Introduction
In today’s world when corporations compete for customers’ loyalty and attention strategic branding and marketing communication tools are what sets major players aside and differentiates their products. This proposal overviews relevant literature on the importance of branding for organizations and consumers and marketing communication tools and analyzes the case of Ikea.
Importance of Branding for Organisations and Consumers
Melewar and Alwi (2015) define the main purpose of branding as differentiation from other brands. In this day and age, the market is becoming extremely competitive, and being unique is what it takes to survive and prosper. Proper branding gives a business a distinguishable personality and signifies its intent, mission, and vision. Branding allows a company to connect with its potential customers in a way that compels them to choose them among other contenders.
Lerman, Morais, and Luna (2017) write that in the process of branding, a business develops a language that reflects customers’ expectations and perceptions. Brand language helps consumers relate themselves to what is being marketed at them by using words, expressions, and a specific vocabulary. That, retail branding and marketing require a specialized approach that focuses on the so-called four Ps: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion (Rezaei & Valaei, 2017). In other words, retail chains refine their products, maintain price leadership and choose locations to stay attractive to customers.
Marcom Tools
The purpose of marketing communication tools is the promotion of a company’s products and services. Fill and Turnbull (2016) describe a variety of Marcom tools at brands’ disposal: email campaigns, trade shows, seminars, advertising, newsletters, and as of late, social media. In the era of Facebook and YouTube, social media has become a new opportunity as well as a vexing challenge (Holt, 2016). In less than a decade, such terms as viral, buzz, memes, and form factor have entered the lingua franca of marketing communication (Karjaluoto, Ulkuniemi & Mustonen, 2015).
On the one hand, brands have received a channel for reaching out to customers directly, while, on the other hand, they put themselves at risk of dissipating into the noise of omnipresent advertisement. Obviously, the ultimate goal of using marketing communication tools is to boost sales (Duralia, 2018). A sustainable mutually beneficial relationship between a provider and a customer requires brand awareness, strong identity, and emotional connection, which is achieved through Marcom.
Justification for IKEA
Today, IKEA is a global phenomenon whose success story has yet to be repeated by other furniture companies. It is apparent that IKEA owes its growth and popularity to the thoughtfully selected marketing communication tools and branding strategy. From the very beginning, IKEA marketed itself as a lifestyle brand that goes beyond selling furniture (Khamis, 2016). It showed customers the minimalist Scandinavian way of living and conscious consumption (Yohn, 2015).
As for the four Ps, IKEA developed the so-called “democratic design” to combine simplicity and innovation in its products (Trendafilov, 2018). It maintained cost leadership by holding the prices down and turning its stores into pleasant destinations. Today, IKEA is using a variety of marketing channels with a focus on social media where it not only promotes its products but also bonds with customers by processing their feedback and handling complaints.
Reference List
Duralia, O (2018) Integrated marketing communication and its impact on consumer behavior, Studies in Business and Economics, 13(2), 92-102.
Fill, C and Turnbull, SL (2016) Marketing communications: brands, experiences and participation, Pearson, New York City.
Holt, D (2016), Branding in the age of social media. Harvard business review, 94(3), 40-50.
Karjaluoto, H, Ulkuniemi, P and Mustonen, N (2015) The role of digital channels in industrial marketing communications, Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 30(6), 703-710.
Khamis, S (2016) Brand IKEA in a global cultural economy: a case study. Web.
Lerman, D, Morais, RJ and Luna, D (2017) The language of branding: theory, strategies, and tactics, Routledge, Abingdon-on-Thames.
Melewar, TC and Alwi, SS, eds. (2015) Corporate branding: areas, arenas and approaches. Routledge, Abingdon-on-Thames.
Rezaei, S and Valaei, N (2017) Branding in a multichannel retail environment, Information Technology & People, 30(4), 853-886
Trendafilov, D (2018) Design incorporated: IKEA as personal experience, Punctum. International Journal of Semiotics, 4(1), 165-178.
Yohn, DL (2015) How IKEA designs its brand success. Web.