Interior Design

The IKEA Home Tour Series – Digital Marketing Done Right.

It’s about to get all real on this office space.

A few months back, I received an email from IKEA for the IKEA Home Tour contest. The team was coming to Kansas City and they were looking for entries. All you had to do was make a short video of your space in need and send it in. So, I busted out the iPhone shot some down and dirty footage of my sad basement office space, cut it together, sent it in and thought “That’ll be the end of that.” Much to my surprise, we made the finalists for the area, and to my surprise again, we are one of the two chosen. Today, the team arrived to shoot video, check out the space, and plan out what they are going to do with the space.

This post is not about the makeover though. It is about how IKEA continues to take excellent advantage of digital media as a marketing tool for the brand.

If you go out and look at the Home Tour site, you see a polished website that leverages video, a blog, social media, product placement, and tips to extend the IKEA brand. With each short video, product that is used in the redesign is featured and linked back the IKEA page where the product lives. The Pinterest section leads back the dedicated Pinterest board where recipients have posted their images as well as the team, and there are hooks to related boards, all of which drives back to product and enforcing the IKEA brand. The design blog takes you to a curated section with short right ups and videos from the Home Tour teams progress. And then there are the videos.

Video is the fast growing consumed media on the web, your phone, and in other digital spaces. It has rapidly taken over because of its ability to tell a story in a short digestible bite, and the ability to link back to longer form content if needed. In addition, with prices on gear falling, the availability of high end editing software, a DIY maker movement, and the ease of sharing content, it is possible for a skeleton crew to put together a solid bit of video work that has tremendous impact. The crew at my house today consisted of 5 people. 2 of them were producing the video. This is the same crew on every makeover, doing each shoot. They have a limited budget, and tie frame, but they are creating solid work with definite reach and penetration for the IKEA brand, which brings me back to the fact that IKEA gets digital marketing better than most. I’ve posted a number of articles on what I KEA is doing in the digital space and this is just one more.

To date the team has produced 203 video segments according to the numbering on the site. Pretty impressive when you think about it. 203 videos that average 3 minutes in length. 203 videos that show the problem, the fix, and then go through and talk about the IKEA product used. Think of it as a long form commercial that is less about in your face selling, and more about how IKEA helps you solve a problem.

That is a winning marketing solution and another winner from IKEA’s marketing division.

Ile.

Gina Sempe has designed a new lighting fixture that will be available later this month for Wastberg. The lamp is produced from aluminum and steel and features a matt finish, a multipurpose clamp, and circular reflector that reminds me of a little bit of an umbrella. Sempe named the lamp design Ile, the French word for island, and the color palette used with the lamp echo the umbrella giving a nod to an island beach and relaxation.

Ile is designed for smooth easy movement and quick assembly. A round magnet attaches the steel reflector shade to a thin pipe shaft. The flat circular base mirrors the form of the circular reflector, bringing a sense of balance across the overall design. The flat base not only allows the lamp to easily clamp and mount to a variety of flat surfaces, but also allows it to function as a free standing desk lamp as well. The LED illuminator is located in the base of the lamp focused up at the reflector,which bounces light in any direction.

I love the minimalist form, the lightness, harmony, utility that this brings to the table. (you see what idid there right?)

TV and Movie Home Floor Plans by Iñaki Aliste Lizarralde.

Do you ever say to yourself while watching TV, “that apartment looks huge”, or “How big do you think that space really is?” Thanks to interior designer Iñaki Aliste Lizarralde, you can get a better idea. Lizarralde has painstakingly drawn up floor plans for a variety of TV show and movie sets. Each one shows accurate wall placement, room locations, and furniture. Below are a few from his site on deviantart.com where you can see high resolution versions of them.

Design Within Reach Gets an iPad App.

I’m a fan of Design Within Reach. I know that the name of the company is deceiving since their product line is not within the reach of many. I know DWR has also had it’s share of controversy in the past, and that many times you can find products they cary elsewhere. I’m a fan because they have championed high quality modern design, and exposed modern design to so many people over the last 15 years.

Today DWR introduced their new iPad app. While the app is primarily a shopping tool for DWR’s inventory of products, it is much more. The app is a rich interactive tool that features designer profiles, timelines, videos, interviews, a room designer and more. In many ways this app reminds me of an interactive book, similar to Phaidon’s Design Classics which was introduced for the iPad a few years ago.

DWR’s app is a nice example of the changing face of interactive content, and how the iPad and other tablets are forever changing the way we absorb and interact with digital content. While this app could be ported to a website, the result wouldn’t be the same. Like so many applications designed specifically for touch screen devices DWR’s app encourages the user to do more. It creates an experience that goes beyond online shopping, educating and inspiring. Even if you are unable to purchase the products that DWR sells, this app is a great resource for those interested modern design. By making the inspire and learn sections equal to the shopping section DWR has created an experience that is open to all and reinforces their brand. I hope we see more of this kind of thing in the future. Companies like IKEA have already jumped on this band wagon, and frankly I’d rather experience something like this over Amazon.com any day.