BA-Projekt, 16. maj 2011

BA-Projekt Engelsk 16. maj 2011Isabell Valentin Pedersen 31M/A31030889-3154 American English

Branding and Image:

IDEmøbler’s terrible customer service equals fantastic or horrible branding

“Personal consumption is based on private desires

and the satisfaction of individual wishes”

(Berger, 2004)

Author: Isabell Valentin Pedersen

CPR.nr: 030889-3154

Course: BA-Project 2011

Date: May 16, 2011

American English

Teacher: Christine Lenstrup

Characteristics: 40,727

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Table of contents

Summary … p. 3

Introduction … p. 4

Issue statement … p. 4

Method … p. 4

Definition of brand … p. 5

Analysis of TV-commercials … p. 6

Danish furniture consumers vs. Americans … p. 10

What consumers are looking for when shopping … p. 11

What makes AffordFurniture.com successful … p. 12

IDEmøbler’s website vs. AffordFurniture.com … p. 13

Conclusion … p. 15

Bibliography … p. 18

Appendix … p. 21

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Summary

Virksomheder kan ikke klare sig i tilværelsen, på markedet både nationalt og internationalt, eller

bare generelt hvis ikke de har et godt brand samt omdømme. Det er et velkendt fænomen, at

branding er det virksomhederne, især i Danmark, sætter højst på deres prioritetsliste og gør mest ud

af. Et andet velkendt fænomen er, at kundeservicen ikke altid lever op til de krav, som kunderne

stiller af de forskellige brands og virksomheder.

I opgaven bliver der fokuseret på den danske møbelforretning IDEmøbler, da de døjer med dårlig

kundeservice, hvilket har været et problem i de sidste fem år, men har et godt brand. Det er mest på

internettet, at kunderne har haft den mulighed at kunne skrive hvad de mener om firmaet og hvilke

oplevelser de har haft. Derudover bliver der sammenlignet med et amerikansk firma

[AffordFurniture.com], som ikke kun har et godt brand, men også god kundeservice.

Resultatet er, at IDEmøbler som sagt gør alt for at beholde den position de har på møbelmarkedet.

De forsøger sig med at beholde de tilfredse kunder ved at tilbyde dem at blive fordelskunde, hvor

der er gode tilbud at hente, events man kan deltage i, og få rabat på mange af deres

møbelsortimenter. Herudover vil der også stå en af deres stylister til rådighed, hvis man ønsker sig

dette kan man bestille en tid hos dem. Stylisten vil kunne assistere dig i hvad passer bedst til dig og

dit hjem. Dog, bliver der ikke gjort meget ved alle de henvendelser fra de utilfredse kunder. Her er

IDEmøbler ’eksperter’ i at skyde skylden over på deres underleverandører, i stedet for at erkende

der er sket en fejl og at den hurtigst muligt vil blive rettet eller erstattet. Men dårlig kundeservice er

blevet et generelt problem for mange danske virksomheder så derfor burde man lave en eller anden

form for undervisning i hvordan god kundeservice fungere, hvor man måske så på hvad man gør i

andre lande som eksempelvis USA. Derovre gør man meget ud af at gøre kunderne tilfredse, det er

dette som amerikanerne har valgt at have som første prioritet, derefter kommer alt om

virksomhedens udseende og omdømme som anden prioritet. Det er noget, som mange danske

virksomheder bør tage op til overvejelse.

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Introduction

When looking at any brand in Denmark one will soon find out that they are all more or less very

affective when it comes to branding themselves through the media. Not a single day passes without

one, as a consumer, is not being seduced by the brands in order to buy their goods. However, when

it comes to how their customer service is, it could be improved and this includes almost every single

Danish company. Because it happens that customers find some kind of goods they wish to buy but

the only thing they experience is the terrible customer service, and the companies are only

experiencing that they lose customers and finance. For instance IDEmøbler is one of the many

examples of good branding but terrible customer service in Denmark. They started, as people know

it today, in 1971. They expanded in different European and Eastern countries, like Israel, Tenerife,

and Oman during 2001 and 2002. Furthermore, IDEmøbler has not had much experience with

online commerce, which they started in 2002 (ide.dk). Whereas in the U.S. it seems that most of the

companies are experiencing success all the time, e.g. AffordFurniture.com, – an American furniture

company and webshop – which is in many ways similar to IDEmøbler. However, it seems that

AffordFurniture.com is more successful when it comes to online commerce and customer service

(AffordFurniture.com). The consumers are not complaining like the Danish consumers do. These

are some of the issues I will catch up on further in this paper.

This paper attempts to find out why IDEmøbler is so popular amongst Danish furniture consumers,

when they cannot live up to their own mission. Before answering the question, this paper first looks

at what the definition of a brand is. Then analyzing two TV-clips to get an idea of how IDEmøbler

is portraying themselves through the media since it takes up so much space in the daily life

generally speaking. Next, this paper attempts to discuss the main difference between Danish and

American furniture consumers, and looking at what AffordFurniture.com is doing since they seem

to be a successive company and at both of their websites. Finally, concluding this paper by making

a possible solution, if there is one, for IDEmøbler to reach better customer service.

Method

This paper uses Paul du Gay’s model, “The Circuit of Culture” (Gay, 1997, pp. 1-5), to analyze

two TV-commercials, which IDEmøbler themselves are responsible for, or at least their marketing

department. The model contains five boxes, which are complementing each other. Some critics

(Curtin and Gaither, 2005, p.98) say that they all work individually but one could reduce it to only

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three boxes or even two boxes, because they overlap each other. On the other hand, one could argue

that one cannot leave one out for the reason that then the model would not be complete because they

are all linked together. Other critics (Curtin and Gaither, 2005, p.98) of the model are often

mentioning that Paul du Gay have not taken into account that most people will unconsciously put in

the stereotype and analyze through “The Circuit of Culture”, it is said that people attend to

unconsciously analyzing from a stereotype perspective, and sometimes forget to consider the

cultural aspects. However, then one would not have accomplish the right identity and social status,

because all stereotypes are different depending on which cultural aspect one is looking at and which

country one is analyzing. A different model to help analyzing is the WYG-HYF-WIF model

(Goodchild, 2005, p.44). It helps to define what you get (WYG), how you feel (HYF) when

receiving it, and who it is from (WIF). It is brand model, which helps e.g. companies to know when

their brand and message are at a rational level or at an emotional level.

Definition of brand

A brand can be defined as a lot of things. And according to the American Marketing Association, a

brand is a “name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of them intended to identify the

goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and differentiate them from those of

competitors” (Larry Percy, 2003, p.12). This implies that whenever an individual comes across a

brand, he or she can associate it with all of the things he or she knows about the brand. Branding is

all about reaching to the customers’ senses, like smell, taste, emotions etc. because in that way the

company is trying to convince you to buy their goods through your consciousness and

unconsciousness. There are several ways of convincing the customers of purchasing the specific

branded products, for instance by communication, advertising, and charities. Before a customer is

purchasing a product there are three fundamental functions which go through the decision making

process (Goodchild, 2001, p.43). The first function is the processing information, where consumers

are looking for something to help them make the decision, and brands simplify their choice by

giving some key information about the producers. The second is the security in purchase, where the

brand reassures consumers that they are getting a quality product that will meet their needs. And

last function is satisfaction in use, where the performance and functionality requirements are met

with the consumers, and considerations such as design, prestige and country-of-origin become

relevant factors of choice. (Goodchild, 2001, p.43) Another signifying way of influencing the

decision process is the communication, e.g. through advertising. According to Doug Hamilton,

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brands communicate with both the emotional and rational dimensions of the decision making

(Goodchild, 2001, p.25). Implying that when a company is making a proposition to the consumers,

they are not only receiving the message physically but also on the personal level. This is referring

back to what is mentioned earlier, branding is about reaching to the consumers’ five senses, and

making them feel good about themselves. Another way of reaching to the five senses is by TV-

commercials because in that way consumers will recognize the goods by thinking of the commercial

they saw. They are using some of their senses.

Analysis of TV-commercials

One way in trying to figure out how IDEmøbler is portraying themselves through the media is to

analyze two TV-spots. The first one is an earlier commercial from 2009 and the second one is a

commercial they used earlier this year. These two commercials are very different from each other,

but are interesting by looking at how IDEmøbler has changed their image in advertising their goods

and themselves.

The first advertisement, IDEmøbler TV spot (2009), is about three couples eating dinner at one of

the couple’s place. One of the men stands up to make a toast to the male host, but turns to the host’s

wife to compliment on the new brown pouf. The manly host looks confused and tells his friend that

it is not a brown pouf but it is a ‘chocolate-brown’ chaiselongue. Then the wife and the friend get

embarrassed. It ends by a woman voice says, “Yes, variety is the spice of life” (Youtube, 2010).

This clip is no longer than 31 seconds. There are several regulations to take into account when

making a commercial. The companies have to follow the (Danish) Marketing Practices Act that

includes what commercials should contain and what they should not contain, it is simple but

restricted (forbrugerombudsmanden, 2006). Another issue to take into account is what it costs to

send the commercial, because it varies from channel to channel. That may be for the reasons that it

depends on how many viewers there are on the different channels. And what kind of audience they

have, for instance children, youngsters, or elder people. It makes a different on who is watching

because not all of them find IDEmøbler interesting.

In this clip, the representation is the three couples eating dinner together, a female voice, and

IDEmøbler furniture. The last two subjects you do not see, but you hear her voice and about the

chaiselongue. And hereby the production is the chaiselongue which is produced by the IDEmøbler’s

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supplier, because IDEmøbler does not produce all of the furniture themselves, they have other

suppliers and producers, both Danish and foreigners suppliers.

It is interesting by looking at what IDEmøbler’s intention with this ad was. Implicating that they

may have had an idea of how people could relate to this commercial. As a couple or a single person,

one can identify with the couples eating dinner together at the hosts of the dinner. Identifying by

either one is eating dinner on a cozy night at a friend’s place, or invited to a dinner party or a

birthday dinner etc., and most of the times when attending a birthday dinner, there is always a

person who is making a toast to the “birthday guy or girl”. Furthermore, both men and women can

identify with this awkward moment that they are all witnessing, implying that when someone

compliments the wrong person because one assumed that it was, in this case, the woman who had

bought the new furniture.

When talking of who consumes most, specifically furniture, it has been scientifically proved that it

is most females who buy furniture and males who buy the electronics like TV, computers, cars etc.

(EDC Mæglerne, 2010). According to the statistic, it is only 6 per cent of the males who buy

furniture for their home. However, in this particular clip it is the man who has bought the new

furniture, and he can give specific details on what color it is and what the specific name is for this

item and not the woman. That may be a deliberate tactic from IDEmøbler’s part in reaching out to

the male audience and make them more interested in furniture.

Every brand communicates along three basic axes: the WYG-HYF-WIF model (Goodchild, 2001,

p.44). Implying that what you get (WYG) is an unseen chaiselongue, which is because you only

hear three persons talk about it. Next it is how you feel (HYF) when receiving it, here the needs are

not met with the customer or in this case the audience, because you have not seen it yet, you have

no clues on how it may look like and you are not certain that this is what you need. And the last axe

is who is it from (WIF), basically it does not matter who buys the items, the items bought in an

IDEmøbler store will always come from IDEmøbler’s suppliers and producers whether it is a

Danish company or a foreign company that produce the furniture IDEmøbler sells.

So to elaborate on this commercial, it is both a successful and unsuccessful commercial. The

positive side of this commercial is that it contains humor because almost everyone assumes that it is

females who shop furniture and not many males like to shop for furniture or just in general. It is

also funny in the sense that you hear the man talking about the precise color and name, where it is

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again mostly women who know that. The negative side of this commercial is that it does not show

the item, so how would you know that the man is telling the truth or not. And how would you know

as a customer what to look for when entering one of the many IDEmøbler stores. So by considering

this, the commercial has not succeeded because you have to assume that the purpose was to sell the

chaiselongue and not the actors.

The second advertisement, IDEmøbler – Januar tilbud 2011, is about the known female voice from

previous clip[s]. She is talking about the new catalogue, which is out now, and about some of the

offers you can get now in stores, but also how much money you safe by buying these and other

items. It ends by she is remembering people of IDEmøbler’s Sunday’s opening (Youtube, 2011).

This clip is shorter than the first commercial. It is only 26 seconds long, but on the other hand, it has

not got a story to tell like the previous had. There is not that much scene decisions to make from

IDEmøbler’s part, this is more about getting to the point than the storytelling situation. There is the

same procedure and regulations as the previous commercial, whether a company chose to include

actors to tell a story or chose to make it more graphical and technical.

In this clip, IDEmøbler’s catalogue and furniture are represented together with the known female

voice, who is talking about the January sale and what selection of furniture IDEmøbler contains.

The products they show are an adjustable bed, a watch to hang on the wall, and a lamp with five

screens. Unlike the first commercial, you actually see the products the woman talks about in this

clip. Therefore you have the possibility to consider whether or not this is something you want to get

more information about, and the commercial is leading up for you to make the decision.

And unlike the previous TV-commercial, it is more difficult for the viewers here to identify with the

commercial because you only see a catalogue and the products. The female voice is excited over the

January Sale and of all the money you can safe by shopping in IDEmøbler. A lot of women can

identify with this excitement, every time there is a sale most women have to make a stop for

shopping. It is appealing to their conscious in the sense that it does not look so bad when shopping a

lot because you saved a lot of money on the different articles. This leads to the consumption.

As mentioned earlier, it is a fact that most females shop furniture and males who more or less take

care of the other things one might need for the home. In this commercial the company is aiming to

attract new customers to stop by their stores instead of other furniture stores. It is a well-known fact

that in Denmark all companies and stores are competing with each other, and they are attempting to

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attract most customers to their stores by either membership advantages or special offers. In

IDEmøbler’s case, they are owned by a company IDdesign, which also own ILVA, another Danish

furniture company. ILVA and IDEmøbler are each other’s biggest competitors, indicating that even

though the same company owns both of them they are two independent companies. Although the

biggest competition is the Swedish company IKEA because they are world-known and attract a lot

of people for the reason that their furniture and accessories are very cheap. However, the quality

may not be the highest and greatest of all but reasonable for a couple of years.

When looking next at the WYG-HYF-WIF model (Goodchild, 2001, p.44), the audience first of all

actually see the goods they can buy. Maybe these products have interested you enough for you to

take a closer look in one of their stores, which also may be the purpose of the entire commercial.

Followed by that, one would say that the needs are being met with a lot of the customers and the

audience for the reason that maybe a lot of people are in need for e.g. a new bed or lamp. The last

thing you look at is who is it from, and obviously the furniture is from one of IDEmøbler’s stores,

whereas the goods mostly are from their Danish and foreigner suppliers.

So to sum up, this kind of commercials may not seem as ‘catchy’ as those with a story and actors in

it. Nevertheless, you get the information you need, so keeping that in mind this commercial is a

success. For the reasons that when you have the information you need, you can go to the next level,

which is looking at it in the store and that leads to consumption, which the purpose of this

commercial was. However, there are other ways of branding oneself than through commercials.

A company may brand themselves by donating or sponsoring furniture to TV-programs like

Danish’ makeover shows “Herre i eget hus” and “Barronessen flytter ind” etc., which is good

advertising for the companies. The basics of advertising are to create awareness of the consumers’

needs and to make them aware of the existence of needs, rather than creating the needs for them

(Solomon et. al., 2010, p.8). Most of the time, consumers are led to believe that certain products,

like ‘Cillit Bang’, have magical powers, which not always are true, but we as consumers believe in

these commercials and go out buy the products the next day. These advertisings have a strong brand

with positive brand attitude that leads to strong brand equity, only by positioning the brand in the

consumers’ minds (Percy, 2003, p.15). It is all depending on whether or not a company promotes

themselves successfully or chooses the right way of communication through different channels of

media. If a company does not communicate well enough across all channels with the audience or

consumers then they might lose customers and profits, which thereby might disappear from the

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market because no one has been noticing them. One other way of communicating and branding

oneself is through donation programs like “Danmarks Indsamling” that is the latest donation from

Denmark, which took place in January this year.

IDEmøbler was one of several Danish companies who donated money or in other ways of donation.

They give their customers the impression that they are of high-quality. Whenever there is a

charitable collection in Denmark, IDEmøbler is sponsoring and donating a certain amount of

money. At the last charitable collection, they donated 15,000 DKK and designed the location of the

radio hosts with sponsored furniture (Danmarks Indsamling, P3, 2011), where they were 24 hours a

day for seven or eight days, who were not only heard on the radio but during the entire night you

could follow them on the TV screen, where you also could see the furniture that IDEmøbler had

sponsored. This kind of charitable work is good branding for IDEmøbler because whenever the

customers buy furniture, sometimes at very high prices, they know that it is for a ‘good cause’, and

they attributed by purchasing furniture at their store or website.

Danish furniture consumers vs. Americans

American and Danish furniture consumers are very much alike, although there are some

differences. Most of the Americans, when purchasing furniture, they are thinking of what looks

most glamorous and expensive. Because of the big rooms, houses, and apartments they are living in,

they have a lot of furniture shopping to make. In terms of the United States being bigger than the

rest of the world their furniture cannot get big enough. Their beds are doubles size the Danish beds,

and higher too. For those Americans who earns a lot of money think of themselves as successful

people, and successful people need to have expensive and exclusive furniture because that is what

celebrities have. These Americans are looking very much up to the celebrities, and they are being

inspired when ‘visiting’ their homes through e.g. TV-program ‘MTV Cribs’. On the other hand,

Danish consumers do also get inspired by watching TV-programs like the American one, and they

are also being inspired by reading magazines, mostly female magazines. Danes have smaller rooms,

houses, and apartments than in the United States, therefore the furniture is smaller than the

American ones. Most of the Danish consumers are looking for something more family-oriented,

classic, clean, and romantic. It is very important for Danes that their homes are suitable for children

to play and feel part of the family home. Furthermore, it is important that the kitchen is a big one for

the entire family to eat and cook in together. According to Hofstede, “American consumers may

show more interest in displaying wealth and success, and advertising appeals to status and

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achievement, as well as celebrity endorsements, may be used frequently. Danish ads may be

expected to reflect softer values such as relationships and enjoyment, and to feature ‘ordinary

people’ rather than celebrities. Furthermore, it may be expected that Danish advertisements display

a soft, indirect approach while aggressive, direct approaches are more common in the U.S.”

(Hofstede et al, 1998). He is clarifying that the American lifestyle is all about achieving success,

whether it requests hard work or not, and showing other people, friends, and co-workers that you

are a very successful man or woman and that you can afford purchasing exclusive and expensive

furniture, cars, houses etc. On the other hand, one could argue that there are Americans who cannot

afford this kind of lifestyle. That may not be for the reason that they have not got a high-education,

but that they have not got the job that gives them the amount of money they are worth. One could

also argue that the financial crisis is one of the reasons why people do not have a job or the capital

to shop. In Denmark, the same thing happening, there are those who are very wealthy and shop

whenever a new trend is starting, and then there are those who wait till they have the money for

buying the furniture they need, because the ‘old ones’ are too ugly, old, and damaged, and

desperately in need for some new furniture. However, a lot of Danish furniture companies help their

customers by financing so they can afford the furniture they need. When having that in mind,

consumers can, broadly speaking, consume whatever they like.

What consumers are looking for when shopping

As mentioned before most of Danish consumers automatically strive for furniture there is suitable

for a family home, meaning that it is also the children’s home and not only a home for the adults.

Whereas most of American consumers are striving for brand-name products, exclusive and

expensive goods, and those Americans who cannot afford these kinds of goods are striving for some

affordable furniture that are some ‘good-looking’ furniture. However, there are also these people, in

general, who cannot afford the brand-name products but buy them anyway, in the end they have to

return the items because they could not afford having them. From a consumer behavior point of

view, personality and lifestyle are long-term variables with an influence on different aspects of

consumer behavior. The personal aspect refers to stable characteristics within the individual

accounting for consistent patterns of behavior. And lifestyle is more a view on how people spend

their private time, what they do for the environment and their own social environment, and last but

not least how they think of themselves and the world around them (Diehl and Terlutter, 2003,

p.314). A lot of people look at themselves and on how they want to present themselves. Others

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think that it matters what the outside thinks of you as a person and as a part of the society. It has

been scientifically proved that various people mirror themselves through others’ perspectives, i.e.

that what others see and think of you is correct. It is like in the United States, which could also be

defined as a marketing society (Berger, 2004), indicating that they know how to market themselves,

people are using brand names because they believe it gives them a sense of security so they will

enhance the job of selling themselves, which they feel is required when living in the United States.

Here personality is seen as the product and brand (Berger, 2004). One could argue that how those

who are a brand themselves differ from those who are being themselves. Maybe one cannot see the

difference, because the reason may not be that they see themselves as a brand but as a human being

who has a job and a family to take care of.

According to some of IDEmøbler’s consumers, it is not so important that the products well-known

brand-name products, they are looking more at the quality. A lot of the consumers are expecting

that the quality is what they pay for. Although, there slip some unsuccessful purchases through this

company, the employees of IDEmøbler say that it is not their fault but their suppliers’ fault, but

IDEmøbler is very sorry for that to have happen (Fyenske Medier, 2005). On the other hand, one

could argue that a lot of successful purchases happen in this particular Danish company. However,

most of the Danish customers will say, that they expect the quality is over the top taking the price

into account, but they also expect that the service, when entering one of their stores, is more than

just good. They want to feel respected and important, implying that the salesmen and women must

follow the customers’ needs and help them receiving the best furniture there suit their needs and

commands. Although, there will always be these people who only go after the most well-known

brand-name products because they believe it depends on whether you can afford purchasing the

items you want or not. Others could also argue that most of the unsuccessful deliveries and

purchases are from buying furniture online, and the terrible customer service experiencing is mostly

from ordering online. Maybe because a lot of people know that the Internet is not as liable as

ordering in person to one of the employees.

What makes AffordFurniture.com successful

What affects customers on websites are the service, promotion, convenience, and store navigation

just to name a few (Lohse and Spiller, 1998, pp.82-85). Customers visiting a website require

careful, continuous, useful communication across geographical barriers, 24 hours a day, and 365

days per year. Customers require support with product selection, gift services, contact information

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for sales representatives, a FAQ section for speedy answer, information about the security of their

transactions, company return, payment and credit policies, information about shipping and handling

costs, guarantees, and statements about product quality. The promotion involves sales, advertising,

and appetizer features that attract customers. Implicating that banners and visual effects on the

website should be in line with their vision and what time of the year it is, you do not want to sell for

instance outdoor furniture in the winter. To convince a customer that this is the right place for them

to shop is very complex and hard because it is not just what the salesmen of the company think and

believe in, it is also what other customers think of either the product or company. Then last but not

at least the store navigation is very important. For many customers it is easier to navigate

themselves through a store than it is online. Here it can for some people be very confusing and

impossible for them to remember where they found the particular goods. These are some of the

things a company has to take into account whenever they are redesigning their website or making a

new website. The American website AffordFurniture.com has succeeded in including all of these

aspects of a good website. Moreover, they are making the customers, who visit their website

frequently, to participate in approving the website so it becomes more ‘customer-friendly’. In that

way the customers only experience good service and communication with the company because

they feel like the company listens to them and that they are doing what they can to please them all.

IDEmøbler’s website vs. Affordfurniture.com

Comparing the Danish company’s website [IDEmøbler] and the American company’s

[AffordFurniture.com] website they are very much alike. They both have an excellent overview of

the selections of furniture, information about the company, – the story, their mission and vision etc.

- and if one is in need for some help they both have a questionnaire section, perhaps a little different

from each other. The Danish website’s questionnaire service is not quite as good as the American

one, there can go very long time before receiving answer from one of the workers emailing back.

One could argue that it is because they get a lot of emails a day and cannot write them all back. On

the other hand, one could argue that it is because they frequently get more negative emails than

positive emails from the customers. Indicating that the negative emails might be about that the

particular product they bought always needs to be fixed, in other words they complain about the

product they just bought or complain about the bad service they received either in the store or

online. Whereas the positive emails might be about needing help or more information about a

product they have been looking for and are considering buying it. Some of the researching indicated

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that it is the last part that might be the truth. On another website, one could find around 3 angry

IDEmøbler consumers (dethitter.dk, 2010). And on a third website, around 114 customer reviews

on terrible customer service but successive customer service too (Trustpilot.dk, 2011), and the

reviews keep on growing. They all have something to complain about whether it was a product or

the service they received from the salesmen at the stores. For instance writing an email to

IDEmøbler for an interview with one of the managers, but have not received any email from the

company yet, this might indicate that they either are too busy to check their emails or they do not

bother checking the emails maybe because they are afraid of receiving more complains. On the

other hand, IDEmøbler asked for the emails themselves, and the consumers are helping them to

improve their services so people will return for some other products because they felt properly

treated and respected. At AffordFurniture.com, they include their consumers in designing,

improving, and making the website handier. So AffordFurniture.com are not receiving any

complains about the service or their products.

Another way of attracting online consumers is through the design of the company’s website. One

could argue that the first impression is important and since the homepage is the first thing one see, it

is important that it gives a good impression of what kind of company one is visiting. If the website

gives the impression that the company does not know what they are doing, then people might search

for another company that has more clear perspectives on what kind of company it is. When looking

at the American and Danish homepage of the website, they are both different designed and have

different colors. The American homepage has chosen a darker color, all of their information is on

the page, and the furniture overview is well structured. The Danish homepage has chosen brighter

colors, the furniture overview is in the left side of the screen which is well structured too, special

offers and catalogue are much bigger than the rest of the banners for visitors not to miss, and they

have decided to hide their information of the company – the history, mission and vision etc. – the

visitors have to explore on the website to find it. One could argue that the American way of

designing the website is ‘right-on-the-spot’ by choosing not to hide any kind of information for

their visitors, because what is the point in that. The company needs to make people believe that it is

a trustworthy company otherwise they might choose another company. On the other hand, one

could argue that the Danish way of ‘hiding’ some information about the company is not as

important as information about the products, which they do not hide away. The company’s history

is something to google or find on their website, if the visitors are interested. That is a subject to be

discussed because there are some people who think it is good to read about the history of the

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company, it does not have to be very long, it is just to get an idea of what kind of a company you

are dealing with.

There is also the name of the company, the brand. AffordFurniture.com tells the customers that they

only sell furniture that everyone can afford, not that it is like the Swedish company IKEA. The

quality is high too, AffordFurniture.com are appreciating quality as much as the design and price.

They believe that high-quality furniture should not be overpaid because it has a brand name, if that

is what the customers want then they will be surprised once they have tried their furniture.

IDEmøbler tells the customers that they are here to inspire you, and guide you to make the right

decisions for you. It is about having an idea about what suits you and your family best, and to make

some changes. Here they are appreciating high-quality furniture too. However, they believe that

increasing the prices is the right way. Some Danes might think that it is a bit too expensive for them

to buy IDEmøbler’s products, but if they want some high-quality furniture they have to make the

effort. Before their motto was “There is also something for you”, implying that no matter how

much furniture you can afford there is always something you can afford buying. Around 2009 they

changed their motto to “Varity is the spice of life” indicating that everyone needs some new

furniture, to make some changes, and create a new home. With IDEmøbler’s furniture you can do

that. Now, it is like they do not care whether you can afford the furniture or cannot afford it even

though you are in need for something new. It may be for the reasons that they can offer you another

way of financing, e.g. by pay of the amount over several months. In other words, they give you the

credit you need to buy furniture at IDEmøbler (ide.dk).

One might say that IDEmøbler is a company, which has had both ups and downs in the last 40

years. But mostly the criticism is about the negative side of the company rather than focusing on the

positive side. Another might say that it is part of journalism to criticize the company for their

negative side, and this is the way media works.

Conclusion

Firstly, to conclude on the two different commercials, IDEmøbler is portraying themselves as a

company that understand how important humor is in Denmark, when attempting in selling a

product, and let the commercials be up to date, implicating that the design has to be perfect and

‘catchy’. They know that it is important to make the commercials appeal to the younger generation

and by doing so they need to look young and fashionable. But IDEmøbler has to make sure they

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keep in mind that a lot of Danish consumers, whether they are young or elder, are looking for

products that are suitable for a big family of all ages. Secondly, another way of looking at the

difference between Danish and American furniture consumers is that they are very much similar,

however, there is one thing that differs from each other and that is what they are striving for when

they are shopping for furniture. Thirdly, as one in the web department at ILVA said (Lars

Christiansen, 2011), terrible customer service is a general issue to a lot of Danish companies. They

need either to get a course in how to improve customer service or be inspired by how foreign

customer service is stated. E.g. in the United States, customer service seems to be successive

because they have the customers as their first priority and then quality, prize, and branding as their

second priority, which could be because they believe that the most important thing to keep on

driving is the customers. It is the customers who set the agenda and give capital to the companies so

they will not go bankrupt and then the circle would not be fulfilled. Implying that for companies to

keep on existing they need finance, not only from the banks and shareholders, but also the

customers, and the customers need to be employed in purchasing goods in different stores. If a

company goes bankrupt then people will most certainly need to find another job. This circle needs

to be fulfilled for the entire world business to keep on going. That is also what happened with the

financial crisis in 2008. So, IDEmøbler’s issue with customer service is a general, typical issue in

Denmark. Another solution could also be that IDEmøbler needs to be sure of where to put their

focus. In their policy, they say that it is important for the company that the deliveries are not

delayed or damaged, because the customer service needs to be in line with their own policy.

However, that is not always the truth as this paper suggests. What they could do is, as mentioned

earlier, to know and to be sure of where their focus should be, and what the most important thing is

to especially their company. First, they have to reconsider their policy, indicating their mission too.

And second, they have to have the “right” people for the different assignments and not let the staff

overlapping each other and the assignments too. Maybe they need to read their own motto for a

change, because one would say that this will lead them to be as successful as the American

webshop. And fourthly, since e-commerce has developed over the last 10 year, this is what

IDEmøbler should elaborate on more. People are consuming more on the Internet than ever before.

This is because people today feel more stressed about shopping and they are too busy to take the

time it needs. Online shopping is the future and the market is expanding. To make the best out of it,

IDEmøbler should have more advanced and younger employees developing their website. Because

they know what the young generation are looking for and what attracts them. These are some of the

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things that IDEmøbler should take into consideration because these are worthy elements for the

company to keep on going.

One of the reasons why IDEmøbler is so popular amongst Danish furniture consumers might be that

their furniture are of good quality, and the consumers do not mind that the prize may be too high,

because they have the furniture to many years to come. When IDEmøbler is saying that they want

the customers to feel good when entering one of their stores and purchasing IDEmøbler’s furniture,

it is not entirely wrong because a lot of their consumers feel respected and listened to when the

sellers are helping them to get the perfect match. Another phenomenon that is very popular is club-

memberships. The companies are asking their customers if they want to be member of their

company because then they will receive emails whenever something new is arriving or when they

are having an event, to club-members only, which a lot of people are entering. That might be for the

reasons that they will feel like they are very important and special to the company. Again it is about

the respect from the company and their employees. And also if they have time to reply on reviews

they should have the time to reply on the emails. This is also part of successful customer service. It

is all about complementing each other, and not be disrespectful to one and another. This is also

what successful branding and image is all about, to send out the right message, to reach out to the

right segment, and to make sure that the communication is suitable and “right-on-the-spot”.

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Appendix

Fakta om undersøgelsen:

• Foretaget: Marts 2011• Deltagere: 320 ægtepar eller samlevende par fra EDC’s Brugerpanel

Konklusioner – uddrag:

Hvem havde størst ønske om at bosætte sig i byen, hvor I bor?14% - Overvejende kvindens ønske16% - Overvejende mandens ønske65% - Fælles ønske 5 % - Andet

Hvem traf beslutningen om at købe/leje, den bolig I bor i nu? 7% - Overvejende kvindes ønske13% - Overvejende mandens ønske78% - Fælles ønske2 % - Andet

Hvem træffer de store økonomiske beslutninger, som omlægning og optagelse af lån mv.:9% - Det gør kvinden28% - Det gør manden62% - Det gør vi i fællesskab1% - Andet

Hvem foreslår oftest nye boligforbedringer, som større istandsættelser, reparationer eller byggeprojekter?26% - Det gør kvinden27% - Det gør manden44%- Det gør vi lige ofte3% - Andet

Hvem foreslår oftest nyanskaffelser til hjemmet, som møbler, havemøbler og lamper? (Ikke elektronik)56% - Det gør kvinden6% - Det gør manden38% - Det gør vi lige ofte

Hvem foreslår oftest nyanskaffelser inden for elektronik hjemmet (TV, Hi-Fi, computer)?12% - Det gør kvinden61% - Det gør manden28%- Det gør vi lige ofte1% - Andet

Hvem bruger mest tid på havearbejde?35% - Det gør kvinden

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38% - Det gør manden27%- Det gør vi lige ofte1% - Andet

Hvem slår græsset?10% - Det gør kvinden78% - Det gør manden8%- Det gør vi lige ofte4% - Andet

Hvem bruger mest tid på at passe drivhuset og/eller køkkenhaven?47% - Det gør kvinden34% - Det gør manden18%- Det gør vi lige ofte1% - Andet

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BA-Projekt, 16. maj 2011

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