IKEA Marketing Strategy: a brief overview

IKEA marketing strategy is based on sophisticated customer research and market research. “IKEA actually sends design experts into people’s homes to listen to their concerns and provide feedback. This allows IKEA evangelists to make marketing decisions based on people’s real-life experiences rather than just surveys or data.”[1] Accordingly, it can be argued that marketing strategy of IKEA is proactive, rather than reactive.

In 2018, the world’s largest furniture retailer shifted its marketing focus from rooms to product innovation. The ‘magic’ blue bag has been placed at the core of marketing strategy of IKEA and the latest ads have been designed to illustrate how the addition of just a few innovative items can transform the home for the better.

Generally, IKEA marketing strategy integrates the following:

1. Focusing on product and price elements of the marketing mix. Specifically, IKEA attempts to offer the greatest range of products for the lowest cost. Economies of scale play an instrumental role in achieving competitive prices. The Swedish furniture chain offers mixed-and-matchedproducts accommodating unique style and needs of each customer. Reusable durability is another important feature of IKEA products. Along with product and price, additional elements of marketing mix, also known as 7Ps of marketing include place, promotion, process, people and physical evidence.

2. Using mono-segment, adaptive and aesthetic types of product positioning. The furniture retailer targets cost-conscious customer segment that prefers to get value for money they pay. Accordingly, IKEA has adapted the lowest costs of its products along with the widest range as the unique selling proposition of the brand. The home improvement and furnishing chain continually adapts its products to changing customer needs and wants on the basis of its proven ‘democratic design’ concept.

3. Integrating several channels of marketing communication such as print and media advertising, sales promotions, events and experiences, public relations and direct marketing. Specifically, the furniture giant derives the maximum benefits from print and media advertising and direct marketing. The marketing message focuses on consistent and unmistakably recognizable theme in terms of prices, design, product names and brand colour scheme.

4. Effectively applying product placement marketing technique. Product placement is one of the important tools within IKEA marketing strategy. Movies such as Fight Club, Cash Back, 500 Days of Summer and TV programs such as 30 Rock: Blind Date, Being Human (UK): Ghost Town and Little Britain can be mentioned as the most notable cases of product placement by IKEA.

IKEA Group Report contains the above analysis of IKEA marketing strategy. The report illustrates the application of the major analytical strategic frameworks in business studies such as SWOT, PESTEL, Porter’s Five Forces, Value Chain analysis, Ansoff Matrix and McKinsey 7S Model on IKEA. Moreover, the report contains analyses of IKEA leadership, organizational structure and organizational culture. The report also comprises discussions of IKEA business strategy, ecosystem and addresses issues of corporate social responsibility.

[1] Walgrove, A. (2014) “How IKEA Became Kings of Content Marketing” Contently, Available at: https://contently.com/strategist/2014/11/07/how-ikea-became-kings-of-content-marketing/