In Daryl Chan’s recent blog post regarding Ikea’s 4Ps in Europe and Asia, he analyzes Ikea’s global marketing strategy through examining the company’s marketing mix strategy implored in different regions of the world (particularly Europe and Asia, which are good extremes for the purpose of the analysis). Darryl highlights the challenges European-based Ikea faced through trying to accommodate to the Chinese market.

A company can be examined many ways. One may analyze the economical aspects, the financial positioning of the company, the historical implications of the company, and other macroeconomic factors. Generally, companies that pack a punch in any of these factors are doing globally. It is important to analyze the success of a company through its international contribution.

There is evident risk in entering a new market, and in Ikea’s case, it’s no different – they took a chance and brought the popular trendy furniture culture to a new market in China. At first, there was some confusion regarding price as Ikea’s low pricing strategy didn’t work seeing as Chinese people regarded Western products to be superior, but Ikea’s logical pricing structure eventually fit well amongst the young middle-class population (educated about the Western culture) in the market. With regards to product, place, and promotion, Ikea really took upon a role of understanding the cultural factors of its new market and learned to adapt in order to be successful. Ikea made sure its products were diffused easily within the Chinese culture through how it coped with compatibility: smaller sized furniture for smaller housing, store location near public transit, and marketing on the Chinese social mega-site Weibo.

As to most brand studies in COMM296, Ikea is another interesting examination due to its adaptability to different market structures. Its success transcends borders through its marketing mix strategies and ability to understand the macroeconomic factors.