IKEA, it’s one of those companies that everyone knows about: impressivly large shops, fantastic value for money and a remarkably wide range of products. Unfortunately for us, the products are often packed into tiny boxes with hundreds of pieces which notoriously you will have at least a couple left that you cannot figure out where they should go!
(Assembly Angels, 2018)
But, what goes on behind the scenes that we don’t really know about? Well.. The Digital Development team within IKEA have taken large steps to implement social change, directly relating to the effectiveness and implementation of their social media presence (Gartner, n.d.).
(Phillipines Lifestyle News, 2018)
Social media, which relates to social-commerce (s-commerce) side of the business, is a vital business tool in today’s modern digital market. The Digital Development team within IKEA noticed an inconsistency and difference in usage of social media data between different departments and markets globally (Gartner, n.d.). IKEA selected ‘The Socializers‘, a global agency that focuses on synergising technology and people, to assist in finding a solution to the problem (Thesocializers.com, 2018).
The solution is ‘Brandwatch‘, a company that offers a highly customisable platform, that specifically targets analysing and monitoring of social media (Brandwatch, 2018). Brandwatch are able to offer a product exactly to IKEA and The Socializers’ specification and requirements.
(Brandwatch, 2018)
IKEA required a centralised hub which management could interact with in order to effectively use social media data throughout the business. The ‘listening hub‘ was designed to collaborate with all social media data and do just that! It centralised all social media data related to IKEA and placed it in an easy to read format, thus making viewing, understanding, comparisons and identification of anomalies significantly easier! (Gartner, n.d.)
Within just three months of implementation of the Listening Hub, vital information was identified: The American market were more likely to turn to Facebook to complain compared to the UK market. 36.5% of American conversations compared to 5% of UK conversations via Facebook were relating to complaints. The listening hub further identified that the UK market would take to forum platforms such as YELP to voice their concerns instead. (Gartner, n.d.)
By utilising this invaluable information, IKEA were able to quickly construct an effective solution strategy to improve the customer perception. IKEA had identified specific areas to focus on for the different markets, such as focusing on forums within the UK.
In this short space of time, a myriad of business benefits and implications to utilising and focusing on social media had unfolded (Gartner, n.d.). The critical point identified is that it initiated change throughout the entire organisation and the way that they look at areas such as digital marketing strategies, customer complaint platforms and effective information and communication sharing.
So, what are the key take aways from this? Well, although IKEA is a global and highly successful company they were missing a key business tool which has a myriad of benefits. Furthermore, IKEA did not realise the effectiveness of having a social media data system, which was highlighted to them within just the first quarter of operating the system.
Make social media work for you. Utilise it. Maximise the the effectiveness and efficiency of your company. Understand the benefits it can have upon you and your company.
References:
- Assembly Angels (2018). A woman attempting to build flat packed furniture.. [image] Available at: http://www.assembly-angels.com [Accessed 13 Oct. 2018].
- Brandwatch. (2018). Brandwatch: World-leading social listening. [online] Available at: https://www.brandwatch.com [Accessed 14 Oct. 2018].
- Brandwatch (2018). Brandwatch: Social Media Monitoring.
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6k8wRGjSAK8 [Accessed 14 Oct. 2018].
- Gartner, H. (n.d.). IKEA and The socialisers. [online] Available at: https://studentcentral.brighton.ac.uk/bbcswebdav/pid-3263929-dt-content-rid-6133555_1/courses/IT382_2018/Ikea%20Case%20Study.pdf [Accessed 12 Oct. 2018].
- Phillipines Lifestyle News (2018). An image of an IKEA store. [image] Available at: http://philippineslifestyle.com/ikea-first-store-manila-philippines/ [Accessed 12 Oct. 2018].
- Thesocializers.com. (2018). The Socializers | Buzz Brand Build Boost. [online] Available at: http://thesocializers.com [Accessed 14 Oct. 2018].
