Positioning IKEA: 5 Practical Lessons from IKEA’s Brand Strategy

IKEA has a unique positioning! Due to this unique positioning, IKEA is incomparable to, as far as we know, any other company in the world. What can other brands, marketers, and strategists learn from IKEA? In this post, we discuss 5 remarkable aspects of IKEA’s positioning. Unique aspects that are definitely worth considering and may be applicable within other organizations.

Many organizations focus on the same position in the market; they all claim to be the best. The best quality, the best service, or the best customer support. While it should be clear that there can only be one best. Many therefore overlook the fact that it would be better to choose a different positioning. But how do you look beyond your current positioning and choose a new path? The five lessons from this article will inspire you to look at your business from a completely different perspective.

IKEA Positioning

IKEA proves that the relationship between all factors determines what the best product is. We are actually not very surprised that at the exit of every IKEA there is a cabinet with spare parts, screws, and pieces of wood that you might sometimes miss. Imagine seeing such a cabinet after you just bought a new car. A cabinet full of spare parts that might be missing the moment you drive your car out of the showroom. We would undoubtedly label that as unacceptable and wonder if the salesperson is in their right mind. This simple example immediately shows that expectations differ quite a bit at the product level. The central question is whether you have ever asked your own customers what ‘the best product’ means to them?

We also made a podcast about IKEA’s Positioning:

Your employees focus 100% on meeting customer expectations

IKEA staff have only one goal: to get the customer home as quickly as possible to assemble the products as easily as possible. The attitude they associate with this common goal is different from that of employees at almost any other company. Not necessarily better or worse, but simply the result of IKEA’s selection and focus on internal employee training. Because the only thing all IKEA employees have in common is this goal and the uniform, the employees remain unique and authentic people, at least that is our experience. So you talk to a person, not a representative of a large company. And although the application of this to your company will undoubtedly differ, it is not difficult to learn from this: people buy from other people, not from companies.

A customer who influences or participates in a product has a stronger bond with it

You already know that assembling your IKEA purchase won’t be pleasant, but you do feel enormous pride when it’s done. Even if you know anyone can do it, you have a story to tell, a story everyone can relate to. Youp van ’t Hek, who managed to destroy the non-alcoholic beer brand Buckler with his story, also did a sketch about assembling the IKEA bunk bed. But instead of destroying the brand, he made this ‘IKEA story’ known in every home. Your ‘I’m putting together some IKEA furniture’ story is now secretly something to be proud of, the so-called ‘war stories’. And although it is not advisable to make the use of your product more difficult, it would be fantastic if you could create a user experience that allows your customers to tell and share a story.

Being your customer is a remarkable experience

IKEA’s products have led to a kind of cult status around the brand. A visit to IKEA is something everyone recognizes and understands; from the schadenfreude when you see someone trying to cram 5 Billy bookcases into a way too small car, to the ease with which your new furniture was delivered at your home. The constant announcements that some children from Smaland need to be picked up and the unbelievably cheap Hotdogs. All this undoubtedly gives you plenty of conversation material. And it is precisely this recognition and shareability of the experience that enables customers to introduce friends, colleagues, and other contacts to you, which is often one of the most important sources for new customers.

Surprise your customers

Essentially, IKEA focuses solely on the core product: providing you with the most affordable furniture. In all other areas, they focus on delivering ‘just enough’ and have adjusted their positioning accordingly. IKEA’s identity and the market’s perception of it are exceptionally balanced, which undoubtedly places them in the quadrant Open Playing Field of our positioning matrix. Because they are in the lower part of the quality spectrum, IKEA can relatively easily exceed their customers’ expectations, as we experienced ourselves just a few days ago. When we went to buy some office supplies, we spent 2 hours for only 4 identical desks and delivery to our office—not an ideal experience, but exactly as expected. Then, subsequently, the same items were delivered completely, exactly at the start of the time window they had given, and we were pleasantly surprised. A story for us to tell.

There are more successful B2C companies that position themselves in a way similar to IKEA. But in the markets we focus on—business services and industry—this is much more difficult. Who knows a law firm that says: “We are not the smartest lawyers in this world, but we deliver exactly what you need for the money you want to pay.”?

Other markets have even vaguer playing fields; can anyone still tell us the difference between two major consumer banks? This difference was much simpler in the past, think for example of the Postbank. No expensive offices, just at the post office in line behind the elderly lady buying 3 stamps. In that respect, the Postbank was perhaps the IKEA of banks.

In every market, there are enormous opportunities for anyone who has the courage and confidence to claim a distinctive position here. Instead of all wanting to win the same race, creating a different race is a better option. Not only for the organization and the brand itself but especially for the customer. This customer can truly choose again!

Want to know more about positioning and how you can get started yourself? Read our page Positioning and find there, besides in-depth articles, also dozens of examples and models for every possible positioning challenge.