Working the postnormal narrative, driven by research into American’s perceptions about the ‘new American Dream’:
For furniture ads, Ikea’s new offerings say remarkably little about furniture. Instead, they say much more about the way the American dream has evolved to fit a postrecession economic reality.
The company’s new “We Help You Make It” campaign eschews the aspirational gloss of master suites and two-story foyers in favor of embracing Americans — and their furniture needs — where they are today.
Ikea’s website promises, “No matter who you are, what you do, or how much you make, you can still make the dream yours.” It’s an inclusive message that, in this fraught political climate, could be a campaign slogan just as easily as a pitch for floor lamps and futons.
“Society itself is quite ripe for this message because it is something people are thinking about,” said Christine Whitehawk, Ikea’s external communications manager for the United States, adding that the examples shown in the ads reflect the way many Americans live today.
“That’s the reality for many people,” she said. “It resonates with people when you do speak to their life situation.”
Leslie Stone, director of strategic services at Ogilvy & Mather, Ikea’s agency partner, said the goal was to show “real people in real living situations that anyone could relate to.”
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Ikea plans to use Twitter to share data from research it commissioned from the Economist Intelligence Unit to find out about Americans’ aspirations and concerns in terms of the economy, education and financial benchmarks like homeownership.
In the study, “Discovering the New American Dream,” researchers found bright spots as well as concerns. Most of the respondents agreed with the statement “People can come from any walk of life and make it in America,” but even more of the 2,050 Americans questioned said money was a barrier to achieving what they considered to be the American dream, and about half said it would be harder for future generations to become homeowners and earn a good living.
“We started finding information that was suggesting to us that, postrecession, people’s opinions on what it means to make it had changed,” Ms. Whitehawk said, referring to a “new normal” in which possessions take a back seat to experiences.
This is exactly the sort of research I plan to do, going forward. Digging deeply into what’s happening on the event horizon, and then using it to redirect strategy.
from Stowe Boyd http://www.stoweboyd.com/post/152549237317