IKEA Social Network Marketing, The Lesson Learned
Last week, we reported that IKEA “manipulate” – or you can call it genius use of – Facebook profile for their social network marketing campaign. During the last few days, we found that they’re a lot word about it in many blog postings, Facebook status updates, articles and also Twitter tweets. From brilliant, innovative, smart yet simple, genius, outside the box, awesome, excellent, unconventional and many more if you want to search it around the net.
Now, let sits and take a look back to behind the scene. The new IKEA Facebook online social networking campaign is designed by Swedish agency Forsman & Bodenfors, to promote the opening of its new IKEA store in Mälmo. During the Autumn of 2009, they were asked to engage people in the opening of the new IKEA store in Mälmo. Bring something that could live its own life, create ripple effect and extend the store beyond the borders of Mälmo.
So they used something already existing, Facebook. They kidnapped the most popular function, photo tagging function on Facebook. They created a Facebook profile for the IKEA’s Mälmo store manager, Gordon Gustavsson. During a two week period, they uploaded 12 pictures of showrooms to his photo album.
The idea is simple. The person that tagged their name on a product first, won it. As result, the demand for more IKEA pictures quickly grew. The pictures spread to thousands of people via their Facebook profile pages, Facebook newsfeed, and links. Instead of people just looking at a banner with furniture, they got them to personally promote IKEA. People gladly added their name to an interactive IKEA catalogue. And spread it to all of their friends only using Facebook already existing functions.
So, what you can learn from it?
Keep it simple stupid! When it comes to platform, sometimes old school rules of marketing and advertising does matter. Even in online advertising / marketing campaign. Know exactly the online characteristics of your audience, how they communicate, and give them the right messages.
Facebook is more that social networking tools. It’s also a platform that allow us to spread the messages to friends. For brands, this basic function give opportunities to spread word of mouth marketing campaign. Simple methods for online viral and guerrilla marketing.
