In 1951, IKEA printed its first catalog. It is published in 25 languages and 33 countries. It is the world's largest advertising publication. In the book "The History of IKEA Entrepreneurship", the author believes that its spread is no less than Harry Potter or the Bible. So, what catalog marketing skills can we learn at IKEA? Let me analyze it for you:
1. The catalog content:
In general, the content of the IKEA catalog is summarized in one sentence: Not only advertising but also a lifestyle.
In today's information explosion, IKEA's own advertising catalog has such a huge circulation and dissemination power? This is first due to the fact that the catalog itself is a magazine rather than a pure advertisement. The real name of the IKEA catalog is "Home Guide". Since IKEA the first catalog printing in 1951, it has been positioned as a lifestyle guide magazine. In a popular sentence, "we sell not furniture, but a lifestyle".
The most intuitive feeling of their catalog printing is that it is sophisticated and pays attention to details. Of course, this requires great effort in photography. The IKEA catalog was produced in a huge photo studio in Almhut. With an area of 8,000 square meters, it is the largest photo studio in Europe and has enough space to undertake about 100 interior decoration projects. Some photos were taken in real living rooms. More than 200 people (including about 40 photographers) spent months on this work. Producers, interior architects, decorators, fashionistas and lighting engineers have arranged a large number of living rooms and kitchens.
However, 75% of the pictures in the catalog are synthesized with computer CG. They began to synthesize pictures with computer since a pine chair in 2006. According to the latest statistics in 2014, the proportion of them using CG has reached as high as 75%.
2. The Catalog Marketing
In 2016, IKEA made an advertisement for the catalog of the year. In the advertisement, one of Germany’s most famous literary critics, Hellmuth Karasek, commented on the characteristics of the IKEA catalog like a literary work, and selected some of them for reading. For example, he said that this book has a huge circulation, the name is "It's the little things that matters", the author is IKEA, and its characteristic is that there are far more pictures than words...The video makes people laugh while watching, but also makes people feel.
In 2017, in order to promote the new catalog, IKEA found several grassroots shooting advertisements. These people thought they had the opportunity to become famous, so they showed their beauty and posture as much as possible during the shooting, but the final shooting effect was just Ikea furniture appeared, and all these people's faces were blurred. This advertisement demonstrates in a humorous style that a good home does not need handsome men and beautiful women to set off.
Good content is worth spreading, by spreading good content, the marketing goal will be achieved.
The expectation of a "good life" for the Swedish-style middle class can be said to run through their history. The IKEA catalog has been in line with the Swedish people's long-standing preferences since its inception. And this pursuit of a better lifestyle is universal, which is why the IKEA catalog has been so popular all over the world.
