NEW DELHI :
Kavitha Rao, nation industrial supervisor for Ikea India, is chargeable for gross sales, advertising, residence furnishing, buyer expertise, and meals companies. In an interview, Rao stated Ikea is following a two-pronged strategy to drive model consciousness in India, and be sure that prospects perceive the performance of its services and products. Edited excerpts:
Most Indians weren’t acquainted with Ikea. How did you begin advertising the model?
Some of the vital issues for us was attending to know shoppers within the India market. It was actually vital for us to go to buyer houses, perceive the day-to-day actions and take a look at how residence furnishing performed a job of their on a regular basis life. Within the preliminary years, we really visited about 2,000 houses throughout all the most important cities in India, making an attempt to grasp what life at residence, within the Indian context, was all about. It actually helped get into the main points of what client behaviour within the context of residence furnishing was. The second vital step for us was to take a look at how our merchandise fared. We really positioned Ikea merchandise at buyer houses, and actually checked out what their utilization sample was.
The third vital step was to take a look at the cultural context of India and hyperlink it as much as what it meant when it comes to Ikea’s tradition and values.
We noticed a variety of similarities and variations and our positioning assertion—‘Make Each Day Brighter’—happened.
The concept was to say we wish shoppers in India to take a look at the Ikea product vary as a set of well-designed, purposeful, reasonably priced merchandise. And we’d additionally like to take a look at how can we enhance curiosity in residence furnishing amongst our shoppers within the India market.
Does Ikea have a template for advertising its services and products in India?
We nonetheless don’t have a template in place. After we entered the Hyderabad market—it was our India entry— the campaigns that ran have been fairly huge and there was a have to create consciousness for Ikea. In December 2020, the Navi Mumbai retailer opened simply on the finish of the primary wave of the covid-19 pandemic. So, it was a really muted advertising marketing campaign. Actually, we had a registration-based entry course of to guarantee that it was a protected purchasing expertise.
Now, after we take a look at the following step the place we can be launching a small-format retailer in Mumbai—the primary such retailer in India for Ikea—it turns into crucial for us to provide shoppers the choice to select from the various totally different ways in which they will get to Ikea.
So, I might say that it’s nonetheless too early for us to create a particular advertising template. What we’ve got actually tried to do is to remain agile to the ecosystem and the adjustments which are taking place and actually tweak our advertising campaigns to the wants at that cut-off date.
In India, are you centered on model familiarity or on the merchandise that Ikea sells?
As a philosophy and ethos, at Ikea, we imagine that the product vary is our id. If you’ll be able to take well-designed, purposeful merchandise at costs so low, that as many individuals as attainable in India can really afford them, I might say that that may be a job very nicely executed.
Having stated that, we’re additionally nicely conscious that we’re within the early levels of our journey within the Indian market. We’re a nascent model, making an attempt to construct consciousness and in addition create curiosity within the residence furnishing class.
So, it’s really a two-pronged strategy. After all, we might need our merchandise and options to face out, however for the various Indians who have no idea Ikea, we have to create consciousness and want for the model.
Are you constructing model engagement on digital platforms?
Spends on residence furnishings in India are fairly low—about 2.5% when it comes to the entire disposable earnings that’s accessible. That’s far decrease than most different markets the world over. There’s a want for us to construct much more curiosity within the context of residence furnishing. Now we have executed a complete sequence on residence tales and proceed to do. Moreover, we’ve got forayed into a variety of the user-generated content material.
Persons are delighted to share their houses on social media platforms and that, in flip, generates a variety of curiosity within the class.
Supply: Live Mint