NEW DELHI: Lagom. A single word that succinctly sums up the Swedish ethos of moderation in everything. But when it comes to home furnishings retailer Ikea’s India operations, they have been anything but lagom.

Ikea recently inaugurated its second store in India in Navi Mumbai on 18 December with an aim to create a better everyday life for those with big dreams and slim wallets. Unlike the mega launch marked by much fanfare in Hyderabad in 2018, where people flocked to the store in huge numbers, Ikea had to maintain an in-store limit this time in keeping with Covid2019 protocols. Despite restrictions, the opening of 5.3 lakh+ sq ft store was still a huge hit, as the in-store visit slots were pre-booked heavily. Even though it was challenging, the brand managed all the preparations for the store at the height of the pandemic.

“One of the biggest challenges was how do we create the buzz and excitement of a new store and manage to control the crowds and ensure they enjoy a safe shopping experience. We are really happy to say that we managed to achieve this well and our store is off to a good start,” said Ikea India marketing head Amitabh Pande.

Despite being a global brand, India has not been an easy ride for Ikea. It reported net loss of Rs 720 crore in the financial year ended March 2020. On the positive side, its net sales grew 64.68 per cent to Rs 566 crore in FY 2019-20, up from Rs 343.7 crore in the previous fiscal. The furniture retailer needs to create trust, and accessibility for the brand in the Indian market. Unless people are convinced that they are buying a superior product at Ikea at an affordable price in comparison to the traditional store from where they used to purchase furnishing products, they will never adopt the brand. One of the major tasks for the brand is to get consumers to sample its store and catalogues. So, the big marketing challenge in India is ‘How do you build an iconic brand in a new market?’

Pande said, “Ikea is an extremely well known and iconic brand in the rest of the world, whereas in India it started from the ground up. India is a new market, where we get to explore understanding people’s life at home and then based on that connecting deeply and meaningfully with our customers.”

Call it Swedish stoicism, but Ikea’s plans for the Indian market remain undeterred even in the wake of the pandemic. The management continues to believe in the long term vision it has. “We continue to believe in building the brand in India and spending in marketing is a big part of that. We have no plans in altering the existing marketing budget for 2021,” affirmed Pande.

The brand has a long term vision for the Indian market. It has already invested Rs 7,000 crore in India, across its two stores and several fulfilment centres. It is now working towards opening outlets in cities like Bengaluru and New Delhi along with smaller stores in other cities. Ikea continues to focus on opportunities to grow the business in existing channels and through opening new channels and units.

The brand has also ramped up its marketing activities in the last two years, releasing several campaigns across multiple mediums to focus on what role Ikea plays in a consumer’s home. These creatives mostly talk about how consumers can purchase multiple products from Ikea at an extremely nominal price.

Pande shared that the core focus on Ikea’s marketing strategy has always been to create a better everyday life for ‘the many’ and not just the few. The products signal that there is something for everyone, no matter their age, lifestyle or size of wallet.  “In India we have translated the global Ikea vision into a local positioning that we refer to as ‘make every day brighter’. At the heart of it, it is about delivering well designed, functional and affordable products that speaks to the existing and changing needs from the life at home of the many people in India. It involves delivering a satisfying customer experience at our store and online. It involves our ‘people and planet positive’ sustainability agenda and what we do for our communities.”

Ikea is constantly optimising its media mix based on the needs of the campaign and is closely working with its partners to get the best ROI for each media.

“Our ATL strategies are driven by two main aspects. The first is based on building the long-term positioning of our brand as a unique, trusted and meaningful brand. Secondly, it is about activating our existing customers with new reasons to come to our meeting points repeatedly through the year- both online and offline. We have an annual calendar that we follow based on the overall marketing plan for the year,” explained Pande.

Social media is a big part of the brand’s overall communication and media strategy. It is present across all platforms - Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and LinkedIn and is also working with social influencers.

“Our approach is that of sharing unique Ikea communication and content, specially curated and created for social media, with a high frequency engagement with our customers. Our content is driving inspiration around life at home ideas and solutions to make a better everyday life. As well as showing our entire range of affordable home furnishing solutions for people to choose from for their needs at home,” he added.

Ikea will continue to evaluate each media and medium before betting big on it. The brand claims to have built a strong, loyal base in a very short time that comes back to it repeatedly through the year, in stores as well as on its e-commerce website ikea.in. The company has also commenced e-commerce operations in Hyderabad, Mumbai and Pune.

Pande concluded by sharing his learnings from 2020 and pointed that humans are finally realising that they cannot get away with everything. “We are being forced to re-evaluate our ways of living on this planet, expanding our presence at the cost of nature, consuming the limited resources, creating a society that is unequal and even irresponsible. I would like to believe that we have been set on a more humble, reflective and conscientious path, in terms of how we live.

One of the learnings that industries have had is about moving from ‘consumption-led growth’ to ‘purpose-led growth’. What this means is being clear on the purpose of our brands, he added.

“As I see it, consumption has been the fundamental building block for all modern economies. To the extent that so many of us believe that consumption = happiness. Brands and businesses are built on growing consumption year after year. But once we start questioning this fundamental growth driver, then how do we move forward. This is a key question we all need to answer,” Pande signed off.