Guerrilla Case Study: Ikea Opens in Brooklyn

By the time you read this, the two-day-long lines of people waiting outside of the new Ikea store in Brooklyn will have had their wait come to an end. The grand opening of the Ikea in Red Hook, a Western port neighborhood in Brooklyn, occurred today, June 18, at 9 AM; but the hype around the store's opening has been building for some time.

Over the past couple of weeks, Ikea constructed mini "pop up" apartments that were placed all around Brooklyn to create buzz around the store's grand opening. The exterior of the pop up aparments was literally a box with "unpack June 18" printed on it to remind passers-by and those interacting with the sets of the date of the grand opening. This was also done in accordance with their traditional media advertising campaign, as you can see in the video above.

Although Ikea has utilized this same clever and creative guerrilla promotional technique in other countries, and the same guerrilla principle has been used for other campaigns such as one for Amnesty International, this is an extremely effective way for Ikea to reach out to the citizens of New York City--Brooklyn in particular--and get them involved with the brand and the product. Points of interaction like this are crucial in establishing long-term, fruitful relationships with customers, and are great for building hype for grand openings.

Businesses frequently use miniature versions of their product to allow customers to sample it before purchasing--for example, mini Sharpie ® permanent markers, or mini fans. Consider mini-giveaways to build awareness and visibility for your brand on a budget, similar to what Ikea was able to accomplish on a larger scale.

Via: Marketing Alternatif.