Ikea
I went shopping at Ikea yesterday. It was a quick trip, but it's always a cool place to shop. I think the church could learn a few lessons from the Ikea evangelists.
For starters, we had breakfast for a buck. And it was good :) They've got to be losing money on food! So why do they do it? A Harvard Business School case study on Ikea said they practice a form of "gentle coersion." They want to keep customers as long as possible! That's why they have a playroom. That's why they serve food.
Genius.
They're doing a better job at gentle coersion than most churches :)
Ikea Idea #1
Practice gentle coersion :)
Make church an enjoyable experience! When I was a kid I used to count the seconds till church was done :) It was boring! We had an order of service printed in the bulletin. I used to check things off :) It's all I remember from my early church experience :)
I want church to be enjoyable! I want people to leave wanting more! It's not just about satisfying hunger. It's about whetting appetite!
By the way, a really cool playroom for kids and breakfast for a buck isn't a bad place to start :)
Ikea Idea #2
Experiment all the time.
Ikea replaces a third of it's product line every year! They keep it fresh and new. They're always introducing new innovations.
We need new wineskins. It's about telling the old story in new ways. The message is sacred. The method isn't :)
Ikea Idea #3
Celebrate the story
They had a 1950s picture hanging on the wall that celebrates their humble beginnings. Ikea is more than a furniture store. It's a furniture story. They've turned their 90,000 employees into Ikea evangelists.
Jesus was the quintessential story-teller.
Ikea Idea #4
Put Yourself in the Shopper's shoes
Ikea gives free pencils and paper measuring tapes. Why? Because they think like their customers. That is so simple, but who else is doing it? No one that I know of. They are geniuses at getting in the shoes of their shoppers. And that helps them get in the pocketbooks too :)
Isn't that what incarnation is all about? Walking in someone sandals. The church ought to set the incarnation standard!
Ikea Idea #5
Aesthetics are important
Ikea is fanatical about their displays. They make them as lifelike as possible. In fact, their displays are so lifelike that one writer is staging a play at an Ikea in Renton, Wash.
Ikea Idea #6
Do Something Crazy to Get Attention
Ikea gave away $4,000 in gift certificates to the first person in line at the opening of it's new store in Atlanta. Roger Penguino threw a tent in his car and set it up. He camped out for seven days! By the time the store opened more than 2,000 fanatics were watiing with him. They gave prizes to the first 100 customers. It was a carnival atmosphere. We're talking about funiture :)
By the way, that Ikea now treats Roger Penguino like a celebrity :) Aren't we called to treat people like angels? I think that's a step above celebrity :)
Ikea Idea #7
Get the Word Out
Ikea printed more than 160 million Ikea catalogs. They claim to have printed more Ikea catalogs than Bibles. Does that challenge anyone else?
For starters, we had breakfast for a buck. And it was good :) They've got to be losing money on food! So why do they do it? A Harvard Business School case study on Ikea said they practice a form of "gentle coersion." They want to keep customers as long as possible! That's why they have a playroom. That's why they serve food.
Genius.
They're doing a better job at gentle coersion than most churches :)
Ikea Idea #1
Practice gentle coersion :)
Make church an enjoyable experience! When I was a kid I used to count the seconds till church was done :) It was boring! We had an order of service printed in the bulletin. I used to check things off :) It's all I remember from my early church experience :)
I want church to be enjoyable! I want people to leave wanting more! It's not just about satisfying hunger. It's about whetting appetite!
By the way, a really cool playroom for kids and breakfast for a buck isn't a bad place to start :)
Ikea Idea #2
Experiment all the time.
Ikea replaces a third of it's product line every year! They keep it fresh and new. They're always introducing new innovations.
We need new wineskins. It's about telling the old story in new ways. The message is sacred. The method isn't :)
Ikea Idea #3
Celebrate the story
They had a 1950s picture hanging on the wall that celebrates their humble beginnings. Ikea is more than a furniture store. It's a furniture story. They've turned their 90,000 employees into Ikea evangelists.
Jesus was the quintessential story-teller.
Ikea Idea #4
Put Yourself in the Shopper's shoes
Ikea gives free pencils and paper measuring tapes. Why? Because they think like their customers. That is so simple, but who else is doing it? No one that I know of. They are geniuses at getting in the shoes of their shoppers. And that helps them get in the pocketbooks too :)
Isn't that what incarnation is all about? Walking in someone sandals. The church ought to set the incarnation standard!
Ikea Idea #5
Aesthetics are important
Ikea is fanatical about their displays. They make them as lifelike as possible. In fact, their displays are so lifelike that one writer is staging a play at an Ikea in Renton, Wash.
Ikea Idea #6
Do Something Crazy to Get Attention
Ikea gave away $4,000 in gift certificates to the first person in line at the opening of it's new store in Atlanta. Roger Penguino threw a tent in his car and set it up. He camped out for seven days! By the time the store opened more than 2,000 fanatics were watiing with him. They gave prizes to the first 100 customers. It was a carnival atmosphere. We're talking about funiture :)
By the way, that Ikea now treats Roger Penguino like a celebrity :) Aren't we called to treat people like angels? I think that's a step above celebrity :)
Ikea Idea #7
Get the Word Out
Ikea printed more than 160 million Ikea catalogs. They claim to have printed more Ikea catalogs than Bibles. Does that challenge anyone else?
7 Comments:
one more idea (#8) - begin with the end in mind (a borrowed phrase) - they start with the price first, then build it - we should think about that in terms of service planning, teaching series, outreaches...and the list goes on.
Random question... why do you use bold so much on your blog? it seems like every other phrase is bolded, and I've noticed this trend on a few other blogs and I'm just curious if there's any reason behind it other then personal preference?
Jesse, I know I use bold a lot in my blog to highlight words or phrases that I want to stick out. These are things that I want to put extra emphasis on. In Pastor Mark's case, if you were to take all the bold words and phrases you could almost make a whole batch of cue cards/outline of every entry he has made. Some people get in such a hurry when they read that they only catch the bold type. It's like the cliff notes to the entry. :) I personally take the extra time to read more than just the "bold print" in Pastor Mark's blog because he has a lot of interesting things to say, and you never know when you are going to find a good "nugget" of wisdom. :)
Anyway, that's my take on it. Does that help explain the "bold" highlighting a little?
Jesse,
I read a book about 12 years ago that had bold phrases and I found it so much easier to read--like cliff notes if I didn't have time to read the whole thing.
I put bold in my first book, ID: The True You. I bold my evotionals. And I use bold with the blog because it's a "cliff note" version for people who want a quick read.
Mark
IKEA shares some of the ideas of the museum community of providing a visitor centered experience. Maslow's theory is commonly used to identify the basic needs that are needed.
In museums, that comes out as providing bathrooms, restaurants and places to sit. If you are physically comfortable, you are ready to focus and experience the exhibitions.
In exhibitions, "museum fatigue" usually sets in. To avoid this, places to sit, drinking fountains and outside windows within exhibitions help. Also, good museums are thoughtful about the amount of text to read and allowing some social interaction. This could be in the form of a computer-based interaction or encouraging intercommunication with the folks that you came with.
It occurs to me while I'm writing this (with a two year old on my lap) that Ebenezer's will be a great place for dialogue...perhaps on people's experience in the service or from Sunday morning). Museums often have visual cues of the museum and exhibitions in the restaurants. Visual references to NCC would be an interesting avenue to pursue.
Anita
I just wanted to say thanks for saying flattering things about my husband Roger. A lot of people thought he was just nuts to camp out like that, but it was truly an answer to our prayers.
We had just gotten married May 8th and our furniture consisted of a folding card table with a stain and a rip, two folding chairs, an end table rescued from the side of the road and a lopsided twin size bed (it's a good thing we like to sleep close).
Roger had been searching, rather desperately for a job and I had just started a job in child welfare, which didn’t pay much. We had been to Ikea stores before and knew they had great prices for starter furniture. We even had a wish list we would day dream about.
So, that fateful summer day we grabbed a tent, sure that some other young crazy would have beat us there. I think the PR guy was a little more than surprised to see us. That’s how we started meeting other “Ikeaites.” We still hang out with #2 in line Dan and his wife Anne. We send e-mails and enjoy pictures of little Ivy a three year old who came with her Mom to wait the last few days.
I think your comparison is quite apt. It is still odd to walk through the door and have a worker yell “Hey, that’s Roger!” all excited and ask what we’ve bought. It does keep us coming back. I agree that making church an atmosphere where we feel welcomed and important is key to our success.
I guess to sum it up, God answered our prayer in a big way and I’m glad he could use our story for something bigger along the way.
Christine,
Very cool to hear the rest of the story :) Thanks for taking the time. So you guys are "real people" :)
Mark
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