IKEA’s brand philosophy has always been “Affordable Makes Wonderful.” It is the belief that high quality can be had for a low price. But Taiwanese had preconceived notions about imported brands, and 70% believed that IKEA, which comes from Sweden, must be expensive.

How could we change Taiwanese people’s stereotype of the Swedish brand IKEA as pricey?

The answer: night markets. These are a distinctive part of Taiwanese culture, the local battleground for inexpensive goods, where almost anything can be had for a pittance. Here, a pocketful of coins can buy a countless array of useful, affordable household items, as well as delicious food. In the eyes of Taiwanese consumers, “night market” is a synonym for “a great deal.”

We opened the world’s first IKEA Dollar Store in the middle of a night market.

Without doing any special research on new products or offering any special discounts, we gathered together products you could already find at IKEA, all of them already available for less than 100 Taiwanese dollars (the island’s smallest bill, worth about 3 bucks). As it turns out, there were as many as 1000 items in all. We established an ingenious connection between IKEA’s philosophy of affordable quality and Taiwan’s night market culture of economical bargains. The IKEA Dollar Store successfully turned the image of IKEA upside down in Taiwanese people’s minds.

Making use of a brick-and-mortar store, we created an explosive topic of conversation: “The World’s First IKEA Dollar Store in a Night Market.”

IKEA, the Number 1 furniture store in the world, had chosen Taiwan as ground zero for its first “dollar store.” The news triggered both pride and curiosity in the hearts of the Taiwanese. Consumers could visit the store for a physical, immersive experience, which they then shared on their personal social media pages. This generated a widespread word-of-mouth impact, which then drew the attention of mainstream media. The media coverage then produced a second ripple effect across social media.

We kept the heat going, by strategically opening a second IKEA Dollar Store – this time is a different city in central Taiwan, perpetuating the momentum of the buzz.

Selected location: A night market. These distinctive elements of Taiwanese culture are the local battleground for inexpensive goods. Here, a pocketful of coins can buy a countless array of useful, affordable household items, as well as delicious food.

Communication during the construction phase: We covered the store in blue cloth, creating a sense of suspense. We also deliberately leaked information to the media, preheating the topic on social media.

Communication after store opening:

A grand opening news conference.

An online video.

A series of social media posts.

A marketing video in collaboration with social media influencers.

Created a “check-in station” linked to the hashtag #World’sFirstIKEADollarStore

Welcomed media coverage and arranged interviews.

Promoted the store as a tourist destination in various Asian magazines and media.

The IKEA Dollar Store attracted 43 reports on both online and mainstream media, in Taiwan and overseas – an earned media value of over 10 million Taiwan dollars. During the store’s first week, it saw 600,000 visitors, many of whom waited in line for 40 minutes to an hour to get in the store. It became one of the hottest local destinations of 2018, and overseas travel media (Singapore, Hong Kong) generated a tourism wave. Sales reached 300% of the original target. Within two weeks, new memberships reached half of the last year.

Crucially, 83% of those who either visited the IKEA Dollar Store or read about it started to view IKEA as affordable. We successfully turned IKEA’s image on its head, and Taiwanese people began to equate IKEA with affordability.

IKEA is now planning to employ this new business model in other Taiwanese cities, or even throughout Asia.