-pack furniture, they revolutionized it to solve transportation challenges. IKEA is credited for making this tactic common practice for many furniture brands today.

In the following decades, IKEA expanded its global reach, establishing operations throughout Scandinavia. The expansion plan continued in the 1970s, including Australia, Austria, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Kuwait, the Netherlands, Singapore and Switzerland.

Today, IKEA operates 473 IKEA stores in 63 countries and five territories. The countries with the most stores include Germany, the USA, China, and France. Each IKEA store remains consistent with its iconic look and brand image.

The Importance of the IKEA Catalog

For over 70 years, the IKEA catalog was a key direct mail marketing tool for the Swedish furniture company. In addition to highlighting the latest IKEA products, the catalog served as a source of inspiration for many people around the world and acted as a manifesto for the company’s vision. The catalog played a pivotal role in establishing IKEA as a brand.

In the beginning, Ingvar Kamprad wrote most of the texts himself. Over time, the catalog grew in numbers, distribution, and scope. At the height of its popularity, the IKEA catalog was distributed in over 50 countries and translated into 32 languages.

The catalog has changed over time, reflecting the changing design trends and preferences of consumers. However, in December 2020, IKEA announced that it would end publication of its catalog after the 2021 edition, marking the end of a 70-year run. The furniture brand cited changing customer behavior and media consumption as the reasons for its decision. In response, IKEA has increased its digital marketing initiatives.

The 6 Best Marketing Campaigns

Effective marketing strategies inspire direct action amongst target audiences. The marketing campaigns that have the most impact are the ones that can elicit an emotive response from consumers.

To achieve this, IKEA has produced some of the most creative marketing campaigns that go well beyond simple IKEA product listings. Check out some of the most impactful marketing approaches from the furniture brand.

Pregnancy Test

IKEA made noise in the marketing space when it ran an ad in 2018 for a baby crib that served as a functional pregnancy test. Accompanied by the tagline, “peeing on this ad could change your life”, the bold and innovative promotion was meant to be removed from the publication for women to use as any other over-the-counter pregnancy test.

The ad contained a special paper strip that, when exposed to urine, would react chemically to the presence of the pregnancy hormone hCG, causing a color change indicating a positive result. Instead of the standard indication for a positive test, the ad revealed a 50% discount if a positive result was delivered, which IKEA would honor.

The creative ad campaign is a great example of how content marketing material can be practical without appearing too gimmicky. Furthermore, the imaginative ad highlights the importance of creating campaigns that resonate with target audiences and hold tangible value from the perspective of the consumer.

Measuring Tape Catalogue

In many instances, consumers briefly peruse through a catalog and put it down with no further action. To entice people to pick up their catalog again after the initial glance, IKEA came up with a marketing campaign to turn their catalog into a useful tool — a measuring tape.

The measuring tape featured IKEA’s most popular items in their exact measurements and directed consumers to the page in the catalog where they could see more information and options regarding the product. This creative way of keeping their catalog relevant empowered and inspired the reader to purchase a product and become the builder.

Paris Subway Installation

IKEA has done well to think outside the box to reach prospective consumers through its creative marketing campaigns. One example of this is when the company had the idea to turn four Paris subway stations into interactive exhibits.

Wall art turned station walls into room scenarios and actual IKEA furniture completed the space. The campaign encouraged the public to test out IKEA products in real time and garnered huge buzz about IKEA’s approach to marketing.

“Moving Day” Campaign

IKEA does not shy away from trying different marketing techniques. After all, one of the company’s core values is to be intentionally different and dare to experiment. That mindset was on full display with IKEA’s “Moving Day” campaign.

Moving Day is a tradition in Quebec where many people move at once on July 1st. The reason is most residential leases in the province end on June 30th, making it a day of widespread moving activity. The result is often significant traffic congestion and a high demand for moving services and supplies.

IKEA’s “Moving Day” campaign was launched in Quebec and was an interactive promotion that provided residents with an essential moving supply— cardboard boxes. However, the free boxes, which consumers were welcome to take, were meant to do more than simply package possessions. The boxes listed valuable moving information, such as how the boxes could be re-purposed as household objects, moving checklists and tips, and special dinner promotions for those who had yet to set up their kitchens in their new place.

Additionally, the free boxes included a discounted offer of IKEA’s flat-pack furniture with the tagline “This Box Flap is no ordinary box flap… it’s also a coupon.” While this promotion was meant to be the purpose of the campaign, IKEA did it in a way that avoided being overly promotional but still achieved the campaign’s overall goal.

Brands that can incorporate advertising organically through creative tactics often receive a competitive advantage, especially in today’s modern age. Consumers increasingly shy away from market-leading brands and corporations that rely too often on a salesy tone to engage potential customers.

The “BookBook” Campaign

As almost every brand transitions to digital marketing tactics with more consumers using high-end devices, IKEA decided to take a different approach. For their 2015 catalog, IKEA decided to roll out their innovative BookBook ad campaign. They presented their annual catalog as a high-resolution, cutting-edge book.

Meant to be funny and sarcastic, the campaign marketed the catalog with technological terms, highlighting its wireless capability, limitless battery life, instant refresh rate, and tactile touch technology to navigate between the preinstalled content.

This fun and tongue-in-cheek approach to marketing aims to humanize IKEA as a brand and create an emotional connection between the furniture giant and its target audience. The campaign was widely popular, receiving millions of views on YouTube and capturing the attention of a diverse customer base, including new consumers the brand wanted to reach.

Furthermore, the marketing campaign aired alongside the release of Apple’s iPhone 6, fortifying IKEA’s messaging and creating a more insightful context.

Where Life Happens – The TrueView Ad Campaign

While most IKEA marketing campaigns are playful in nature, this one took a more serious approach to some of life’s difficult scenarios. Rather than showing joyous moments of people interacting with IKEA products, this campaign focused on individuals coping with tough, real-life situations and the role that IKEA plays in these circumstances.

One example, titled “Every Other Week”, shows a divorced father picking up his son, who is struggling with the separation. As the boy walks into his room at his father’s new apartment, he finds it has been decorated to replicate the one in his mother’s house.

Another example, titled “Enough”, shows an overworked mother coming home with groceries after a long day. When she arrives, she finds a messy home full of teenagers. Stressed and at her breaking point, the mother drops the grocery bags and walks out to take a moment. As she leaves, the teenagers recognize her pain and begin cleaning up.

These ads, although gritty, focus on emotive narratives that are a reality for many consumers, while IKEA products appear seamlessly in the background. At the end of the ads, product names and prices appear on the screen, creating subtle but non-intrusive prompts to fulfill the campaign’s commercial purpose.

Don’t Forget the Meatballs

For almost 40 years, IKEA has served Swedish meatballs to its shoppers. IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad believed hungry customers are distracted and less likely to shop. Serving food aims to enhance the IKEA customer experience by keeping shoppers full and engaged, making them more likely to stay longer and buy what they need.

IKEA’s famous Swedish meatballs were first offered to customers in 1985 after Swedish chef Severin Sjöstedt created a delicious-tasting meatball that was affordable and easy to serve. The meatballs have become so well-known that they are now as famous as IKEA’s flat-pack furniture.

Realizing the popularity and impact of its in-store experience, IKEA expanded its offerings in 2015, introducing a chicken variety as an alternative to red meat. That same year, IKEA introduced vegetable balls, a meat-free alternative for vegans, vegetarians, and anyone who appreciates great-tasting food.

Keeping with its company value of continuously innovating, IKEA began offering a meatball for fish lovers in 2018. The salmon balls are made from ASC-certified Norwegian salmon. Staying true to its commitment to people and the planet, IKEA ensures nothing goes to waste by using salmon pieces that are too small as whole fillets but perfect for meatballs.

Throughout its history, IKEA has achieved success through its willingness to adapt. When a global pandemic forced the world into lockdown, IKEA offered its iconic meatballs to customers by presenting an easy-to-follow recipe to make at home.

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