If yes, then this in-depth article is for you.
IKEA is an incredibly empathic brand that always speaks to customers in a human language. The reason why its slogan sounds like a personal promise is linked to this pattern, and people can’t help but fall in love with it. The slogan is also inspired by the origins of IKEA, almost 80 years ago.
IKEA Story
The IKEA Company is passionate about the idea of creating a better life for people every day. The beginning of this brand takes us back to Sweden in 1943 when a 17 years-old boy founded the brand with the legal consent of his father to sell home items. Ingvar Kamprad was the name of that boy and his initials became the name of the store plus the initials of Elmtaryd (the name of his family farm) and Agunnaryd (a neighbor village).
In 1948, the company glimpsed a great opportunity in the furnishing loans offered by the Sweden government and started selling furniture for affordable prices. Little by little, more customers became engaged with the smart yet warm approach of IKEA, which focused on making every home a better place.
At the present time, IKEA’s market includes 63 countries. There exist 464 stores in the world.
IKEA Slogan
After spending many months indoors due to the COVID-19 pandemic, IKEA addressed people’s need to improve their lives by creating a better home environment. Since this can be attained through people but also physical surroundings, here is where IKEA represents the main role: by offering high-quality and low-priced furnishing products, it gives people the chance to make their home a special place.
Living in a more special place also enables people to enjoy the little things in the present, which is part of IKEA’s former tagline: “The Wonderful Everyday”.
The IKEA Key Values
The key values of IKEA are 8 in total:
IKEA was born from the feeling of togetherness in Ingvar’s desire to support his family while helping his workers. The brand sticks to simplicity, aiming for functional and well-designed products that can efficiently serve its objective. By keeping its cost-consciousness, the brand ensures that its ideas are always materialized in what its customers need and can afford. Being simple and cheap is not what IKEA is about, instead, it’s about being different with meaning; this means offering what others don’t with a personal connection to customers. Furthermore, the brand looks to make a positive impact on the environment, that’s why caring for people and the planet is another key value for the company. The practice of this value is essential to help customers make their homes special, just as the IKEA slogan preaches. To give back and take responsibility at IKEA means to trust and empower people to do the right choice. The brand is continuously striving to renew and improve its products, questioning existing solutions in order to get better results. Finally, IKEA is compromised to lead by example; it doesn’t consider leadership a position but an opportunity to bring out the best in oneself and others by practicing it.
IKEA Image
IKEA’s first logo was made in 1951. Four logos were used before the current was attained in 2018, although the previous one from 1983 was almost identical, except for the width. The current IKEA logo features the name of the brand in blue letters written with the font IKEA Sans (an adaptation of Futura), inside of a yellow oval on a blue rectangle. These colors are part of another distinguishable feature of the brand: its sense of pride over heritage. This is why IKEA colors are the same as the ones on Sweden’s flag: yellow and blue.
The font used on every advertisement piece of the brand was Verdana since 2009, but in 2020 it moved to Noto since the former didn’t include Asian characters. This is an example of the inclusivity that IKEA wishes to promote in all of its markets around the world.
2021 Achievements And Efforts
The bond of a brand as intrinsically linked to its customer as IKEA should reflect on its achievements. For this reason, the brand is proud to have reached €41.9 billion in retail sales in the past year, disregarding the challenges imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic and, especially, in contrast to the economic crisis that multiple companies faced.
IKEA’s 2021 revenue showed how loyal and strong its consumer base is. The brand re-emerged from this situation with a renewed interest in home furnishing.
Last year, IKEA also improved its e-commerce platform to grant more people access to infinite items with the potential of making their homes special. More than 40 physical stores were opened in 2021 too; another effort to keep customers in touch with the brand and its beliefs.
Other actions that speak of IKEA’s compromise towards its customers and the world they live in are part of the company’s 2030 ambitions, like becoming climate positive, or shifting to a circular business model.
Conclusion
“Let’s make your home special” is the current slogan of IKEA, which aims to help everyone create a better environment for them inside their home. The company has become an example of a truly empathic brand. Its sales are proof of how strong is the bond between IKEA and its consumers.
What’s even more impressive is that the brand follows only ethical ways to reach its customers. By implementing a circular business model, they’re aiming to be climate positive within the next years.
Why the new IKEA logo is identical to the previous one?
The brand only wanted to increase its legibility in digital and physical domains without needing to re-register its trademark.
What does IKEA mean by wanting to become climate positive?
IKEA looks forward to reducing more gas emissions than the ones its value chain already emits.
