IKEA “Step Buy Step” in Saudi Arabia

Notice the little pun there?!?

Source: IKEA

How does a brand become a brand, stay a brand? Solve a problem! Do it as only your brand can do it and then no one can touch you. Eva.

Brand stamp.

Well here’s yet another brand stepping in to solve a consumer problem in a unique way, in a way that only it can uniquely do. It’s a lesson we should all pay attention to because marketing is a spectator sport, after all.

Watch IKEA.

IKEA noticed a problem in Saudi Arabia … its customers were not getting as many steps in as other customers in other parts of the world. On average, under 4,000 steps a day which is far under the recommended daily average to stay healthy.

Yet, when those same customers came to an IKEA store, they would rack up their steps like crazy just wandering around the store. The stores are big!

Opportunity! Turn that behavior into an incentive, turning healthy steps into motivation to move and to ultimately buy!

Enter “Step Buy Step” where customers who come to an IKEA store in Saudi Arabia unlock a 10% discount once they register 4,000 steps inside the store. And guess what, the brand launched it on World Health Day.

Timing. Stepping. Discounting. Buying. Healthy Living.

Sold.

Now let’s do the math. The average daily step count in Saudi Arabia is closer to 8,000.

Progress gets added to that list above.

IKEA is engaging with customers and solving a problem. That’s called a brand staying relevant as it adds value beyond its products (mattresses, couches, desks, bookshelves, etc.).

I wonder if IKEA sells treadmills? Things that make you go hmmm.

What’s your experience? JIM