Case Study #3: Mobile Marketing

Over the last few years, mobile marketing has taken the world by storm. Today, marketers take advantage of practically all aspects of cell phone and smart phone technology, such as text and photo messaging, Bluetooth, and downloadable mobile applications. IKEA, a furniture and accessories specialty retail firm recognized around the world, launched a mobile marketing campaign early last year. This campaign took advantage of text and photo messaging, Bluetooth, and downloadable application tools via mobile phone.

When IKEA came out with its new PS furniture collection, it wanted to “stretch the idea of design and empower people.” Because their collection contained such unusual designs, IKEA wanted to help individuals picture certain PS furniture in their homes. To do this, IKEA created a mobile application that provided customers with an interior-planning tool to enhance their shopping decisions. The premise of the application was to make it easier for men and women to bring new furniture home with them to see how it would look in their homes.

How it Works:

When a consumer downloads and enters the application, he or she is instantly shown different pieces of furniture and accessories from the IKEA PS line. As the consumer scrolls through and selects a product, they are prompted to take a picture of the room he or she wants the product to be placed in. Once the photo is taken, an image of the room appears on the viewer’s phone in addition to the IKEA product. The viewer then has the ability to scale the furniture and move it around to fit better in the scene. Once the image looks the way the customer wants, he or she can take a picture of it. If he or she likes the photo, it can be saved on his or her phone or sent to friends by MMS.

Below is an illustration of what the application process looks like:

Target Audience and Distribution:

Since the IKEA PS line is such an eccentric design, IKEA wanted to target its audience toward contemporary German men and women who were willing to make a bold statement in their homes, but had trouble visualizing the image in their households. To launch their campaign to the public, IKEA created in-store posters that urged customers to send a free text message to them to receive a link to download the interior-planning application. In addition, customers on the IKEA website were encouraged to enter their cell phone number in to download the application. Lastly, IKEA installed Bluetooth pillars in certain stores to send out signals to nearby phones inviting them to download the application.

Evaluation:

Overall, IKEA’s mobile marketing campaign received an average user response of 5.21% by Bluetooth post and saw a user base of 15% on the IKEA PS microsite. Also, 6,800 people sent a text to IKEA requesting to download the application.

Personally, I think IKEA’s mobile application was a brilliant idea. It’s perfect for people that have trouble visualizing what the product would look like in their home. As a result, these customers are often on the fence about buying the product, especially when it’s expensive. By providing this application, IKEA enhances the consumer’s decision-making process. IKEA found a basic problem that prevents many purchase decisions and created a simple solution using cell phone technology, overcoming the purchasing barrier many consumers face.