IKEA is launching a new marketing campaign in the UK this weekend called “The Wonderful Everyday,” which will explain the brand’s values and sustainability ethos to consumers, according to Marketing Week.
The first ads, which launch tomorrow (February 8), mark the Swedish retailer’s first sustainability-focused campaign. Created by Mother, the UK’s largest independent ad agency, the first TV and radio spots will focus on touting energy-saving LEDs as an alternative to incandescent lightbulbs, which IKEA has committed to phasing out by 2016.
“This is a sustainability campaign but also a brand campaign,” IKEA’s UK and Ireland marketing manager, Peter Wright, told MW. “We need to explain what we stand for and celebrate that.”
The first round of TV ads show a dark forest, which slowly becomes illuminated, tree by tree, with the voiceover saying: “By 2016 we will only sell energy-efficient LED lightbulbs. Sometimes small things can make a big difference.”
Wright told MW that the campaign is paying homage in part to the company’s roots in Smaland, Sweden, where people are “thrifty and resourceful” and sustainability is a natural way of life.
Wright said he believes now is the right time for IKEA to speak about its commitment to sustainability as people increasingly look for ways to reduce their energy consumption and bills. He claimed that by switching to LED light bulbs, the average household could see up to a 85 percent decline in that cost.
According to MW, the campaign will of course include a social media component, featuring tips on more sustainable living, with plans for a broader social media push later in the year.
This isn’t the first time the home-goods giant has encouraged more sustainable consumption: In October, IKEA launched its “Second Hand” campaign, which aimed to resell customers’ used IKEA furniture alongside new products through an online “flea market.” The campaign successfully sold every used piece that was selected to be a part of the program.
IKEA seems to be practicing what it’s about to preach with regard to more conscientious consumption: The company also announced earlier this week that it has expanded the use ofsustainably sourced cotton in its products to 72 percent, up from 34 percent in 2012.
DO YOU KNOW WHEN YOU NEED TO PUT A PERIOD IN FRONT OF YOUR TWEETS? BRING YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGIES UP TO SPEED WITH THIS USEFUL LIST OF UNIQUE TIPS.
What happened over the last few weeks though is that we collected a number of awesome tips to post on social media, that didn’t quite all fit together. So we thought, why not creating a list of unique tips, that might not have that much in common, but are hopefully still very useful for you!
So, here we go, a list of six rather random social media tips to help you improve your marketing today:
1. STOP MAKING THE MOST COMMON TWITTER MISTAKE
Here’s a quick tip about a mistake that is made all the time on Twitter. In a HubSpot post, Jay Acunzo was kind enough to offer up his own experience with this for us to learn from.
Here’s Jay’s Tweet, which he used as an example:
The mistake is an easy one to miss, but it all comes down to the very start of the Tweet. Starting a Tweet with a username (this one starts with @HubSpot) means thatonly the sender, the person mentioned and anyone who follows them both will see it.
In this case, Jay and HubSpot will both see the Tweet in their timelines, and anyone who happens to follow both Jay and HubSpot will see it in their timelines.
Of course, anyone who scrolls through Jay’s whole Twitter profile would see it as well, but we want to focus on getting your Tweets into the timelines of your followers.
So, how do we solve this? If you really want to start your Tweet with a username, add a period to the beginning, like this:
Gary Vaynerchuck even created a 44-page slideshow for this one Twitter mistake. It’s definitely worth flicking through it:
So next time you want to Tweet about someone, don’t forget to add a period at the beginning if you want all of your followers to see it!
2. SCHEDULE YOUR UPDATES TO POST JUST BEFORE OR AFTER THE HOUR
Convince & Convert founder Jay Baer shared a great tip in this Social Media Examiner post for scheduling your updates at just the right time.
If you’re trying to reach business people like marketers, office workers or managers, this is especially handy. Jay sets his Buffer schedule to post updates just before or just after the hour. He does this to catch people who are checking social media just before or just after a meeting.
Here’s Jay’s example:
Meeting is scheduled from 1-2 pm. Meeting lets out slightly early at 1:57 pm, and attendees check Twitter on the way back to their desk. Meeting goes a little long, and that dip into social media occurs at 2:03 pm.
Jay also makes a note that scheduling Tweets around common lunch and dinner times (if you can–time zones can make this a bit difficult) is a good way to make sure more of your posts are seen. When look further into the science of timing, there’re alsosome other great tips beyond Jay’s ideas.
3. FOLLOW OR FAVORITE ALL PEOPLE RETWEETING YOUR ARTICLES TO GROW YOUR AUDIENCE
One tip that I learned from Leo when I joined Buffer was to keep an eye on who shares my content on Twitter.
Just by monitoring mentions of my username, I can find people who are interested in the posts I write, and then quickly follow them or favorite their Tweet.
This is a good way to gather more followers who enjoy your content. You can also use a Twitter search to find people who aren’t mentioning you by name.
Try searching for your website’s name or URL, your full name and any specific keywords or hashtags that you use. If you don’t have time to reply to all of the matching Tweets, a quick favorite can help you make contact with those users.
Being able to get more Twitter followers with a number of tips that simply show gratitude are my favorite, since they’re completely non-intrusive and build on your previous efforts. We’ve written about more examples here.
4. KEEP AN EYE ON FACEBOOK’S CHANGING GUIDELINES
Facebook has had some pretty strict guidelines for running promotions on your Page in the past, and it’s always a good idea to make sure you’re not in breach of any of these. In fact, their recent big algorithm change, turned the Facebook marketing worldupside down.
What you might not know is that Facebook has actually lifted some of the rules for running promotions (they’re fond of changing things at Facebook). A recent Socially Stacked blog post looked at five of the guidelines Facebook has removed:
1. Promotions on Facebook must be administered within Apps on Facebook.com, either on a Canvas Page or a Page App.
You can now run promotions on your Timeline or by using a third-party application.
2. You must not condition registration or entry upon the user taking any action using any Facebook features or functionality other than liking a Page, checking in to a Place, or connecting to your app.
Now that you can run promotions on your Page’s Timeline, you can require a Comment or Like on your post for entry. You still can’t ask fans to enter by sharing your post on their own Timeline, though.
3. You must not use Facebook features or functionality, such as the Like button, as a voting mechanism for a promotion.
Not only can you ask fans to Like or Comment on a post to enter your competition, but you can use Likes as a voting feature now, as well.
4. You must not use Facebook features or functionality as a promotion’s registration or entry mechanism.
You can actually use a Like on your Page or a check-in to your business as entry into a promotion, now. Since Likes aren’t differentiated for promotions, however, the Socially Stacked team don’t recommend using this option.
5. You must not notify winners through Facebook, such as through Facebook messages, chat, or posts on profiles (timelines) or Pages.
Facebook has relaxed this guideline, so that you can now use the comment stream, status updates, your own blog or website, and even email or Twitter to notify winners.
This Generation Has Ideals and Now Children, and Both Factors Will Play in the Marketplace
The coming year holds dramatic changes for some of the world’s most recognized brands, as more millennials, the influential consumers who already value transparency and social consciousness, become parents and expect more from brands as a result.
Start with the National Football League. Reports of damage to players from repeated head injuries are creating a serious brand-reputation problem for the NFL. Millennial parents, whose children are just entering the world of youth sports, are hugely important to the NFL’s long-term success, but they are now thinking twice about sending their sons and daughters onto the football field.
If the league can’t convince these parents that football’s potential rewards outweigh the risks, its long-term brand value will decline. At the start of this season, the league instituted stricter penalties for hits, yet the issue is not going away. The family of former Kansas City Chief Jovan Belcher, who killed his girlfriend and then shot himself in front of Chiefs officials, had his body exhumed just last month to explore the possibility that head trauma played a role in the tragedy. In 2014, look for the NFL to beef up its education efforts and institute more sweeping rule changes to prevent injuries.
The food industry has to deal with the dramatic rise in childhood allergies, which affects a growing number of millennial parents. In October 2013, the Centers for Disease Control announced its first-ever food-allergy guidelines, to be implemented in the coming school year. Even parents whose children do not have allergies will be demanding foods that are manufactured safely — and clearly labeled. Food marketers will be well served to boost their educational marketing efforts and re-work packaging and labels to address this growing consumer need.
Reinvigorated feminism is another issue facing marketers. The Oxford Dictionary chose “selfie” as the 2013 word of the year, but it could have been “feminist.” Pop stars, business leaders and politicians were all proudly calling themselves feminists. Music acts like Beyonce and Lorde are riding a wave of feminist culture, and marketers like GoldieBlox, Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg, andDisney‘s “Frozen” are focusing on broader choices for women and girls.
Where is this reinvigorated feminism coming from? Millennials, who are more diverse, accepting and inclusive than previous generations. In a recent poll by The Economist, 42% of all millennials said they consider themselves “feminists,” compared to just 32% of Generation X. I suspect this trend is being amplified by a recent and dramatic change in most millennials’ lives — parenthood. Roughly 40% are already there. As more millennials start families, this inclusive generation will increasingly demand that the products with which they raise their children match their ideals.
Renember also that millennials lived their young adulthood facing some of the 20th century’s biggest social and political challenges. After witnessing Congress become ineffective, their faith in government is faltering. Instead, millennials think that the private sector and, increasingly, brands and companies, can help solve the world’s ills. This type of mindset can help us predict where three iconic retailers will end up in 2014.
Target and Wal-Mart offer consumers essentially the same thing, yet their practices stand in stark contrast. Wal-Mart continues to take heat for its employee standards, production practices and price undercutting. As Target continues to grow its footprint, it can capitalize on Wal-Mart’s PR missteps. I suspect that millennials will reward Target handsomely.
And when business and marketing professors study what went wrong with Abercrombie & Fitch, they won’t be pointing to the usual suspects — product issues, scale or a faltering economy. They will say that what A&F failed to stand for led to its undoing. Abercrombie’s success was built by young generations that came before, but millennials — with their consumer idealism and dislike of the company’s elitist attiude — will ultimately dismantle this once-coveted brand.
Marketers make a dangerous mistake when they look at millennials as one cohort. They are a diverse group, falling on a wide spectrum of tastes, behaviors and income levels. Brands ignore these differences at their peril.
Millennials are often incorrectly thought of as being drawn to only prestigious, high-value brands. In reality, many are struggling financially. It’s also important to note that millennials don’t view luxury the way other generations do. They consistently report that all brands, including high-cost brands, still need to be functional and affirm their world-view.
Any brand that looks at technology as a cool, shiny thing isn’t looking through the eyes of a millennial. While technology developments and products are important, millennials think of technology as a background item. It’s not something they plan to wait in line for. That’s for Generation X and Boomers to worry about. Amazon may have won publicity with its idea to deliver packages with drones, but while Charlie Rose was eating it up on “60 Minutes,” millennials likely responded with a resounding “meh.”