Hailing from the southern province of Seville in Spain, Marketing Director at IKEA Elisa Albendea believes that her Andalusian roots have primed her well to take on a career in marketing. She’s a people person by nature and nurture, “I am part of a big family”, she starts us off, “Maybe that is why I love being with people, enjoying time with friends and family, and being outdoors. I am hyperactive and love both outdoor sports and food equally,” she laughingly continued. Upon relocating to Kuwait from London in 2010, she instantly felt at home, “The warmth of the people, the hospitality, the sunlight and the beautiful sea captured my heart. I thought to myself, I want to live here.”
Elisa humbly regards her seasoned expertise (more than 25 years, to be exact) in the retail marketing industry as the result of “working with wonderful people that enjoy working hard and have passion for what they do. Why this love: First of all because whether it is colleagues, partners, or customers, retail gives you the opportunity to be permanently connected to people, and to the reality of your business. I am passionate about people, so I love marketing. Marketing is about understanding people and connecting with them.” Elisa has learned from every experience and every mistake, from walking the floors of the stores, chatting with customers and coworkers, and collating all of these experiences together. Even as her career grew and she found herself spending more time behind her desk, she would continue to visit the shop floor, dedicating more time for her colleagues to better understand their challenges and frustrations, and better connecting with customers. “If we have happy coworkers, we have happy customers and vice versa.”
As longtime residents of this small but mighty pearl in the Gulf, stories like Elisa’s warm our hearts. Currently steering the comms ship as Marketing Director at IKEA, she has been with Al Homaizi Group for more than seven years but has lived in Kuwait for more than eleven years. As soon as she landed at IKEA, she hit the ground running, working alongside her colleagues to launch IKEA in Jordan then Morocco. She utilized her natural instinct and passion for being with people to grow the right teams to further establish the brand in the three markets, “We moved into creating a regional Marketing team that could support what we wanted to do with the brand. We evolved into developing the brand to be closer and connect better with the consumers of each market.” Elisa explained.
“Now, I feel that we have one of the best teams that I have seen in retail. People that love home furnishing with a passion for customer service and communication. I love every minute of my day because of the people I work with. Developing a better understanding of each market and consumers’ dreams, needs, and challenges is key to be able to connect with them and offer them an inspiring, relevant and unforgettable home furnishing experience. We aspire to have an emotional connection with the people of each country, so together we can create a better everyday life for them and their families. We want to touch the lives of not only consumers, but also coworkers, partners, and the communities around us. This is very well aligned with the purpose and the values of the Al Homaizi family, who have been nurturing the IKEA brand for many years in these countries and making it one of the most trusted and respected brands in the market.”
We’ve always been fans of IKEA; the Swedish brand has been a massive part of how we define and interact with our homes since childhood. As we grew up, so did IKEA, and we are privileged to have the time to speak with Elisa as she tells us more about how IKEA is planning to give back more to its valued customers and their goals for 2022. Currently, IKEA is engaging people all across the world with the IKEA Open Door Festival, which is bringing customers incredibly valuable offers, but more importantly, presenting them with virtual and in-store experiences that are spurring IKEA’s ‘Life at Home’ movement. From engaging activities for the little ones to cooking demos and everything in between, a visit to the IKEA store today will engage you with the brand like never before.
This is such a transformative time for the company. IKEA’s next big thing is taking over the home space online. How is IKEA planning to do this via the “Life at Home movement”?
In a time when life at home has never been so important, at IKEA we want to open the door to better living by throwing a festival that can now be experienced both online and in many IKEA stores around the world, featuring music, artists, chefs, designers, and creators. This is a new kind of festival, with real people, set in everyday homes, studios, and neighborhoods worldwide, turning living rooms, kitchens, bedrooms, and backyards into virtual stages for performances and experiences. All in all, the IKEA Festival is taking place in over 100 homes in more than 50 markets across the world, and the experience is for free, open to everyone. And this is just the beginning!
How is the concept of ‘home’ defined according to IKEA? How can IKEA help us make our living spaces more homely?
For us at IKEA, the home is the most important place in the world. Home is family, safety, shelter, comfort, peace, fun, love and anything that makes you happy. But most importantly, home is different for each individual. We believe in a home that is primarily about how the space makes you feel – knowing it works for you, that it can change with you and that it feels like you. A home that supports your relationships, where you and your children can be happy, safe, and healthy, where you can share time and experiences with the ones that are the most important to you. A home that is part of a bigger whole, a neighborhood, a culture, a country, and our planet.
We believe that a good home connects people and creates a sense of belonging as well as making room for life, activities, and memories. A good home allows people to be and express themselves, as it works for different situations in life, is versatile, and easily adaptable. A good home is easy-going and casual while at the same time it is practical, functional, beautiful, and of course durable. A good home is sustainable as well as safe and healthy for all ages while being based on needs and behaviors, not the rooms themselves. And not least, a good home is the home anyone can make real.
At IKEA we help to create a better home by trying to understand all these different aspects of your home, to then be able to offer you relevant solutions that work for you. To make your home a home for all these different needs and all these different moments, all at affordable prices.
Should customers expect to see changes coming to IKEA.com?
Yes!! There is a lot going on when it comes to the IKEA website as we move forward from the catalog towards a true, integrated digital experience. This year we have added tabs for Homes and Rooms with a new format designed for “Home Inspiration seekers”. In these Rooms pages, we have the possibility to show what makes IKEA unique. Through inspiration and tips, we show visitors how to combine different products and useful tips and ideas to furnish their homes. For those who require a higher level of information, detail, and planning– we share our home furnishing knowledge to support them in making larger changes to their home. We can help them feel right at home, just a click away. The new structure of the website is actually inspired by the ‘Needs & Dreams’ content that was basically in the catalog and is now integrated within IKEA. com to broaden the understanding of what home furnishing can do to help create better homes and thereby a better everyday life at home. We are really excited about the journey we started with the website, delivering more inspiration and a better experience every day.
We heard that there’s an IKEA Home Book launching. Can you tell us more about this?
Surprise surprise!! Stay tuned!
What should customers expect from IKEA in 2022?
2020 and 2021 have been very challenging years for everyone, and we want to acknowledge that and continue to be by people’s side, and maybe even more than ever before. At IKEA we have the vision to create a better everyday life for everyone. Home is now more important than ever, and we believe that a better home helps to have a better life. This year we continue working to make this a reality every year. We have worked really hard this year to be able to reduce the prices of more pieces, so more and more people can afford to shop at IKEA every year. Accessibility is important, as is inspiration. With more inspiring solutions for everyone, solutions that are more affordable than ever, more ideas for all wallet sizes and tips will make life at home better and easier. We also have a few surprises. To make shopping at IKEA more and more convenient. Like new customer meeting points and new services are big surprises for the coming year…. but let’s leave something on the sleeve. If not, it won’t be a surprise anymore.
Let’s bring the conversation back to your life in Kuwait. What do you like the most about living here?
It is amazing how similar Kuwaiti culture and values are to the Spanish ideals. I always say we have more similarities than differences. I love how open, welcoming, hospitable and generous the people of Kuwait are, of course, the Kuwaitis, and also all the nationalities living here.
If I have to choose my favorites, I have a few: The people, both Kuwaitis, and the expatriates, the beautiful sea; the sunrises and sunsets, the big moon, Mubarakiya, and all the new small businesses that have been opening in the last 10 years both in the city and in Shuwaikh, and I am in love with the Kuwait Towers and Shaheed Park.
What does a typical day at work look like for you?
In normal conditions, I arrive at the office at around 7.00 am, have a coffee, and have a chat with some of the other colleagues who are early birds like me. Then I start checking the diary to see the plan for the day. Answer some emails, and normally have different meetings, with the management team, my team, and sometimes external partners. I always try to find some time to take a walk around the store to see what’s happening in our business and have lunch at the co-worker’s restaurant where I can get freshly made food in-store and enjoy it with my colleagues for less than 500fils. I would do some work in the afternoon, meet someone from my team or a colleague for a coffee and then go home around 6 pm. Since COVID started, all of these activities are done virtually, including the coffee and the lunch!
When you’re not working, what do you do to relax? What are some of your favorite spots to visit in Kuwait?
I am a big fan of the sea. So my perfect Friday would include sailing with my friends in the Kuwait Offshore Sailing Association (KOSA) based in Fahaheel SeaClub. We sail for about three hours and then we have a nice brunch together. This is my me-time, completely relaxed. I also love going to Mubarakiya and to the fish Market in Souq Sharq. I also love to spend time with friends at gatherings, walking by the sea close to my home, and I usually walk all the way from Shaab to the beautiful Kuwait Towers.
In closing, is there anything else you would like to add?
I have loved every minute of the eleven years that I have been in Kuwait and that I would love to continue enjoying it for another eleven years! I am a very positive person and I am sure that Kuwait and IKEA have a brilliant future ahead. I want to wish everyone the best for themselves and their families. Here’s to better times coming our way.
To learn more about the IKEA Festival, log onto the IKEA website. Follow IKEA’s latest updates on social media @IKEAKuwait.
