Sustainability communication strategy
Customer expectations are rapidly changing in the field of sustainability. Many consumers want to contribute through conscious consumption, and they also expect companies to talk about what larger corporate initiatives are being made. Although some research suggests that sustainability is not yet a big driver of purchasing decisions in the home furnishing category, IKEA wants to take a lead in the movement and help customers make more sustainable choices.
The ambition for this project was to support customers in their desire for conscious consumption by making sustainable options more visible and their benefits more clear. We also intended to streamline all the different and scattered expressions of our sustainability communication across all communication channels and markets.
While the visual direction was established at the global level, the unique commercial priorities, market, and regulatory differences in the US demanded that all communication was carefully curated to meet our customers in the most relevant and meaningful ways. My role was in leading art direction, as well as managing the details as designer, copywriter, and finally as project manager when rolling out specific in-store solutions.
In an effort to establish the framework needed to make sustainability a prioritized, long-term message in the store, we planned solutions across all areas.
The visitors' first exposure to these messages is in the parking lot, where prioritized, affordable products are shown. While the product’s low price is still in focus, an accompanying sustainability message helps communicate value. The text might describe:
• how the product has been developed with criteria tied to IKEA’s sustainability goals
• how that product can help the customer live a more sustainable life at home.
We’ve committed to having 30% of all parking lot billboards come from this collection.
In addition to having standard parking area indicators to help visitors find where to park if they carpooled or drove fuel-efficient, a large product-style billboard will be used to draw attention to our EV vehicle charging capabilities.
While not every visitor will see a sustainability billboard in the parking lot, they won’t able to miss the several large statements in the store entrance. The largest of these statements is called the Sustainability wall. It presents visitors with IKEA’s most up-to-date sustainability activities, priorities, and goals. It also provides the visitor with a call-to-action to help understand what they can do to help. Finally, it presents a prioritized product or collection of products that are tied to the current commercial theme, typically tied to what people need in their homes at that particular time of year.
What will likely catch visitors’ eyes next is a new meeting area near the entrance. The stadium-style stepped seating gives a place for visitors to be comfortable when waiting to meet someone at the store, for their partner to finish a bathroom break, or simply as a space to pause and collect thoughts before jumping into the shopping process. It's the perfect place to present a captive audience with an important message about IKEA's commitment to using energy from renewable resources in general, and in particular, how each building is outfitted with an array of photovoltaic panels on their roofs.
Three out of the five first room settings feature a sustainability message that further strengthens the presence of the green thread at the beginning of the shopping journey.
In addition to the wall graphic in the entrance area, several other large wall graphics can be found throughout the store outlining IKEA’s larger commitments and sustainability goals:
• Use and investments in renewable energy
• Organic and UTZ certified coffee
• Responsibly sourced salmon
• More sustainable cotton
• Fair working conditions for IKEA suppliers
• Position on equality, diversity and inclusion
The humble, but maybe most impactful part of this package is a collection of product communication that has been carefully developed according to country-specific market analysis and sales priorities. We analyzed over 1,500 products categorized as having significant sustainability benefits, and narrowed the selection to about 60 different messages available in four different formats, or sizes. We included at least one message for every product type so that every area of the store carried this green thread. Each quarter, new products arrive, old ones are discontinued, and priorities sometimes change – so these messages are regularly revised.
Several graphic elements are available to be combined in succession in order best support the scale of the product and display solution. These range from a hangtag to be used on small products to large floor circles, hanging signs, and graphic backgrounds for larger pieces of furniture or smaller items shown in repetition to create a large statement with visual impact.
The new sustainability communication package is the most recent update in a 5-year journey that has increased positive impressions from 44% to 55% according to brand capital measurements concerning IKEA's commitment to the people and the environment.
