Joan Gunin — Furniture Today,
NAPLES, Fla. — Why is Starbucks synonymous with coffee?

Why does a sneaker emblazoned with a swoosh symbol command a high price?

“The brand is everything,” answered Steen Kanter, CEO and chief consultant for brand management firm Kanter International and former president of Ikea U.S. East, a division of the giant Swedish retailer.

With nearly 40 years of managerial experience including building the Ikea brand in several countries, Kanter’s clients now include Joseph Abboud, Everlast and Herman Miller.

A brand is a business’s “most important asset,” he said. “It is an intangible thing yet it steers your decision. Branding buys loyalty.”

Nike, for example, has gotten the message out linking its “swoosh” logo with the power to perform and win, he said.

“There has to be an emotional connection with the brand, not an emotional disconnect,” Kanter said. 

Even Ikea erred at first, he said, noting the Swedish retailer was forced to rework the first beds it marketed in the U.S. because the slats were too small, he said.

Kanter noted that consumers will pay more for coffee at Starbuck’s than they will at McDonald’s or Dunkin’ Donuts.

“It has nothing to do with the coffee,” Kanter said. “Rather it is the ‘experience’ of the product. There is an emotional connection between the consumer and the brand.”

Asked to name some furniture industry brands, he suggested retailers Crate and Barrel and Room and Board, and the West Elm catalog.

“But there should not be brands in furniture,” Kanter insisted. “Each company should have its own niche; they each have to represent different taste levels.”