IKEA: Visuals, Stories, Art
You may not think a retail furniture company would have that much of a story or personality attached to it. But IKEA has built itself a notable reputation for build-it-yourself, functional, and well-designed home furnishings. Now can I just say, IKEA has a multitude of social media accounts for the different countries it does business or has stores in. On their YouTube they have more than one channel representing other IKEAs in other countries. This is not even half the number of IKEA channels available! :
But that’s just for one social media platform; IKEA has these multiple social media accounts across more than one platform, on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Needless to say, that is A LOT of social media accounts to handle, manage, and create for, for one brand.
I think where most of the important and interesting content resides is definitely YouTube. Here, IKEA shows and tells the story of what they as a company are up to, whether it be good or charitable works, art projects, events, or practical and entertaining advice and tips. One of the main things they showcase is their corporate social responsibility (CSR). On their IKEA USA YouTube channel, they have a whole playlist or section called “People & Planet,” showing their main commitment to the local communities they operate in. What’s amazing about this is that by doing this, they also tell the stories of those they are working to help, as well as bring awareness to such situations and issues.
One video talks about the IKEA Foundation working with Save the Children to help combat the problem of child labour in India. It explains how children are at risk of being used to pick cotton, especially when families are living in cotton communities, depriving them of the chance to go to school. The rest of the video goes on to explain how their programme trains teachers for schools for these children, and how they will be expanding the programme in other states in India. Videos like these tell the story of IKEA’s initiatives while also representing the lives of the people they help as well. They contribute to their brand of focusing on sustainability and quality of life through their products by showing that they care about the impact they can have on the world.
Another primary aspect of IKEA’s YouTube content is showcasing creativity and design through their collections, which usually include a collaboration with artists or designers to create limited edition IKEA products. Doing this subtly gives people the association of IKEA being a curator of art and design of sorts, and is done through their yearly Democratic Design Days event, where they showcase these collaborations.
The INDUSTRIELL collection, designed by an independent Dutch designer by the name of Piet Hein Eek, is talked about on the Democratic Design event videos. But, there was also a creative video made to promote the collection, as there are for all the collections that come out.
It’s a cute little animation video, with the designer’s voice over, talking about how he made the collection with IKEA. The way that the video was made is an entertaining and creative way of telling the designer’s story of how he created the collection. There was also a collection, OMEDELBAR, made in collaboration with a fashion activist named Bea Åkerlund. Again, it’s just another entertaining and creative video to show what IKEA does and creates.
What some of these creative videos make me realise is that such videos alone can be enough to warrant someone to be interested and subscribe for such things only, that is, following creatives and their work (and a chance to purchase what they create !). With IKEA’s continued practice of working with artists and designers to create pieces for them, their documentation of such projects can act as an appeal to other creatives, especially those working within the Creative Industries. It can also act as a place for them to discover new designers and/or artists, as there is a video called “Get to know Bea Åkerlund”. And so, by extension, IKEA can be seen as a creative hub for those with creative professions to seek collaborations and projects with. What these videos about artists and designers also do is show that IKEA is interested in such creative projects or collaborations, and that art and creativity is important to them as a company trait.
Moving onto a different social media platform: Instagram. There are also a lot of different Instagram accounts for IKEA representing other countries, but for the sake of this post, I’ll focus on the IKEA Canada accounts.
So IKEA seems to be killing it at the visual marketing game on Instagram. Their feed looks like that of an interior designer with a cool lifestyle. Definitely showcasing their products prettily. As well, this is how they want you to see their products arranged and used. From their perspective, IKEA sees what they sell as beautiful and functional; their bio description shows that: “The beautiful kind of world we want. The beautiful kind of home we want.” Despite all of that, it is quite obvious that the option to buy something and them telling you is consistent.
Every now and then there will be posts with the name and (discounted) price on the picture. As you’re scrolling through their feed, it does kind of sully the feeling of authenticity you might initially get when you first stumble across an IKEA account. However, that doesn’t seem to deter people from commenting genuine enthusiasm and appreciation for the product or the brand. In fact, IKEA is very active in answering questions made through the Instagram posts, albeit through a tone that’s a tad bit generic or robotic at times. But, nonetheless, they are very helpful, and it can be seen that they care and will do the work necessary to answer any type of question they can. In one post, someone asks when a certain product will be stocked next in Calgary, and IKEA responded with information about a delay in the delivery. This helps to build good relationships and brand association between customers. The depth and consistency at which IKEA answers and responds to questions is definitely an effective way to maintain customer loyalty.
IKEA also have an Instagram account called IKEA Today, and it shows the behind-the-scenes development of products. Essentially what this separate IKEA account is doing is featuring people who are working for or collaborating with IKEA, allowing them to tell their story about the product they are developing. So it’s not just IKEA’s story, it’s the people’s and individuals’ that make up IKEA. This Instagram account is just a snapshot of those stories; there is a link to each full story’s details to an IKEA blog in the post descriptions. At the same time, they are marketing their products in a way that gives them personality and substance; they are showcasing the work that went into it by allowing those who work on it to tell their thoughts and processes about it. It’s being inclusive, including customers with the products themselves. What a way to differentiate and create a strong brand presence.
Now, the Facebook and Twitter accounts for IKEA seem to be more of regurgitating or repeating information made through the YouTube and especially Instagram accounts, although with some differentiation. The IKEA Twitter account (at least for Canada) seems to have a better sense of engagement than Facebook. Occasionally IKEA would retweet posts that have IKEA hashtags or IKEA mentions, further engaging the audience and encouraging more interaction with the brand.
Ultimately, I am just quite amazed that IKEA can pull off the consistency and style of what the brand wants to communicate across all social accounts of all social platforms it resides. They’ve managed to convey a distinct brand personality and style, mainly through storytelling and visual marketing, usually at the same time. Not something you would really expect from a company that supplies furniture that you have to build yourself !
