CHAPTER 7: IKEA
SUMMARY
IKEA provides an exciting shopping experience for home furniture furnishings. Josephine
Rydberg-Dumont, the president of IKEA Sweden, says her company speaks to many different
people in many different ways, extending a broad reach to consumers. Its products provide good
function at a low price for “all the people.”
Low prices make IKEA very accessible to consumers, who are very curious about the
“Scandanavian style,” which attracts many people from all over the world. Furniture is typically
expensive worldwide, so IKEA’s good quality at low prices creates the buzz that surrounds the
company. The various taglines presented in the video include: “people-focused and child-
friendly,” “modern not trendy,” “we design the price tag first,” “reflecting the Swedish lifestyle,”
and “better everyday living.” Josephine mentioned that IKEA’s mission is to create better
everyday life for many people.
IKEA’s “Klippan” sofa represents the company very well—it is sleek, clean, big, modern,
simple, and casual/formal that can go in any room in any home. Consumers can buy slipcovers
for it to change looks. Its quality has improved “inside and out,” and it is now a self-assembled
sofa, which has lowered its cost. Josephine believes this sofa is the ultimate IKEA sofa.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. The chapter lists five dimensions of brand equity—discuss each dimension as it relates to
IKEA.
2. How would describe IKEA’s personality as a brand?
3. Do you think that IKEA cultivates strong emotional relationships with its customers? That is,
are its customers passionate about the brand? Why or why not?
1. Create a perceptual map, plotting IKEA and its competitor brands, to determine IKEA’s
position in the marketplace (see page 195 and Figure 7.4 in the chapter).
2. Go on the internet to research IKEA’s competitors—what seem to be their positions in the
marketplace? Do they attempt to differentiate themselves from IKEA? On what attributes? Are
these competitors “well positioned” in the marketplace?