Ikea’s many publicity stunts for its first India store opening in Hyderabad

There were VR tours of the store, decked up bus stops, an army band, cheering staff and a lot more to ensure that no one missed the fact that Ikea had opened the doors to its first store in India.

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Ikea India opened its first store in Hyderabad on Thursday. (Source: Ikea/ Facebook)

Swedish home furnishing chain, Ikea, opened its first store in India on Thursday. Opening the doors to its first flagship store in Hyderabad, Ikea went all out to make their presence felt in the city with plenty of publicity stunts.

Here are the different things Ikea did for their grand launch in Hyderabad’s HITEC City to make sure everyone knew they were open:

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Telangana Minister KT Rama Rao along with Sweden’s Ambassador to India, Klas Molin inaugurated the store and a band from the Indian Army’s Gorkha regiment played songs, including ‘Saare jahan se accha’.

Minister @KTRTRS along with Klas Molin, Ambassador, @swedeninIndia, Jesper Brodin, CEO, IKEA Group and Peter Betzel, CEO, IKEA India formally inaugurated IKEA store in Hyderabad today. @jayesh_ranjan, Prl Secy, IT and Industries Dept was also present. pic.twitter.com/kG7WGzNJbn

— Min IT, Telangana (@MinIT_Telangana) August 9, 2018

A few glimpses from the inauguration event of #IKEAHyderabad. pic.twitter.com/yMvm3DPRNt

— Min IT, Telangana (@MinIT_Telangana) August 9, 2018

The store’s first customers got a grand welcome as staff sang, cheered and waved flags of India and Sweden when they walked in.

Welcoming the first customers in the first IKEA store in Hyderabad. #ikeaindia pic.twitter.com/lfMMCintkF

— IKEA Sverige (@IKEASverige) August 9, 2018

Passengers at Hyderabad Airport spotted empty Ikea boxes announcing the store opening on the luggage conveyor belt.

Spotted this morning on the conveyor belt at Hyderabad airport: lots of #Ikea cartons. All empty. Just announcing that the first Ikea store in India opens today! How cool is that. Take a bow – whoever thought of this innovation. And welcome to India @IKEAIndia pic.twitter.com/9YkrTgdZtq

— Prakash Iyer (@prakashiyer) August 9, 2018

What an IKEA Sirjee !!

— Rajeev Singh (@rajeevsingh111) August 9, 2018

Wow…that’s wot we call out of the box thinking.. advertising is all about innovative approach and connecting wid ppl in simplest way

— Ajeet Kumar Tripathi (@AjeetTripathi) August 9, 2018

Cool! Only if it weren’t empty, but given to airport staff. But still cool! #IKEAHyderabad #IKEA https://t.co/FODpgll7M4

— Sonal Saha (@sonalizing) August 9, 2018

The company decked up a bus shelter with trendy, brightly coloured furniture and rugs, which meant a lot of people stopped by for selfies.

Ikea transformed regular black-and-yellow auto rickshaws by seats with bright floral-printed covers and painting the vehicles in blue and yellow to match the brand’s colours. And had VR glasses in each of them to give people a virtual tour of the store.

Here’s what the ride looked like:

Ikea, that says it strongly believes in gender equality, also promised that there will be a 50 per cent representation of women across all levels in India too.

#IKEA is committed to gender equality and aims to achieve 50% women workers at all levels in the organization in India #1DaytoGo to open #IKEAIndia #IKEAHyderabad pic.twitter.com/ss1efS56NC

— Sweden in India (@SwedeninIndia) August 8, 2018

Ikea plans to expand its presence to 25 cities across the country including Ahmedabad, Surat, Pune, Chennai and Kolkata by 2025. However, immediately after Hyderabad, the company has planned stores in Mumbai in 2019, followed by Bengaluru and Gurugram.