Comments on: IKEA Content: How to Lose Your Readers in Two Minutes or Less

By: The Best of Copyblogger in 2007 | Copyblogger

The Best of Copyblogger in 2007 | Copyblogger — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 19:08:12 +0000

[...] IKEA Content: How to Lose Your Readers in Two Minutes or Less [...]

By: Sia

Sia — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 01:21:51 +0000

Poor Duncan… if anything is engaging enough who would be looking for a way out anyway. Has anybody tried finding a parking space on a Monday morning at Ikea lately ? (Montreal Ikea).

By: Brian Clark

Brian Clark — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 15:08:01 +0000

I’ve only been in one IKEA store too… in Houston when IKEA first came to the US, and it was exactly how Mike described.

I guess we older guys who didn’t turn into raving IKEA fans need to watch our analogies.

And Duncan, the point of the analogy wasn’t about exiting, it was about putting the needs of the customer (reader) first. I think that was really clear in Mike’s post.

By: Louis St-Amour

Louis St-Amour — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 14:59:20 +0000

Unfortunately, the San Diego store might be an exception to the normal Ikea experience …

(By the way, that a global corporation like Ikea has a huge unofficial forum with tips about their stores from fans (and likely employees) … wow.

By: Michael A. Stelzner

Michael A. Stelzner — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 05:27:24 +0000

Duncan;

I have only been in 1 Ikea.

It happens to be the only one I am aware of in San Diego.

It is a maze with no way out I am aware of—except by traversing the whole store.

For me, it is a valid analogy.

Thanks for your opinion, but this one is based on my experience. Clearly you had a different experience and I respect that Duncan.

Mike

By: Duncan

Duncan — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 04:06:19 +0000

Brian, I understand what you’re saying, but an analogy is meant to function at the time it’s written — IKEA stores were certainly difficult to navigate once (and yes, in some markets the shortcuts are still less obvious), but the analogy was chosen as a contemporary example of something bad. IKEA clearly functions well for most people who choose to go there.

The honest approach to an analogy like this is to not paint the example as a clear negative if it isn’t, but to say “this is a successful retail concept, but not what you should do on a blog”. Even then, given that you can exit a website at any time, the crossover from the analogy seems tenuous to me.

By: Brian Clark

Brian Clark — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 03:54:24 +0000

Who said it was a false analogy? IKEA stores were originally all designed this way. The fact that they’ve made changes might just show that a lot of people hated it.

By: Duncan

Duncan — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 03:47:55 +0000

I’m not persuaded that a false analogy is an honest approach to telling a story – it’s a bit like bait and switch.

Michael’s message is good, but saying “the analogy worked” because people got what was intended — regardless of the relevance of the strongly negative analogy — seems to reward the outcome at the expense of sound rhetoric.

By: Lara

Lara — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 20:13:39 +0000

Those pesky grocery stores! They’re smart!

By: Shawna

Shawna — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 13:05:07 +0000

I couldn’t agree with your analogy more about IKEA. I fall in with most of the comments with talking more about IKEA more than writing-

I went there for the first time with my 2-year old. I took the elevator and went the wrong way on the path. I didn’t get why people were giving me stares. Then I realized my daughter had a diaper rash and a bowel movement in her pants. Desperate to find a bathroom, I rushed through the store. The signs were confusing because I was going the wrong way.

I ended up changing her in the model display bathroom. She was upset, AND I COULDN’T LEAVE! I was the parent with the screaming kid in the store for a half hour until I figured a way out to the car and get the blessed crackers. Because they keep their costs down by not having a lot of employees to help, I couldn’t find anyone to ask to get me out of that place or show me where the cafe was.

I love IKEA. Their store almost killed me. Shortcuts, signs, and notices aside: try navigating it with a screaming two – year old and see the glaring mistake of making it difficult to get where you need to go!