Assignment 2: Analyze a Brands Identity

For my second assignment I'm going to pick a brand and analyze its identity. The brand I've chosen to analyze is the swedish furniture company, IKEA.

IKEA was founded in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad and over the years it has grown from a little company in Älmhult, Sweden to one of the biggest furniture company in the world. IKEA is an acronym for Ingmar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd which is the founders first and last name and his hometown.

IKEAs business idea is: to offer a wide range of home furnishings with good design and function at prices so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford them. I think IKEA have managed to position that business idea in the mind of the consumer. IKEAs brand image is associated with its business idea. When I think of IKEA I mostly think about a place where you can find everything you need for your home to a low prices. Another thing you can associate with IEKA is the flat packages and its do-it yourself concept. So IKEA has really managed to combined its brand image, brand strategy and brand position to a great mix.

The reason people buy from IKEA is that they have something for everybody; it’s not just one style but several. So it doesn’t make a difference which culture you belong to. The price may have something to do with it as well. I think most people that got their first apartment or house go to an IKEA store to buy all the necessary stuff they need for their new homes. You can get quality furniture’s to a lower price because of the do-it yourself concept. This makes the value proposition to add functional benefits to the brand.

Brand awareness shows if the customers can recall or recognize a brand. This is showed in Askers model: The brand awareness pyramid that is divided into top of mind, brand recall, brand recognition and unaware of the brands. In IKEAs case I think that it depends on which country you’re in. For example, in this origin country, Sweden, everybody knows what IKEA is and the consumer has the brand as the top of mind. Another example would be the USA, where you can find just as big (if not bigger) furniture stores like Home Depot and Furniture Row. So I think that in the USA it will be one step lower in the brand awareness pyramid, in the Brand recall stage, because of the big selection of furniture stores. I also think people in Sweden buy from IKEA are not just because they have a small selection of furniture store but also because they want to support a national company.

IKEA works with some organizations like WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) and WRI (World Resources Institute) with forest project like: save natural intact forest form being logging and also to rehabilitate forests. This makes the brand credibility higher because many of IKEAs products are made from raw material like trees.

When it comes to the logo its blue and yellow which is the color of the Swedish flag, so it’s symbolize that it’s a Swedish company. Another thought is that it could be to promote Sweden to the rest of the world.