Well-written messaging conveys your values and/or lets audiences know you have a solution to their problem, whether it’s a directional brand strategy, store signage or a product description. What's key is knowing where your audience is, how to reach them and what they value.
IKEA developed a long-term strategy to position itself as a leader in environmental and social responsibility.
With stores in over 36 countries—and very little room for another layer of signage—how could we let retail customers know what we were up to via the retail environment?
Also, knowing a customer's attention span in the store environment was limited and shopping fatigue was common, how could we reach them in the least amount of time possible?
I came up with a series of signage solutions designed to convey key messages (aligned with our main content pillars) in the least amount of time possible. In order for the signs to be seen we made them huge so they wouldn't get lost in a sea of product signage.
Since this was created for global comunications and needed to be translated into 33 languages, I included the messaging strategy alongside the copy so there would be less of a chance for translation errors (and some room for cultural relevance and creativity).
IKEA is one of the biggest retail brands in the world. So when brand equity is slipping it's critical to immediately get it back on track. Unfortunately, IKEA was developing a reputation for being the place where you can buy “cheap furniture.”
IKEA’s 18 in-house designers pride themselves on making products that as many people as possible can afford. And they work within strict design principals (called Democratic Design) comprised of function, form, quality, sustainability and low price.
How could we convey the value of IKEA products to a global network of IKEA marketing teams in 36 countries, and equally important, to our customers?
Working with an art director, we created a brand book to set the brand communications in a new direction. We broke down the value of IKEA projects by explaining the concept of Democratic Design and giving marketers a “play book” they could use in their unique markets.
The conceptual introduction laid the groundwork for country marketers to come up with their own solutions and imagine the campaign in different environments—from retail signage to social media to ads to their website.
A section filled with pages of creative ideas gave lots of examples of how the messaging could be executed.
