rel=”” title=”https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1049-the-front-page-30038501/?pname=nzh_web&sc=podcast_show”>The Front Page team got an early look inside the 34,000sq m retail hub on Monday.

The company’s country communication manager, Patricia Routledge, said each of the more than 7500 items has been handpicked for Kiwi homes in mind.

“We went into 500 homes when we first got here, and we just asked people, ‘How do you live? How would you like to live? What don’t you like about your house? What would you really dream of?’

“A lot of those insights go into how we ‘Kiwi-fy’ our marketing, because we want it to be authentic, we want it to be real,” she said.

The entire Ikea experience has been catered to a New Zealand audience. You’ll notice Auckland vistas in mock window displays and an All Blacks match on TVs in lounge room set-ups.

Routledge said making sure they’ve got that “Kiwi twinkle” throughout all their marketing has been important.

On the weekend ahead of the store’s opening, Ikea threw several “housewarming” parties around Auckland.

Each event had been designed to celebrate different aspects of Kiwi life, “from backyard gatherings to late-night garage jams and sunny mornings by the sea”.

“We wanted to create excitement on top of the excitement and to say to all of New Zealand, we’re so happy to be here.

“We had lots of local artists and a lot of different genres as well. We had house music on the first night, a bit of garage and R&B on the second night, and Sunday was a bit more funky, a little bit of reggae vibes as well in there.

“I brought 300 bucket hats over from Sweden to New Zealand. They’re the last blue ones in the world!” she said.

A massive red billboard on the corner of nearby Carbine Rd and the South Eastern Highway issues a welcome from an unlikely source, The Warehouse.

“Nau mai, Ikea,” it reads along with a subtle dig, “ … finally found us on the map.”

Quantum Jump chief executive and marketing expert Ben Goodale told The Front Page it’s quite a bold move from the Kiwi superstore.

“Arguably, it’s a marketing no-no … But, it’s interesting in a way, I guess they’re trying to associate themselves with Ikea rather than pretending it’s not happening.

“The expectation has been enormous getting towards the opening date. So, for them, I guess it is ‘Well, if you can’t beat them, join them’ and how do we come in and impose ourselves on to the biggest marketing launch of the year,” he said.

Marketing up till this week has been huge, Goodale said, and you’d be hard pressed to find someone who doesn’t know Ikea is opening in Auckland.

“I don’t want to be mean to say this, but it’s validation that New Zealand has finally arrived on the global map for Ikea. It’s a genuine global retail phenomenon.”

Kiwis have waited half a century longer than their Aussie counterparts, with Australia’s first Ikea store opening in 1975.

“We’re a long way from anywhere, we’re actually one of the smaller nations to have an Ikea. But, there are tiny places like Iceland, Cyprus, Latvia and Estonia – they’ve all had Ikea before us.

“I think they’ve probably waited until they felt they could do it well. Certainly, they’ve been smart with the whole way they’ve got their distribution plan, so you could be in Christchurch and you can order it and be shipped, because they never used to do that. Years ago, they didn’t deliver,” he said.

Listen to the full episode to hear more about:

The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5am. The podcast is presented by Chelsea Daniels, an Auckland-based journalist with a background in world news and crime/justice reporting who joined NZME in 2016.

You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.