Wakefit gives Ikea a cheeky welcome to Bengaluru
In an unexpected move, Wakefit.co — one of Ikea’s potential rivals in India — has launched a host of creative collaterals including print ads welcoming the opening of Swedish retailer’s fourth and said to be the largest store (spread over 12.2 acres) in Bengaluru.
The D2C home solutions brand released the print ad as of its 360-degree marketing campaign #WakefitTrikea, featuring an open letter to Ikea in Swedish, along with a QR code that translates it to English. The code also shares the locations of all Wakefit’s stores that are centrally located in Bengaluru. In other ads, the brand attempted to demonstrate to the retailer the city’s best eateries, entertainment venues, good weather, and its traffic imbroglio.
One of the ads said, “For the best dosas, go to CTR; for the best sofas come to Wakefit”.
The whole idea was conceptualised by Spring Marketing Capital. Prateek Malpani, head of brand, Wakefit, says that this effort was to make use of a topical moment of its Swedish competitor’s store launch to nudge audiences in Bengaluru to check out the wide portfolio of the brand as well as visit its online store. “Beyond being part of the conversation, the north star metric for us was that the website and store traffic are showing massive growth for the newly opened three stores in Bengaluru,” he adds.
The entry of global players like Ikea has shaken up domestic brands trying to organise a highly fragment 13.4 billion market. With a planned investment of3,000 crore in Karnataka, it is reported that Ikea is expecting to attract close to 50 lakh visitors to its store in the city. It’s easy to see why Wakefit is looking for ways to sneak into the conversation.
Such banter is not unknown to the world of advertising. Over the years, Burger King Vs McDonald’s has become a crusade in itself, giving birth to several pieces of user-generated content online. But in the case of the two fast food giants it is like a battle between equals with McDonald’s and Burger King having been launched around the same time, 1955 & 1954 respectively, and having acquired similar market stature since then.
Ikea hasn’t responded to Wakefit’s message yet but the differences between the two brands are stark. The world’s largest furniture company Ikea’s global revenue stands at €41.9 billion and its brand value is $21billion. Established in 2016, Wakefit’s valuation stood at $380 million (2,800 crore post its Series C funding in November 2021), and revenue/turnover at $56.02 million (416 crore in FY21). According to various estimates, Wakefit.co owns 2-3% of the overall mattress market but with respect to the online sleep solutions space, it commands a market share of almost 35-40%.
Rutu Mody Kamdar, founder, Jigsaw Brand Consultants, isn’t impressed by its manoeuvrings: “Wakefit.co, with its sleep solutions, is trying to take on a giant like Ikea which sells almost everything under the sun. The war isn’t on even grounds at all. Somehow it doesn’t seem sincere, rather it sounds cheeky,” she says. Applauding its efforts, Nisha Singhania, co-founder and director, Infectious Advertising, says that it is good to have some healthy competitive fun. She opines that releasing the ad on the front page was initiated to create the roadblock for Ikea—which, according to her is a smart move. Describing the ad as fun, Rajesh Ramaswamy, co-founder, The Script Room, suggests, “It might have been nicer if Wakefit.co had just welcomed them.”
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