We live in an age where innovation sits high on our clients’ agendas. Therefore, as a marketing company we must constantly be looking for the innovation edge. You don¹t need to reinvent the wheel, but you do need to capture people’s imagination, and the best way to achieve that is through a compelling story. So, for the first time in my life, I will doff my cap to those flat-pack peddling marketing men and women of IKEA. The Dutch arm of the Swedish behemoth has organised a furniture swap at its store in
Amsterdam, allowing people to bring in unwanted items (not just IKEA stuff) and swap it for items brought in by others. A lesser marketing man would say ‘Stop right there, IKEA is out to sell furniture, not encourage people to help themselves to other peoples FREE stuff’. Well, here comes the innovation – the Dutch store has an in-store application that allows you to draw your room on a screen, then add and rearrange your furniture. Doing so, you can work out what’s not going to fit in anymore and take a trip to the store to replace it with something that does. IKEA fully understands that when people rearrange a room they are likely to require new items, conveniently stocked by IKEA, to both compliment and complete the makeover. This understanding, mixed with a little marketing innovation, goes a long way. Just remember, you read it here first: and probably in a few other places too. Visit the Dutch site: http://www.husselen.nl/
