The Story

Portland got its first IKEA last July, and it was truly a monumental moment. Ok, maybe not monumental, but definitely exciting for those of us used to spending 6+ hours in a car to get to the store near Seattle.

Part of the fun of shopping at IKEA is the showroom that displays products in different environments to help you visualize the furniture in your own space. I love these mini showrooms, but when it comes to finding new furniture for our office, IKEA unfortunately doesn’t have a display space that’s 30′ by 22′.

Test-driving products and services is the norm. (Regrettably the financial services industry hasn’t quite caught on). Gyms all offer free trial memberships. Online businesses generally let you test their services. Clairol allows you to try on different hair colors in their virtual studio before you take the plunge and dye your hair. But without hiring an expensive consultant, how can I know if the furniture I want will look good, or even fit, in our office space - before I plunk down a hefty chunk of change?

IKEA has the answer…IKEA Planning Tools. On their website, they offer 3 downloadable programs, for Kitchen, Bedroom or Office, that you can use to design your own space plan using IKEA furniture (of course). Why don’t banks let me test their online banking platforms with “fake money” to see how I like the usability before I sign up for an account?

At least IKEA gives me a chance to experiment before I commit. I can test out a bunch of different room arrangements, see how different pieces of furniture look and fit, and make an intelligent decision on what to buy before I spend the money - and time to put it together!

Wouldn’t it be nice if my bank or credit union had a tool where I could test-drive different products and services to see if they matched my wants and needs?

It wouldn’t have to be all products or services - for instance, IKEA doesn’t have a Living Room planning tool. Even just giving me a chance to try out their online banking interface would be a big help (because as Wired points out, most banking sites are not too great).

Giving me the opportunity to test my options with select products or tools before making any commitments would be a great way to build a lifelong relationship with me.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 25th, 2008 at 2:18 pm and is filed under Bank Branding, Credit Union Branding, Bank Marketing, Credit Union Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.