Analyzing IKEA's Strategic Communication: A Comprehensive Case Study

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of IKEA's strategic communication strategy, examining its various campaigns and marketing tactics. The report begins with an introduction to strategic communication and how brands use it to connect with their audience. It then presents a case study of IKEA, focusing on its multichannel distribution and communication strategy, including its use of catalogs, store design, and customer experience. The report highlights the best ideas in IKEA's campaigns, such as its flat-pack furniture, low-cost restaurants, and store layout, as well as the goals and objectives of these campaigns. It also discusses the negative aspects of the campaign. The report then explores what can be learned from IKEA's approach and how these lessons can be applied in the future, emphasizing the importance of creating a positive customer experience and maintaining a consistent brand identity across all channels. The report concludes with a list of references.

Running Head: Strategic communication strategy
IKEA
Strategic communication strategy
Case study

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Table of Content:
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................2
Best Ideas in the campaign....................................................................................................................3
Bad Points of the campaign...................................................................................................................5
Goals and Objectives.............................................................................................................................5
Learning from the campaign..................................................................................................................7
Future Idea Implementation..................................................................................................................7
References.............................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
This essay will cater to understanding of the concept of strategic communication, how
brands use strategic communication to connect with their audience and get them hooked to
their products or services. Companies come up with different campaigns catering to its
target audience; some campaigns manage to click with the audience, while some die
completely flat. Hence, campaigns have to be created with a good understanding of the
audience behaviour, current trends in the industry/market, the channel of communication.
Cumulative effect of all these points results into an impactful campaign (Vercic, 2016)
In the essay, I will be analysing case study of IKEA, will see some of its campaign, what were
the high points of the campaign and what were the low points, was the campaign
successful, why was the campaign successful, what were the good points of the campaign,
what can be learnt from the campaign and so on. All these points will make us understand
about the strategic communication brands wants to have with its audience (Thomas &
Stephens, 2016)
We would also focus on the learning derived from the campaign of IKEA and how it can be
implemented in the future. Strategic communication can mean communicating either a
concept, process, idea which satisfies long term goal of the organization. IKEA has been
known to create some brilliant campaigns in the past and have always managed to stir its
audience with its creative thinking and ability to engage the audience with its campaign
(Peppard & Ward, 2016)

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Best Ideas in the campaign
A campaign can be understood of as a series of advertisement message that share a single
idea and a theme which make up an integrated marketing communication (IMC). These
campaigns utilize diverse media channels over a particular time frame catering to its
audience. Campaigns are launched to achieve an objective, usually of a large scale over a
period of time. A campaign can have objectives like, increase in sales, communicating some
product knowledge, educating the customer etc (Luxton, Reid & Mayondo, 2015)
The case study looks at the Swedish giant IKEA, which is not only surviving difficult economic
times, but is rapidly expanding its retail presence in the Asia Pacific (APAC). One of the
major highlights of IKEA’s success has been its innovative multichannel distribution and
communication strategy. IKEA was smart to notice that the retail market has evolved in
terms of the purchasing behaviour, people were using high street retail chains to look for
the product and then they track it down online to get the best buy. IKEA understood this
pattern and wanted to make most of it. Hence, it entire strategic communication focussed
towards getting the customer in the outlet and making them stay (Ngai & Falkheimer, 2017)
 IKEA operates a highly effective multichannel distribution and communication
strategy that successfully blends the physical outlet with a paper catalogue as well as
online shopping (Garvey, 2017)
 Printing of 198 million copies, in 56 editions, in 27 different languages in the year
2010, was a great communicative strategy.
 Atmospheric and store design, IKEA quickly noticed that atmospherics, a term
popularly coined by Philip Kilter, was a very important part of buyers behaviour. IKEA
stressed on the store design as a part of its strategic communication, because it is a
fact that, consumers interact in a pleasant atmosphere and thus IKEA captivated that
aspect(Spence, Puccinelli, Grewal & Roggeveen, 2014)

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 IKEA’s store entrances communicating the corporate logo and “Brand Sweden”
connotations, all stores have exteriors and entrances emblazoned in colours match
Swedish flag. Global surveys have associate Swedish products with extremely high
level of quality, technological innovation, user friendliness and social responsibility
(Kristoffersson, 2014)
 IKEA restaurant not only lets customers stay in the outlet for long, but also offers
them low priced, exclusively Swedish menu which matches the brand value of the
store, an absolutely brilliant strategy by maintaining the uniformity(Douma, 2016)
 Shoppers are constantly reminded of IKEA’s value association via messages
throughout the store. The shopping experience reinforces the concept of value
obtained through self service, which is also communicated in the in store map (Wolf
& Wispeler, 2015)
 IKEA’s another brilliant part of campaign was its flat pack furniture items, it sends
out a clear message related to the added value that the customer gain by choosing
to construct the items themselves (Tiwari, 2015)
 IKEA has prepared the store, with the communication in mind that it’s for the
customers to shop themselves. In all their stores this communication is persistent,
also their refund policies being fantastic, makes customers put their trust with IKEA
 Another key objective of the campaign is to keep the customers in the store for
maximum time; this they manage by taking care of shoppers basic needs, child
rooms, restaurants etc. This facilitates the customers to go through lengthy
merchandize which are all over the store. A resolute concept and a great
communicative strategy (Prange, 2016)
 The store increases its customer interaction by placing in kitchen planners, interior
planners etc., and so more the interaction the chances of conversion increase by a
fair amount.
 IKEA has a different communication strategy for its different target groups- for
examples they have product range exclusive for singles, young families, the colouring
of the interior is according to the target group, this all encompasses a beautiful
designed communication strategy made for all its target groups.

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These are some of the best ideas of the campaign. IKEA sure is a market leader when it
comes to taking the concept of Place from 7P’s of marketing this seriously and making
something really engaging and big out of it. IKEA’s entire communication strategy is based
on the store designs and layout, it’s atmospheric and the way it pleases people, make them
feel at peace and adds fun to their shopping experience (Lofgren, 2015)
Bad Points of the campaign
In the context of this case study, in my personal opinion I did not find any bad point in the
campaign , but, yes , if relatively the campaign identifiers are kept in mind, some factors can
be termed as inconsiderate or relatively bad.
 IKEA I order to engage with the customers keeps them busy in huge lines, allowing
them a chance to view its entire product section and wide range of product. This is a
good strategy of communication, knowing the day of shopping is a weekend or some
relaxed day, but in normal daily hours, this would certainly bring in irritation to the
customers as to why they have to go through the lengthy walk in order to make a
purchase.
 Another communication strategy, which in my opinion is great but has certain flaws
attached to it, for example when a shopper enters the store, he looks through the
product he is wishing to purchase, and then have to get in the line which goes to the
main hall, where the billing counter is, a lot of items are placed over their which does
not suit the requirement of buyer, but are just kept to initiate impulse purchase. This
is somewhat deceiving the customer, by luring them in, a good communication
strategy for business but not so good for the pocket of customer.
As mentioned earlier, the campaign of IKEA is flawless, with little or less scope to
improvement, but yes, having said that, the store had some points in the campaign which
lies at both sides of the spectrum.

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Goals and Objectives
IKEA had specific goals related to the campaign as discussed in the case study, some of the
strategies it used in order to achieve those goals are
Goals & Objectives Strategy
Communicating corporate image and
differentiate from competition
Flat pack self-assembly furniture
Low cost restaurant with Swedish food
Special offers, loyalty card, membership,
family card
Staff uniforms
Displays showing product quality testing
Complement other channels of
communication-for example media
campaign support
Consistent messages, images and themes
throughout the store, even in rest rooms
and café that matches the communication of
other channels as well.
Catalogues available in store for customers
to collect carry and make notes in.
Communicate range of services and
products on offer
Visible and accessible staff help information
points
Store maps, layout information & clear
signage
Facilitate efficient and friendly service
delivery
Staff uniforms
Adequate parking
Adequate check out and car pick up points
Standardized design/formats across the
network
Increase the customer interaction and build
relationship
Store loyalty membership card
Kitchen planners, catalogue dissemination
etc.
Create appeal for specific customer Colour schemes and designs that appeal to

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segments/target group specific target groups.
Product ranges specific to the target group.
Provide a comfortable shopping
environment and favourable customer
experiences
Restaurant, child rooms, rest rooms
Physically comfortable and aesthetically
pleasing environment
Appropriate temperature and humidity
Use of complementary colour schemes.
Learning from the campaign:
IKEA believes in creating an experience for its customers, rather than the product. IKEA is
one of the few companies who have understood very early, that the only way to get
customers engage with the brand is by enriching their experience. Many companies have
fail to understand this concept, and so keep on tweaking their product and services, and do
not focus on the experience, IKEA though have kept its head high and worked towards
enriching the experience of customer, which has helped them build a connect and
relationship with the brand. IKEA has throughout maintained its brand identity, the
signage’s, the Swedish flag design on the entrance of the stores, across the globe, resonates
its values of great quality of product, technological innovation with its customer, this helps
them in connecting with the customer. It’s like if a person witnesses a kitchen, he would
know its IKEA’s kitchen, which is the strong brand identity of IKEA. The brand is great at
designing its content; IKEA understands the relevancy and importance of good content
creation. It’s brilliant catalogues, in 27 different languages and in 50 different editions is a
remarkable proof of it. IKEA does everything possible to know its customers really well, and
hence uses kitchen planners, catalogue dissemination for it, the company has various forms
lying around the store walkthroughs, where customers can leave in their feedback, and IKEA
is one company who takes the feedback seriously in an ode to improve the customer
experience.

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Future Idea Implementation
The ideas in the campaign, gives an important insight on Atmospherics, IKEA with a strong
focus on Place, from 7P’s of marketing has done wonders for it. IKEA is known all across the
globe for its beautiful aesthetic store designs and layouts. It’s out of the class designing,
colours matching to the target group of the consumers, it’s in store merchandising etc.
strikes a chord with its customers. Hence, my learning is, if you want to be best at your
game, focus on all the 7P’s of marketing, keep the overall marketing communication
consistent across all the channels and focus on enriching the customer experience with the
brand (Li & Zhang, 2016)

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References
Verčič, D., 2016. Why Invest in Strategic Communication? Because It Creates
Value. Communication Management Review, 1(01), pp.28-40.
Thomas, G.F. and Stephens, K.J., 2015. An introduction to strategic communication.
Peppard, J. and Ward, J., 2016. The strategic management of information systems: Building
a digital strategy. John Wiley & Sons.
Luxton, S., Reid, M. and Mavondo, F., 2015. Integrated marketing communication capability
and brand performance. Journal of Advertising, 44(1), pp.37-46.
Ngai, S.B.C. and Falkheimer, J., 2017. How IKEA turned a crisis into an opportunity. Public
Relations Review, 43(1), pp.246-248.
Löfgren, O., 2015. Design by IKEA. A Cultural History.
Tiwari, S., 2015. Standardized marketing strategies: a solution to the global competition? A
case study of IKEA in Norway, Sweden, France and China (Master's thesis, Universitetet i
Nordland).
Douma, P., 2016. The fundamentals of a co-creation campaign(Master's thesis, University of
Twente).
Prange, C. ed., 2016. Market Entry in China: Case Studies on Strategy, Marketing, and
Branding. Springer.

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Li, J. and Zhang, Y., 2016. Chinese Consumers’ Attitudes toward Experiential Marketing: The
Case of IKEA.
Spence, C., Puccinelli, N.M., Grewal, D. and Roggeveen, A.L., 2014. Store atmospherics: A
multisensory perspective. Psychology & Marketing, 31(7), pp.472-488.
Garvey, P., 2017. Consuming IKEA and Inspiration as Material Form. Design Anthropology:
Object Cultures in Transition, p.101.
Garvey, P., 2017. Consuming IKEA and Inspiration as Material Form. Design Anthropology:
Object Cultures in Transition, p.101.
Kristoffersson, S., 2014. Design by IKEA: a cultural history. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Wolf, L. and Wispeler, A., 2015. Format Development and its Effects on Store Image–A Case
Study on the inner-city IKEA Hamburg-Altona.

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