THE ‘SWEDESHI' SPIN

Swedish furniture giant IKEA is all set to make its grand entry in India with its first store in Hyderabad this month and a store in Mumbai six months later. Ulf Smedberg, Country Marketing Manager, IKEA India talks to us about the brand’s marketing strategy for the country, and how it is embracing Indian culture in an attempt to connect with the often difficult-to-please Indian consumer

- Samarpita Banerjee

After existing behind-the-scenes in India for about 30 years, purchasing products and materials for its stores across the globe, Swedish furniture giant IKEA is all set to finally open the doors of its first Indian store in Hyderabad this month.

The brand has done a lot of ground-work, in an effort to study the Indian market, which is a critical market for it in the global scheme of things. Along with hundreds of house visits, a lot of research and many conversations with consumers, the brand has coined a unique strategy for India, calling it ‘Swedeshi’ – juxtaposing Swedish with ‘desi’.

“For us, the brand’s positioning is all about how we would like people to perceive us. Therefore, we came up with a strategy that has become the merging point between IKEA’s values and Indian values. While as a country and a culture, India is very different from Sweden, we decided to focus on what we had in common. Therefore, ‘Swedeshi’ will be our formula for everything we do here,” explains Ulf Smedberg, Country Marketing Manager, IKEA India.

The brand plans to invest around $1.5 billion in India and wants to expand in the country faster than it has expanded in other parts of the world. Smedberg reveals plans to open a mega Navi Mumbai store within the next six months and launching the next few stores in places like Bangalore, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata and Pune after that. The brand is also targeting to reach more than 200 million people in India in the next three years.