Future-proofing and growing a thriving business

Background

BYKO is Iceland’s largest and oldest hardware retailer, dedicated to offering a wide range of products and exceptional customer service to homeowners and housebuilders. But after 60 years in business and a changing market, it was time to look ahead and reinvent themselves, their stores, and their business strategy.
But how could we define the future of a company that has catered to its customer needs for 60 years and proudly holds the title as Iceland’s preferred hardware store? How could we create a new winning recipe for the future?

Task – Growing a thriving business

BYKO wanted to establish a unique market position tailored to target two audiences: Those who work in construction and those who are on a mission to transform homes. So, we needed to create a solid strategic foundation that would not only add zing to their brand concept and elevate the consumer experience but also define the future role and purpose of the company. There was a lengthy list of to-dos for us – rethinking the store design, store formats, product assortment, customer journey, as well as communication initiatives – but also a huge opportunity, and the first of its kind for Ogilvy Denmark.

Solution – A complete transformational strategy

And so, we used the power of “borderless creativity” to solve this, extending it to the consumers as well.

The first step was to define a new value proposition, value drivers, and audience approaches. The key insight to this was that BYKO needed to shift the focus to People from Products, which we turned into two objectives: Make it easy for house builders and make it inspirational for homeowners.

By turning the typical way of thinking products upside down, working with zones and prioritizing product categories, we created a strategic foundation to win the battle for the consumers’ hearts and minds – with one common proposition for B2C and B2B: We are your partner.

This strategy gave birth to the creative concept: We do it together – and helped to onboard our audience and connect with them on a unique and emotional level. The extensive creative concept spanned the Future BYKO’s brand positioning, visual guidelines, and communications concept, including tone of voice and communication pillars. Further, we created an operational communications toolbox for the Icelandic team to easily bring the new brand to life when creating communication.

And we didn’t stop there; We developed a scalable implementation plan covering all aspects of the brand transformation; From detailed floor plans, in-store signage, and the products on the shelves, to the guidelines for the online format of the future BYKO concept. As part of the implementation plan, we delivered clearly defined steps of action required to realise the concept in practice.

Results so far – From Strategy to the Shelves

The brand concept has been implemented in the first BYKO store in Reykjavik in early 2023. Cross-country brand roll-out is expected to be finalised in 2025.