Ikea Fan Blog Helps Bring Store to Ohio

In a recent post on customer passion, I referenced Jen Segrest’s OhIkea blog.

It was the bellwether for anyone hoping the Swedish retailer would locate to the Buckeye state.

Ikea announced a few weeks ago that its first store in Ohio will open next year. Thankfully for me it will be in suburban Cincinnati.

According to the Associated Press, the company attracts large numbers of shoppers with its modern, Scandinavian-style furnishings and its do-it-yourself concept. The company's sprawling blue and yellow trademark stores feature nearly 10,000 items and it expects to draw customers from Columbus, Dayton and other parts of Ohio as well as from Indiana and Kentucky.

Ikea’s cult following in the United States is due in part, in my opinion, by taking a strategy that is the opposite of Starbucks. Instead of putting out a good product on every street corner, Ikea puts out a good product and only sells it by catalog and, currently, in 28 locations nationwide. The Ikea stores closest to Ohio now are in suburban Chicago, Pittsburgh and suburban Detroit.

Segrest traded a few emails with Strategic Public Relations recently and provides her take on OhIkea, Ikea and customer fan blogs.

SPR: Your dream of having Ikea come to Ohio has been realized. When, and why, did you start the OhIkea blog?
JS: I heard a rumor from a friend who had a friend in the Reynoldsburg, Ohio (Columbus area) zoning office who said Ikea has been sniffing around. So I called the zoning board, spoke to a nice guy who said yes they had talked to them, but only that, and wasn't sure what the store was - so I told him.

After that call I went, well, if they are looking there, they are looking around Ohio... I want to know where! The blog was born that afternoon. Two years later here we are. I didn't have to go snooping too much, the rumors came to me. Then I'd just call around to see if I could validate them.

When I started getting multiple people, both within and outside of Ikea saying West Chester and "soon" I knew this ride was almost over.

SPR: It looks like you knew before the announcement took place. Did Ikea tell you?
JS: No, but Ikea spokesman Joe Roth was tormenting me in an email about how not EVERYTHING on my blog is right. A local reporter and I had been trading info and comparing notes. He told me a week prior, but I was told to keep it under my hat. I got the okay from him to put a couple sneaky hints up instead. I was dying to tell everyone.

SPR: What has Ikea’s response been to your blog?
JS: Joe Roth told me in a phone call, as have other Ikea employees in stores and offices around the world, that they watch my blog very closely. I was even told my Saint Tokig picture I made on a silly lark was up in Ikea offices in Europe. That flips me out. Someone at the Ikea offices in Demark said my blog was extremely accurate, which was a good sign to me I was on the right scent.

All my friends have been congratulating me this week, they all have seen me in the papers and stuff for a year now and they got the news too. I don't quite know what I'm being congratulated for…I didn't do ANYTHING but be nosey and blab about it.

SPR: Do you feel that you had an impact on Ikea coming to Ohio?
JS: I dunno. I think I was at the right place at the right time. I highly doubt me saying 18 months ago that West Chester would be an ideal spot because it reminded me of a young Schaumburg made them look there. I think for the fans though it's been great to know you're not the only Ohioan to have heard of them.

SPR: How do you feel about customers passionate enough to blog about a brand?
JS: Only the wildest poles of opinion get voiced. If you have an opinion about anything and an ounce of web savvy, out on the internet it goes. I think Positive Fanatics is more of an Ikea BRAND blog, I'm just an Ikea rumor monger, or have been to this point.

SPR: What’s the big deal about Ikea that drove you to mount this campaign? What’s their secret?
JS: I'm a design geek. But I'm also cheap. Its stuff just looks so nice and you have SOOO many choices. Forget three or four entertainment centers, they have 50. And not even the cheapest one is ugly. It's a concept that seems lacking in America. If it's ugly it's at least worthy of being cheap, if it looks good it MUST be expensive and non functional - and those are both wrong. Ikea is that middle ground, and it works because freaks like me build blogs to evangelize.

Segrest blogged for Ikea’s attention…and got it. Look no further than Flickr to see other Ikea evangelists in action. There are more than 31,000 images tagged Ikea. Start with any of the Ikea Clusters or jump into the Ikea Lovers Pool.

I Shopped uploaded by inkyfingerz
tags | public relations | PR | social media | Ikea | customer evangelist | marketing | blog | design

Comments

[Ann Handley]

What an awesome story, Kevin...thanks!

[Kevin Dugan]

Thanks Ann. But I should probably change the headline as it's a bit misleading. Jen did not create a reason for Ikea to come to Ohio, that was already in the early stages. But it did play a role.

While Ikea made the decisions for the usual business-driven reasons, the retailer was following the blog during the process. If nothing else for an anecdotal read as to how their efforts were being interpreted by customers. Smart move on their part.