IKEA
GEN Z
Contents Contents Introduction Introduction 2
IKEA The The Brand Brand IKEA 3-4 Marketing Marketing 5-6
Sustainability Sustainability 7-8
Emmeline Child Child Emmeline 9
Upcycling Upcycling 10
IKEA Warrington Warrington IKEA 11-12
Gen Z Gen 13-14
The Product Product The 15-24
Bibliography Bibliography 25
Images Images 26
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Introduction Introduction As part of the Fashion Branding module we were given an industry brief from IKEA which focused on creating a sustainable product for the company. We were given left over fabric from IKEA and were given creative freedom to create something that the company could target at Generation Z.
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IKEA IKEA The Brand Brand The
IKEA is an acknowledgeable company due to its strong branding. When seeing their shade of blue and yellow together you instantly associate it with IKEA. The logo has developed over the years with it varying from red to brown to black to red again and then to the iconic colours they have now which have been in use for 36 years. Figure 3
I researched the history of IKEA to better understand how the shop works, the values of its owner and its origins. The brand was started by Ingvar Kamprad in 1943 when he was 17 years old (History 1940-1950, no date). He originally sold pens, wallets, picture frames, table runners, watches, jewellery and nylon stockings at reduced prices (History 1940-1950, no date). Kamprad did this due to a desire to be business savvy at a young age. At age 5 he was selling matches, that he would bulk buy in Stockholm, to the people in his village for a cheaper price which he still gained a good profit with.
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“Today, our goal with the IKEA Foundation is in keeping with exactly what we’ve always tried to do as a home furnishings company – create a better everyday life for as many people as possible around the world.” - Ingvar Kamprad (About Us, no date)
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Marketing Marketing
IKEA follows the Low Prices/No frills pricing which means that non-essential features are removed to keep the products at a low cost (Ikea Marketing Mix, no date). This is part of the brands identity as its customers understand that the products are cheap and their simple design and assembly show that there are no unnecessary parts to the product that would cause the price to be higher than needed. This is good for their target market as it is often young families that are just starting out their new life. The brands bargain corner also conveys that they care about the condition of the products they sell to their customers while also caring about waste. The products found there are often barely damaged, showing the high standard of IKEA, and they are made cheaper for the slight imperfections. I myself have bought a product from the bargain corner that had little wrong with it and was surprised at the fact it was so cheap due to a slight warp in the metal. However due to IKEA’s low prices/no frills pricing, they contribute to the fast fashion industry as they create products in a fast pace and at a lower quality than brands such as Wayfair and Laura Ashley which are more expensive due to the higher quality of product.
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While on the visit to IKEA I was unsurprised to find that the products displayed in their mock up rooms often sold out therefore conveying IKEA are able to create their own trends and influence their shoppers. What is interesting about this is that if the product comes in different colour variations, the product will only usually sell out in the colour promoted in the room showing that they not only influence the style of product their consumers buy but also the colour. The entrance to the shop floor features a section that the brand calls the first 5 which is there to initially inspire their customers and each individual store will have different ways of visually merchandising it therefore making each store unique. The brand would clearly merchandise these first 5 in a way that would fit the market that visits that specific store.
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I also looked at sustainability, mostly focusing on how fashion can be sustainable and the effects of non-sustainable practises in the fashion industry. To get a better understanding of this I watched the 2015 documentary The True Cost directed by Andrew Morgan. The documentary featured influential people that are fighting for sustainable fashion such as Stella McCartney, Livia Firth and Safia Minney. The documentary not only focuses on companies and people that are trying to be more sustainable but it also looks at the lives of workers in “sweatshops�. This was very eye opening and showed that the industry profits off the bad treatment of people in poor countries. I focused on researching the three fashion factory disasters that were mentioned in the documentary to highlight the deathly cost of cheap labour in underdeveloped countries. I looked at sustainable fabrics such as cotton, natural plant-based fabric that is biodegradable, and linen, made from flax and can be processed without chemicals, which are already in use and other fabrics such as bamboo, doesn’t require much water to produce, nettle and pineapple skin which are being rolled out into stores now or being developed. IKEA themselves are using sustainable fabrics. They are using bamboo for chopping boards and straws, coconut for rugs and any animal skin rugs are a by-product which means the animals were not killed purposefully to create the rug.
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S S U U S S T T A A II N N A A B B II LL II T T Y Y
Emmeline Emmeline Child Child The lecture with Emmeline Child shed light on why we need to be more sustainable. Emmeline had a sustainable fashion label from 2003-2009 which was even sold in Topshop on Oxford Street in London. She also had a boutique in Mayfair. She told us that the sustainable market has grown by 16.31% but there is still a lot we can do to make a good impact on the world. She told us many shocking facts such as the UK consume 1.7 million tonnes of textiles with 1.1 million tonnes of that being clothing (Wrap, no date), 30,000 tonnes of textiles are sent to land fill and if we wore clothes for an extra 3 months it would reduce 5-10% of carbon production and water waste. She also told us about export which is something I personally had now previous knowledge of. If items are not sold in UK charity shops they are exported to third world countries. 352,000 tonnes of clothing is sent overseas to places such as Africa and then resold in that country. This therefore means that a lot of UK fashion ends up in African landfills as the products are often a bad quality as they are fast fashion clothes.
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Upcycling Upcycling Figure 9
Upcycling is also a main aspect in sustainability that can be done by everyone. Upcycling is taking something old and turning it into something new therefore giving the item a better use. Upcycling also has a positive impact on the environment. Brands such as Bottletop upcycle products that you wouldn’t thing could create things such as handbags (Wilson-Powell, 2018). Bottletop recently opened a store in Regent Street which is the world’s first zero waste design store. The store was made from items such as recycled plastic bottles, car tyres and aluminium cans. This was done through the use of robots and 3D printers (Wilson-Powell, 2018).
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IKEA IKEA Warrington Warrington I also collected research while on the trip to IKEA in Warrington which gave me a better insight into the store as I learnt things that just as a consumer of IKEA I didn’t know. This trip helped me to see how IKEA is sustainable as we went behind the scenes to see how they dispose of waste. The store itself is quite conscious of how it gets rid of waste with all rubbish being checked before it can get in to landfill to make sure it can’t be recycled or reused. They also encourage recycling in their café by having recycling bins and even a separate bin for food waste which is used to create compost. This isn’t just a front either as those same bins are found in the staff canteen therefore showing they don’t use sustainability as a marketing ploy. This is seconded by Paul Fishwick who works at the Warrington store as he said the brand doesn’t find sustainability as something that would bring more customers in portraying that their efforts are for the planet and not a way to impress customers. The Warrington store is a pioneer in waste management. IKEA sells cardboard and plastic waste on to be reused which the Warrington store was the first to do. This conveys that are always looking for ways in which their waste can be repurposed. The Warrington store also uses solar panels which is a very Swedish ideal therefore keeping up with the brand heritage. The store can’t actually afford to be unsustainable therefore showing that not only does it help the planet it is also cost effective.
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Gen Z Z Gen
The future customer of IKEA will be Generation Z and in order to target this market the brand will have to look into what this generation wants. Although Gen Z are part of this fast fashion world it is believed that the generation is more conscious of their purchases and the effect they have on our planet. When a group of Gen Z were asked about sustainability in fashion 72% stated they would spend more money on products if they were sustainable however this was contrasted by the fact only 25% actually bought from brands which have sustainable values (4 Sustainable Behaviours of Gen Z’s Shopping Habits, 2018) It is reported Gen Z are likely to become the largest consumer by 2020 showing that brands need to start steering their marketing towards this generation. Gen Z clearly have the power to change things and get what they want due to the fact things can quickly trend on social media. The impact of plastic straws was very prominent on social media with a video of a turtle with a straw stuck up its nostril circulating on many different platforms. This therefore led to the education of many on what happens to our plastic waste and how it has a strong affect on sea creatures’ habitats. Most information I collected on the generation focused on how Gen Z are digitally native and it is unlikely that they will remember a life without the internet and direct access to a computer. Studies show that 92% of the generation have a digital footprint (Beall, 2017) with them being more exclusive to mobiles than laptops (Woo, 2018). They are also likely to have always had access to technology.
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The brand is already trying to grab the attention of Generation Z by collaborating with Virgil Abloh who is the creator of Off White and the creative director of Louis Vuitton. This collection links to the fact Gen Z are willing to pay more for products as the collection will be at a higher price point than other items that Ikea say due to it being created by a famous designer. The collection will also reflect more on Gen Z’s idea of trends and what is in fashion. For an example Gen Z are very much fans of athleisure wear and street wear which Abloh creates with his brand Off White and this collection at IKEA is a reflection of that. They are also bringing in new products to the store such as wireless speakers which would be a product Generation Z would be interested in. Although they are bringing this new technology into the store for the younger generations they are not leaving their current consumer behind instead they are looking to teach the older generations how to use this technology therefore creating a bigger market for the speakers. IKEA is trying to catch up with other companies by bringing out lights that can be controlled by Alexa or Google Home. They may be behind the times in producing these but the reality is that their products will most likely be cheaper than other brands as they have taken the time to develop it for the disposable income of their consumer.
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The Product Product The
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Fehus Fehus 15
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The product I have developed for the IKEA brand is a children’s light which I created using left over fabric from IKEA, a fruit bowl, a mason jar and fairy lights. These products, except for the fairy lights, were sourced second hand and therefore were given a new life. The light itself I believe is easy to recreate and it would be easy to vary the design. For the design of the light I used blue and grey fabric and fairy silhouettes on its base but both the silhouettes and colours could be changed for example dinosaurs could be used and pink and white could be used. I believe the one I have created breaks social norms by having fairies which are often perceived as girly with the blue and grey which are often colours associated with boys. Generation Z are more accepting of breaking gender norms and looking towards a future without gender boundaries. I also believe that the product could be changed for an older demographic for example music notes could be placed around the base or the base itself could be left blank and therefore making it more sophisticated for older members of the generation. Figure 13
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I believe this product fits in with IKEA brand as its children’s section often features products with characters. For example, bedding often features things such as bears, and they even sell their own characters as teddies. They recently ran a competition that saw children draw a character that could then have the chance of being a teddy sold in store. While at the store I saw that a lot of the young children there were often drawn to the lights. One room had a disco like light which made beams of light dance across the walls and a lot of the children gathered around this room in excitement. This is most likely due to the sensory element of the lights. I believe the product fits in with what Generation Z wants due to the fact it is an upcycled product. I also think this product fits due to the big age range of Generation Z. The young ones in the generation which would be around age 6 could choose themselves to buy this product for their room or as people of this generation could be starting families, they could buy this product for their child. Also if the product is developed to have variations that could be steered towards teenagers then the lamp could be seen in bedrooms and even become a staple for university accommodation. The fact it is sustainable would also draw in Generation Z as previously said this generation has become very conscious of what they are consuming due to the effect on the planet. This generation feels responsible for the impact they have on the home of their families next generations.
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To market the product I looked into how IKEA usually promote products. I looked into how they style their catalogue and they often set up a room and make one product somewhat the main focus in the image and that is the product they then put the name and price of on. This therefore is why for my first image I decided to use a fairly simple image of a section from a childs bedroom and edit the lamp in. I chose to call my lamp Fehus which means fairy house in Swedish. This fits with the way IKEA names products as their products always have a Swedish name and can be as simple as what the product actually is or something relating to it. I then also said what the product actually is, the colour of it and the price. I also added the IKEA logo to brand it.
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I repeated this same marketing strategy with another image however this time I put the lamp in a more gender neutral room in order to promote the product as something that all genders can enjoy and have in their rooms.
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I looked into how IKEA use social media to promote products. I believe this is a crucial part in advertising to Generation Z. Instagram has 1 billion uses worldwide (Carman, 2018) and 80% of those users follow at least one brand (Gotter, 2018). IKEA’s account has 727k followers which are a range of Gen Z and Millennials. I therefore edited an image into IKEAs feed to show how it would look on their profile.
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I also edited a mock up post which features a caption that is similar in style to how they write captions on their images. I used hashtags that they use on their posts as this is a way in which the brand can get engagement on images. The post would also have shopping links so that the Instagram audience can easily find the product, the price and purchase it if wanted.
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Bibliography Bibliography Beall, G. (2017, November 6). 8 Key Differences between Gen Z and Millennials. Retrieved from Huffington Post: https:// www.huffingtonpost.com/george-beall/8-key-differences-between_b_12814200.html?guccounter=1 Burton, O. (2018, May 17). What we can learn from the world’s most sustainable countries in Scandinavia. Retrieved from The Green Hub Online: https://thegreenhubonline.com/2018/05/17/ what-we-can-learn-from-the-worlds-most-sustainable-countriesin-scandinavia/ Carman, A. (2018, June 20). Instagram now has 1 billion users worldwide. Retrieved from The Verge: https://www.theverge. com/2018/6/20/17484420/instagram-users-one-billion-count Gotter, A. (2018, September 19). The 30 Instagram Statistics You Need to Know in 2018. Retrieved from Ad Espresso: https://adespresso.com/blog/instagram-statistics/ History 1940-1950. (no date). Retrieved from Ikea: https:// www.ikea.com/ms/en_AU/about_ikea/the_ikea_way/history/1940_1950.html Ikea Marketing Mix. (no date). Retrieved from Marketing Teacher: http://www.marketingteacher.com/ikea-marketing-mix/ (no date). Retrieved from Wrap: http://www.wrap.org.uk/ Wilson-Powell, G. (2018, August 10). This shop has been made out of 60,000 plastic bottles. Retrieved from Pebble Mag: https:// pebblemag.com/news/shop-zero-waste-design-bottletop Woo, A. (2018, July 23). Time To Wake Up To The Next Consumer Powerhouse: Gen Z. Retrieved from Forbes: https://www.forbes. com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2018/07/23/time-to-wake-up-tothe-next-consumer-powerhouse-gen-z/#543872ff53f4
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Images Images
Cover Image - Neautral Childs bedroom edited to include finala product - https:// www.instagram.com/p/BgiOwH-Agkb/ Cover Detail - See Figure Figure 1 - Linen Fabric - https://www.housedecorinteriors.co.uk/fabrics/warslufla_ slubby_linen_fabric_flax_warwick_slubby_linen_fabric_collection/ Figure 2 - Cotton Fabric - https://www.fabric.com/buy/un-949/telio-organic-cotton-jersey-knit-off-white Figure 3 - Ingvar Kamprad - https://www.washingtonpost.com/gdpr-consent/?destination=%2flocal%2fobituaries%2fingvar-kamprad-founder-of-ikea-dies-at-91%2f2 018%2f01%2f28%2f876717ea-043a-11e8-8777-2a059f168dd2_story.html%3f&utm_ term=.32dd1333910b Figure 4 - IKEA Logos - https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/this-is-ikea/the-ikea-concept/ Figure 5 - Hemp Fabric - https://www.123rf.com/photo_43872243_hand-weavinghemp-cloth-texture-natural-fabric.html Figure 6 - Own Image of Display Room in IKEA Warrington Figure 7 - Stella McCartney Landfill Campaign - https://www.refinery29.com/enus/2017/07/164161/stella-mccartney-fall-2017-collection-sustainable Figure 8 - Bamboo Fabric - https://www.grahamsandersoninteriors.com/fabrics/ clarke-and-clarke/biarritz/biarritz-bamboo Figure 9 - Bottletop AD campaign - https://www.thegeniusworks.com/2018/11/upcycling-reinventing-fashion-to-more-sustainable-interesting-and-unique/ Figure 10 - Own Image taken in IKEA Warrington Figure 11 - ASOS Campaign - https://www.standard.co.uk/fashion/high-streetfashion-targets-gen-z-customers-with-gender-neutrality-and-inclusive-sizing-a3948461.html Figure 12 - Own Image of Final Product Figure 13 - Own Image of Edited Variations of Final Product Figure 14 - Childs Bedroom edited to include final product - https://www.thebump. com/a/gender-neutral-nurseries Figure 15 - Part of Chidrens bedroom with chair and table edited to feature final product - http://praveenkumar.me/childrens-bedroom-wall-painting-ideas/kidswall-murals-stencils-bas-room-pinterest-home-decor-contemporary-childrensbedroom-painting-ideas-random-2/ Figure 16 - Green childrens room - http://www.blamar.hr/darinobaby/tag/krevet/ Figure 17 - Screenshot of IKEA account on Intstagram app edited to include image of childrens bedroom edited to include final product - http://ohbintang.xyz/blog/ kitchen-remodeling-safety-tips-you-need-to-know/ Figure 18 - Screenshot of instagram post edited have a different caption and image of pink childrens bedroom edited to feature final image - https://meadvillemoeagles.org/ikea-princess-bed/ikea-princess-bed-simple-toddler-bed/
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Shannon Gallagher 1804454 AD4606 - Fashion Brand Development