IKEA looks to furture Penetrate the U.S Market Case Study

IKEA looks to furture Penetrate the U.S Market - Case Study Example As such, the author of this brief marketing case study will seek to implement this approach with regards to IKEA’s proposed expansion and further integration/penetration within the United States market. According to the previously mentioned chapter’s rubric, the first letter of the DEFINE acronym states that the firm in question must define the problem. Obviously, this may seem as a simple approach; however, the reader would likely be horrified to know just how many very large and otherwise successful firms had sought to work out the problem that they saw as represented without seeking to define or recognize the full scope of the ancillary and tangential issues that were acting on the exemplification of the problem within the firm. With relation to IKEA, the definition of the problem will herein be discussed. IKEA is faced with a situation in which although its product line is understood and appreciated, there is a great deal more market engagement and customer utility that the firm can ultimately be gained should the popularity of IKEA in the United States begin to mirror that what is experienced in Europe and other markets in which it competes. As the rubric of the article in question states, the second determent in the â€Å"DEFINE† acronym is that of enumeration of the decision factors. This of course follows that once the issue has been defined the next step would be to focus upon the key hinge points that would most assist in providing a plan of action with regards to future steps. In the case of IKEA, this automatically references the ability of enumeration with regards to recognizing the key strengths and weaknesses that exist within the firm. Although one may be convinced that they should focus exclusively upon the weaknesses and outright ignore the strengths due to the fact that they are already in existence and bear little correlation to the issue at hand, this is very much the wrong approach. Rather, the correct approach of the enumeration phase is to consider both strengths and weaknesses simultaneously as a means of ensuring that weaknesses are appropriately listed so that actionable plans can be drawn to minimize or reduce entirely their existence and plans can be effected which lead to retention of the key strengths that are noted. For the case of IKEA, the key weaknesses that the article has illustrated revolve around their strong focus on sustainability, brand image, added amenities, do it yourself approach, corporate structure, and low cost structure. Likewise, the key weaknesses that should be enumerated upon are the limited promotional expenditures, weak online support, limited customization, the do it yourself approach being seen as cheap and law quality, economic conditions, demand for convenience, and the popularity of stylish cutting edge sustainable products. Within the given rubric, the next step would be to consider the relevant information that the preceding two steps have detailed. Within the case of IKEA the relevant information is the fact that the firm has been considered by many within its customer base as representing the same quality products that they might purchase at Wal-Mart or Target. Similarly, the firm should realize the most relevant information that the preceding steps of analysis has yielded is the fact that its current â€Å"thrifty† marketing concept will likely do little to re-engage customer opinion