Values' Marketing - The case of IKEA in Spain

"This ad is going to go sooo viral" is the first thing I though while watching it

Is a very tender video, with a very true message released on the perfect moment. What else do you need?

We all know that kids prefer company to toys. We knew it from a while ago already. And now that the crisis left us with less money, is the perfect time to finally do something about it.

Values' marketing, the one that focuses on "campaigning" for a good cause instead of "selling" is the perfect choice for a mature brand like IKEA. We all know what IKEA is and what they sell, their best shot is to make us feel better when we buy from them.

Furthermore, they relate the ad to their 2014 campaign that highlights the importance of family (and therefore the house) on kids' education.

Congratulations to IKEA and to the agency: McCann Spain.

Applause (2nd)

On October 5, 2011, Steve Jobs deceased. Ater the firs days of shock and some news specials on his memory, some voices brought up the thought that, maybe, his death could mean a problem to the good results and image that Apple has had for the last years.

But Steve's death is not the real threat to them. The real (and big indeed) threat to Apple's hegemony in the field of smartphones is called SAMSUNG.

Here is their lastest TV spot:

The company from South Corea is decided to snatch them the first place in the ranking of Smartphones world sellers. And it's doing vey well. They fight the great power of Apple's brand image with good quality and much lower prices, and it seems to be bearing fruit.

This image compares they newest phones:

Despite the image, is hard to know which one is doing better in terms of product. But, in any case, the spot deserves this second Applause! Congratulations to the agency and the brand manager.

BRAND (part 2 of 2)

Regarding a lucky T-Shirt, obviously the important part is its “essence”. The moment when you got it, whom you got it from, the important moment when you was wearing it… in short, the confidence that you feel, and the memories you recall when you wear it.

But it happens that, one day, the shirt starts getting old, the cloth wears out and the print becomes blurred... and even when you have a big engagement with your Shirt after all those years, it’s not enough to keep wearing it in the important moments. And this can result even before the shirt gets old if you find a new shirt that you like better.

The same happens with a brand, consumers’ love can dilute, or can be replaced with something else. The difference is that brand managers are aware of this and, when it comes the time when the brand stops being a good Casanova, they just carry out a great brand makeover, changing this “essence” which seemed the cornerstone of the brand.

So, if neither its “tangible” elements nor its values and ideas are the brand’s soul, since they can be changed. Which is the key piece of the brand jigsaw?

Precisely that, the change, the flexibility to be what they want to be for whom they want to be loved by. The same as the best products are those that understand their market better, the best brands are those that understand their target better.