As one of the world’s largest retailers of home furnishing products, IKEA relies on Mood for professional installation and service of critical audio system components and Background Music at their 30+ North America locations. Mood also provides similar services to IKEA corporate offices, warehouses and distribution centers. From 2014-2016, Mood performed a total of 65 advanced audio system projects at more than 30 new and existing IKEA locations, from analogto-digital upgrades to complete sound system installs.

Among those projects, our Premier A/V Systems team worked with IKEA to design and implement Digital Audio Systems for use by the IKEA Safety and Security team at their Merriam, KS and St. Louis, MO locations. This advanced solution includes a vast number of speakers and other sound system components for both front-ofhouse and back-of-house applications.

The Partnership

Success in any partnership begins with a dedicated professional who works with the client to design, manage and execute all projects from start to finish. To achieve this end, we assigned a Premier Systems Account Executive to serve as a single technical point-of-contact for IKEA, providing a trusted go-to expert for all of their audiovisual needs. This individual performs as an extension of the IKEA brand, living and breathing the client’s vision on all A/V projects.

The Challenge

The complex and critical nature of the Merriam and St. Louis IKEA assignments required a high level of coordination between multiple parties, including key decision makers at IKEA, third-party construction managers and teams, and internal parties at Mood. In order to deliver a solution that exceeded IKEA’s expectations and fulfilled their unique safety standards, Mood’s dedicated Systems Account Executive would be tasked with the overarching challenge of aligning and managing these resources as necessary, from start to finish.

COMPLEX DESIGN. SIMPLE CONTROL.

Complex systems such as those found at IKEA require robust and reliable technology that’s easy to use and supported by dedicated account management before, during and long after implementation. The success of our designs for IKEA are based on years of experience executing large-scale projects and a deep understanding of all that is needed to provide complete peace of mind for the client: user-friendly systems, installed with management expertise and close collaboration, every step of the way.

The Approach

Taking full ownership of the Digital System installs, our Systems Account Executive and his team began by crafting a comprehensive scope of work based on the client’s vision, safety requirements and physical dimensions of each location. The team met with building officials to discuss intended wiring methods and closely monitored construction schedules throughout the process, always looking for opportunities to further optimize installation and reduce expense to the client. To help ensure maximum peace of mind for IKEA, the Account Executive maintained and provided thorough documentation of the install every step of the way.

The Result

With all new digital sound systems in place at the Merriam and St. Louis locations, IKEA customers and associates at these locations experience greater sound clarity than ever before. By installing brand new rack and wiring systems, the Mood team helped IKEA increase their operational efficiency at these locations, while ensuring minimum costs and smooth serviceability on future repairs and upgrades.

For Mood, the completion of these installs created a reliable framework that can be applied to future projects of similar magnitude, including ongoing and recently completed installs In Las Vegas, Burbank, Memphis and Renton. The end result: IKEA’s full confidence and certainty in a successful outcome on any audiovisual endeavor they choose to undertake with Mood.