That’s Mine! My Name’s on It!

January 9, 2010 by ColoradoIKEAfan
Filed under: advertising, creativitiy

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Let’s say you sell trendy furniture for family-friendly prices. What’s the best way to push product and spread brand awareness? Well, you could try developing and offering:

A showroom. Pros: People see products in context, and they can buy them right then and there! Cons: You don’t reach potential buyers who aren’t in the store.

A catalog. Pros: Again, people see products in context, and they can view them right in their own homes! Or in a waiting room! Cons: They can’t buy right away. A busy mom might bookmark a couch she likes and forget about it, or just never mail in her order form or call you.

A social-network profile. Pros: Google will index it, and fans will find you. Cons: You have to find ways to engage them once they arrive.

Or, get this: You could combine all three options in an amazing multichannel promo! That’s precisely what IKEA recently did.

In a stellar example of out-of-the-box thinking, IKEA wedded its showroom catalog to Facebook. But it didn’t stop there. It got people to spread the word about the brand to their networks, and peruse the catalog, by promising them an item they wanted for free.

Here’s how: IKEA created a Facebook profile for a store manager, then loaded the account with gorgeous pictures of products, portrayed showroom-style. The first user who tagged his or her name on a given product won it!

On Facebook, when a user is tagged on a photo, that photo automatically appears in the newsfeeds of his or her network. As a result, IKEA got tons of brand exposure with very little legwork—just the investment of a few thousand dollars’ worth of furniture.

What’s more, users who missed out demanded more pictures—meaning the effort raised active interest in the campaign, the product and the give-happy Swedish brand. Check out the demo for a clear pic of how it all panned out.

The Po!nt: Mix and match! Use today’s technology to expand the impact of traditional marketing venues like catalogs and in-store showrooms. Diversify!

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