IKEA exec: Jumping quickly into new platforms can be detrimental
NEW YORK ? An IKEA executive at the 2015 Integrated Marketing Week explained that the furniture retailer steers clear of jumping on board with a new platform for the sole reason that it could be the next big thing, but stressed that fearing new endeavors can be damaging as well.
During the ?Ask the Experts: Integrating Your Online with Your Offline? session, the executive explained that it takes time and research to determine what exactly will hinder or help and discover what is the best method for a brand to engage with consumers. The brand discovered the pitfalls of jumping on board with new channels too fast through its own trial and error process, specifically with social media.
"I think the biggest challenge is that everyone wants to use [social media] and they may not necessarily know why they want to use it," said Alia Kemet, media director at IKEA, North America. "It is like this new shiny object and I think we need to be wary of shiny objects.
"Every platform has a purpose, should have a purpose and everyone needs to be clear about what that purpose is," she said. "So when we first started as an example with Facebook, what we were finding consumers were flocking to our wall to complain about some of their experiences that they might be having in the store.
"So this is taking away from the purpose that we wanted to use Facebook for, which was to highlight our brand and really be able to engage with our customers and potential consumers. But not to have this be the place for customer service issues."
IKEA is one of the world?s largest furniture retailers, known for its affordable assemble-at-home offerings.
Too much too soon
Social media channels continue to grow and can be a substantial resource for a brand and consumer engagement. However, everything in a business model needs to be used accurately and in a manner that is best for the individual brand.
When IKEA first forayed into Facebook, the team was excited to venture into this new platform. However, customers had a different idea of what the page was going to be used for.
A bevy of reviews and customer complaints filled the page, the direct opposite direction the brand wanted to take with social media. Team members thought of Facebook as a way to have fun with its customers and engage with them, customer service was not factored into the plan.
Customers realized that it was faster to get a response through social media regarding customer service rather than the call center. The brand adjusted its strategy to make sure its customer lines were up to par, but more importantly incorporated customer service professionals into the social media team.
"Social media is everything," Ms. Kemet said. "If your working with social media you need to be working with your call centers, customer service and establishing a relationship and a way of working.
"When we started to work that way we also saw an opportunity to use the people who were already knowledgeable in these call centers and who were already answering these questions for customers because we were going to have to go to them anyway," she said. "So there was this lag time, it created this distance but it is supposed to be quick.
"I do not necessarily know how to tell you how to get that product and how to get that part to you. So tapping into that customer service organization was important, and now we are at the point where we have a couple of people who work within the customer service who are social media specific."
The brand?s customer services now spans across all areas of the business to accurately and effectively continue to solve any issues without complaints over shadowing the rest of its marketing efforts.
The danger of fear
Although jumping into new areas too quickly can be damaging, steering clear of innovation out of fear is detrimental as well. Brands and retailers need to continue driving engagement with new and unique experiences, but just be sure that it can support the mission before diving in headfirst.
IKEA plans to foray further into mobile and digital integration, but is taking the time to guarantee the accuracy of its efforts. The executive detailed how important it is that its marketing team works together and there is no distinction between digital and traditional marketing ventures.
In order to truly be an integrated brand, these factions of a business model need to be seamless as well.
"I do not think there should be digital and traditional teams," Ms. Kemet said "I think there should be one team, and if you have that you have the power to do the best thing for the consumer.
"We tripled our search budget, as the second budget after television in digital because we've got media modeling to back it up and to prove how this is driving sale and that it is efficient," she said.
Final take
Brielle Jaekel is editorial assistant at Mobile Marketer
