Draft 1. IKEA on editing women from their showroom catalogues.

3:35 pm Oct, 5

Ikea, the idea vs. Ikea, the man perchance

“We should have reacted and realized that excluding women from the Saudi Arabian version of the
catalogue is in conflict with the Ikea Group values.” – The Ikea Group

IKEA was pushed into controversy back in 2012 when Saudi Arabian versions of their catalogues edited
out women. This spurred countless debates online when netizens called for foul play and sexism on
IKEA’s part whilst others thought that IKEA was simply respecting the culture of their customers. One
could also say that the decision was purely for profit. Saudi Arabia is still one of the most segregated
countries in the world when it comes to gender, hence why it would make sense for IKEA to remove the
women in casual attire that didn’t quite fit into the nation’s strict dress code. Having all that said, IKEA
made a public statement regretful of their decision to publish these editions of the catalogue; then why
does IKEA consider it a mistake to accommodate the values of its customers?

What people do not realize at first glance is that IKEA Saudi Arabia and the IKEA Group are entirely
separate entities. The corporate nature of IKEA as well as the entirely separate departments of IKEA in
two separate nations made it difficult to screen all of its published material from around the world. In
this failing, IKEA does deserve some blame. Women are rarely seen in Saudi Arabian commercials and
those that do adhere to a strict dress code, it then makes sense as to why the Saudi Arabian department
of IKEA would follow Saudi Arabian customs.

IKEA Saudi Arabia only has to worry about Saudi Arabia and what Saudi Arabians find controversial, this
is where the difference in culture is apparent. Good press in Saudi Arabia could be bad press for the rest
of the world and vice versa. The IKEA Group has to manage PR from the rest of the world. The simplest
reason as to why they’re regretful of accommodating the values of its costumers is that they do not align
with their own. However, we still cannot rule out the possibility that the IKEA Group was complicit in the
editing of their publications. IKEA is still a for-profit business and conforming to Saudi Arabia’s customs
would have of course generated the most profit, only deciding to backtrack after it started hurting their
global PR. In this scenario, the reason IKEA is regretful of accommodating its customers values is because
it’s hurting their global, more lucrative prospects.

IKEA being the mega franchise that it is, with multiple departments from across the world with a
complicated web of relationships. Like any good company, all their public media is carefully crafted to
satisfy as many people as possible; but when that media is turned against them, they of course aim to
satisfy the majority. While their intentions could very well be sincere, it’s highly unlikely that they based
their actions on sincerity alone.
Draft 2. What should a company do when their host’s values clash with their own.

5:20 Oct, 5

Tiny details edited in logos; they don’t change what is represented but they change how they make the
customers feel. Like what Starbucks did when they incorporated the standard design language of
Chinese media and Chinese businesses into their own logos in order to make them more appealing to
the locals, and there is nothing inherently wrong with that. At the end of the day; rounded edges,
removed text or maybe a different color palette only account for aesthetic changes and so that they in
line with the local norms and trends. But what if your business, in order to have the best chance possible
to hook a foreign audience would need to do more than just aesthetic changes and what if these
changes clash with the values your business stands for or uphold?

Two questions come to mind to any business owner’s mind when they try to go into foreign markets.
“Do I risk alienating this new culture” or “Do I risk alienating my old customer base”.