There are many companies which have a long history. Mostly all of them had to fight with ups and downs. Some of them were able to struggle through the hard times. But actually there are companies what had proved that it’s possible to achieve year for year a constantly or plus earning.

Prime example Ikea. There is no other company with this concept where people feel as comfortable as nowhere else. Shops without employees, selling halls like a storage 10 meters high and no service like packing or guidance. There are 154 branches in Europe and three only in Berlin. Furthermore they print 145 Millions of catalogues. And this is the secret recipe of Ikea - the catalogue which is that good that they don’t need high skilled workers. Another thing is that all these Ikea consumers know what they want, when they start shopping. You will not find any aimless customer. However, Ikea manages that 99% of all customers buys thing he didn’t want to. This is stuff like candles, frames or glasses. But one thing is clear: Everyone likes Ikea because of his straightforwardness and especially due to his niceness. Long-term success.
The first sport shoe company – Puma has a long history. It starts in 1924 in Germany. They had success for many years but then the two brothers and owners splits each other. One starts with Puma and the other with Adidas. Puma had a hard life. In the eighties nobody wanted to wear these shoes any more. So they started to try an new strategy. A cooperation with Jil Sander and a new brand image helped Puma to grow up again. But the fact that Puma lives the retro trend instead of being a long-tradition company. Based on long-term profitability this will be the end of the legendary brand Puma.

In my opinion a company should overthink first of all: What is our aim? And how can we reach this aim based in long-term considerations?
This is the basis for success in every branch. You should stay in one way and behave constantly to give the people a clear image. The example Ikea is quite good: Never to lose his way of communication and always talk to the people as if they would be good friends. This is a real way to do advertising. Since their beginning they never lost their sympathetic. Change the whole concept only to have success for a short time is in my eyes totally the wrong way.

Author: Lisa Schüttler, Intermedia IMB14, Media Ethics
Source: Meschnig, Alexander; Stuhr, Mathias; “Wunschlos glücklich: Alles über Konsum”;   Europäische Verlagsanstalt Eva; 2005; Hamburg
S.97ff. Puma und der Top Winner: Sport-Lifestyle und Retro
S.102ff. Ikea und das Billy Regal: Demokratisches Design und Babykost gratis