On March 21, 2024, Ms. Liu Hong, an alumnus of our university and Vice President of Group Purchasing of IKEA (China) Investment Co., Ltd. was invited to give an in-depth analysis of IKEA China's brand strategy and marketing tactics to our students at 2:00 p.m. The seminar was hosted by Prof. Ying Bin of the School of Business Administration (SBA).
Ms. Liu firstly understood the familiarity and cognitive attitude towards IKEA through a small survey, and briefly introduced the history of IKEA, the company's vision of “creating a better daily life for the public”, and its business philosophy of “providing a wide range of beautiful and practical home furnishings that are affordable to the general public”. and “provide a wide range of beautiful and practical home furnishings that are affordable to the general public”. Afterwards, Ms. Liu Hong introduced the development of IKEA in China, showing its good development in the country through the core business data and the number of employees.
Next, Ms. Liu Hong introduced IKEA's sustainable development strategy, i.e. People & Planet Positive, and explained that IKEA's KPI is not to focus on data, but to focus on people and society, and to do what is good for the society. Finally, Ms. Liu Hong gave a detailed introduction to procurement. Ms. Liu started with the concept of procurement and expanded to different areas of procurement, and then introduced the three strategies of procurement.
Ms. Liu used vivid and concrete examples to communicate with the students, and discussed in depth what products IKEA will launch in the future, how to improve women's leadership, and what qualities companies will value more in their employees. Ms. Liu Hong patiently answered the students' questions and helped them to better understand the IKEA brand.
Finally, Prof. Ying Bin summarized the lecture, affirming IKEA's values of respecting women and focusing on people and society, and expressing his gratitude to Ms. Liu Hong for her wonderful sharing.