Jysk stories

December 2022

Keeping traditions alive

Christmas equals traditions, and this is also the case for the annual Christmas party in JYSK. Employees from the Danish JYSK stores, from the distribution centre in Uldum, and from the head office in Brabrand gather to celebrate another great year in a festive setting. Since the opening of the first JYSK store in 1979, an annual party has been a recurring event in all JYSK countries, and the Christmas party in Denmark has always been holding on to the old traditions.

But what makes the JYSK Christmas party so special?

Each year, a theme is announced before the party. The theme creates a common thread both in relation to decorations, food, and drinks, but also the apparel.

With a Christmas party every year for more than 40 years, it can be difficult to remember the different parties by the year. Instead, the parties are remembered by their theme. Michael Gade, CMO, recalls Superheroes the best: “At this Christmas party, everyone was all in on costumes. There was a whole other level of energy at this party”, he says. When Jane Nørgaard Elgaard, Sales Coordinator, looks back, the Christmas party that for her is most clear, is the Beach Party. With sand, leis, and coconut drinks, it was all well thought through. Photographer, Morten Møller Rehné, does not hesitate in his answer: “To see Lars Larsen as a coachman in his horse carriage was priceless. The Oktoberfest is one for the books.” This year’s theme was JYSK Awards with an increased focus on bold colours, gold, and glitter.

Even though the distribution centre in Uldum, the head office in Brabrand, and the 110 stores in Denmark participate, there is no doubt that this party is a tribute to especially the store employees. Every year, Country Manager in Denmark, Bo Viktor Andersen, hands over different awards such as best apprentice, best sales attitude, best store manager trainee, best store and many more. This year, there were 10 different categories with each one winner, but the most important prize to win, and the prize that everyone was fighting for, was “Store of the year”. 

It has become a tradition that the Danish JYSK stores are closed the day after the JYSK Christmas party. Bo Viktor Andersen does not see that tradition change in the nearest future: “We truly want all employees to participate in this great event, which is why we keep our Danish stores closed this particular Sunday.”

This year’s JYSK Christmas party was the biggest event so far. No fewer than 2,350 happy and excited attendees joined the party on 19 November. “We have decided to hold on to the tradition of giving our employees the opportunity of bringing their partner to the Christmas party, even though the number of employees has increased tremendously since the first Christmas party,” Bo Viktor Andersen explains. 

The Christmas party was arranged in a collaboration between JYSK and Dypång Management. “We cannot handle this alone… But neither can the event agency”, Bo Viktor Andersen explains. He elaborates that JYSK contributes with securing the true JYSK spirit and a common thread, whereas Dypång handles the practical things and bookings. Bo Viktor Andersen has become the familiar face of all internal branding material regarding the Christmas party in Denmark, and he is therefore an essential part of the planning process. To emphasise the importance of the big yearly event, it is also a tradition that JYSK invites some of the most recognised artists in Denmark on stage to perform. This tradition has evolved over years, as JYSK this year was able to present five different artists compared to having one main artist a couple of years ago.

‘Traditions’ is a recurring word in this context, but you simply cannot explain the details of the annual JYSK Christmas party without mentioning all the traditions attached to it. To keep traditions alive has been a crucial element in the planning in the past years, and it for sure will be in the coming years. 

October 2021

Impressions speak louder than words

With more than 500,000,000 impressions and a target group coverage of 70%, the 2021 Store 3000 campaign was a huge success for JYSK. The campaign was the largest employer branding campaign in JYSK history, and the aim was to identify potential Store Managers to join JYSK as the number of stores continues to rise worldwide.

The results, of course, were not achieved without effort. The entire campaign is based on an in-depth analysis of existing Store Managers, which was essential to the success of the campaign:

”We have never worked this deliberately with insights before and I am extremely proud of what we have achieved from our dedication to knowing and understanding the target group and basing every little detail of the campaign on that knowledge,” Michael Gade, Marketing Director, JYSK, explains.

Based on the comprehensive insights, the project group first painted a picture of the ideal Store Manager candidate, defining the target group for the campaign.

Next, they went back to the drawing board to sketch the campaign framework, developing everything from media plans to creatives centrally at the Brabrand Head Office. Among other things, a series of videos were produced, featuring actual JYSK Store Managers.

”We could have hired models to play the roles of Store Managers, but we chose to feature actual Store Managers to ensure authenticity and to get the Store Managers involved in the campaign. This campaign revolves around them and it is in a way an acknowledgement of the awesome job our Store Managers are doing today, so it was only natural for us to have them be the stars of the campaign.”

The finished sketches were then sent to the 28 countries in which the campaign was to run. The local HR departments were then responsible for colouring in the sketches and making the campaign come to life in their respective countries.

To tap into the local culture and context, the HR departments planned live events which, based on insights from the initial analysis, tapped into the interests of the target group in each country. These events were received with an overwhelming enthusiasm by existing Store Managers and, combined with the tailored content produced at the Head Office, it sparked a remarkable online engagement. To Kateryna Babenko, HR Director, JYSK, there is no doubt that the online engagement is what ensured the impressive results of the campaign:

“I am very impressed by the creativeness the local departments have shown in creating events revolving around everything from hiking to geocaching, and I am equally impressed by the engagement from JYSK employees who have participated in the events and shared their stories online. We did not ask them to share anything specific, they were just inspired to do it, and their commitment has been vital to the success of the campaign. To me, that is the thing I am most proud of looking back on this campaign.”

March 2021

Best results ever. Again.

Just like a young athlete does not retire after having won the first championship, several record-breaking annual results have not inspired JYSK to sleep in. On the contrary, achieving the best year ever several years in a row requires on a strong strategic focus and an unbeatable growth mindset. Opening with the question "How do you improve on your best results ever?", a video released in March 2021 provides insight into some of the work behind the impressive results.

"Our founder, Lars Larsen, created the foundation for a strong and long-lasting business with a small store concept, a focus on the right products at the right prices and a certain willingness to take risks. Today, this still characterizes JYSK. To grow and develop the organization, we focus on creating great strategies so that JYSK remains attractive, sharp and dynamic for customers as well as employees," says President and CEO Jan Bøgh.

While continuous performance evaluation and optimization is a vital part of everyday life, JYSK embarks on the comprehensive process of evaluating and updating the strategy every three years. This involves deep involvement from the entire organisation as well as thorough analysis of current and potential customer needs showcasing both strengths and weaknesses of the business. The preparatory work for the major strategy updates takes place over the course of approximately 15 months.  In the video from JYSK, some of the strategic initiatives from the last seven years are highlighted.

"We are a professional business with highly engaged employees in stores, distribution centers and head offices in each country. Neither them nor I ever rest on the laurels," adds Jan Bøgh. And as JYSK employees often quote Jan Bøgh: "Growth is never done."

If you are curious to get a sneak peek into the engine room at JYSK, you can watch the video here. https://vimeo.com/521897195

October 2020

About teaching Austrians JYSK

In 2019, the preliminary steps were taken to convert Dänisches Bettenlager to JYSK in Austria. More than 160 touchpoints showing the Dänisches Bettenlager name and logo were identified. 87 stores needed everything from a new store front to new receipt paper. Even the assortment has changed. A project plan involving stakeholders in Marketing, E-business, Sales, Purchasing, Retail Development, Country Management and, of course, the Austrian stores, was put into play in order to reach the ambitious goal of teaching Austrians JYSK.

While JYSK may be well-known to customers in many European countries, this is not the case in Austria yet. Switching from a successful brand name with high brand awareness to one with practically zero brand awareness in Austria is not an easy task. However, it has been done with success before when Jysk Sengetøjslager and Norsk Sengetøyslager changed to JYSK in Denmark and Norway respectively. "JYSK stands for Scandinavian sleeping and living. Using a brand name that does not refer to products for sleeping specifically, such as 'Sengetøjslager' or 'Bettenlager' opens the potential of our brand. The name change is about adding on to a success story not only with the brand name but also with ongoing additions to the assortment.", says Michael Gade, Marketing Director at JYSK. Once the 87 stores carry the JYSK logo, the increased visibility of the JYSK logo will help lift brand awareness through existing traffic in stores and exposure of the new logo to both loyal and new customers.

On top of campaign papers as well as TV and digital campaigns, JYSK even went onto the streets of Vienna for some on-camera language lessons with potential customers to help the Austrians pronounce the Danish-sounding 'JYSK' correctly.

Dänisches Bettenlager officially changed name to JYSK in Austria 1 October 2020. Two months after the re-branding the name change, brand awareness had increased from 0 to 53%.

December 2020

B2B – as seen on TV

With help from the Business to Business department, JYSK products are now entering show-business in Finland. In the comedy-drama show 'Ex-Onnelliset' ('Living with my Ex'), JYSK products help set the scene for the meeting between different family constellations and life situations in the show's season 3 and 4. Season 1 and 2 of the popular show reached almost one million viewers per week at the Finnish TV-channel MTV3. Season 3 and 4 aired in autumn 2020.

For the production company, Dionysos Films, one of the reasons for choosing JYSK B2B as their props supplier for the TV show, was the diversity in the assortment which complemented the different homes of the families on the show well. Rene Hartung, Head of Business to Business at JYSK says: "The almost 3,000 JYSK stores around the world function as showrooms for JYSK B2B. The stores are a great way to introduce potential business partners within a wide range of industries to the products that JYSK B2B have to offer. The case with props from JYSK in the Finnish TV show demonstrates that JYSK B2B offers much more than decorating office facilities or hotels.".The practicalities around props for 'Living with my Ex' were facilitated by the B2B department at JYSK Finland's head office.

Growing and expanding the B2B area is part of the JYSK strategy. B2B is already established in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Polen, Croatia, Germany and, of course, Finland. In 2021, B2B opens in Romania, Greece, Czech Republic and the Netherlands.

December 2020

Walking the talk at JYSK

Being one of JYSK's Employee Promises, 'When you grow, we grow' is a well-known statement among employees in JYSK. A satisfaction score of 82% for Learning and Development in the latest Employee Satisfaction Survey prove that JYSK is keeping that promise.

A Sleep Academy as well as optimised development programmes for Store Managers, District Managers and Retail Managers have already been launched. Furthermore, JYSK launches the JYSK Talent Academy targeted particularly at young talents in 2021. Along with two international awards rewarded for JYSK's M-learning platform MYLEARN in 2019 and 2020, the above satisfaction score shows that JYSK's dedicated effort to continuously improve internal training and development is paying off.

The Employee Satisfaction Survey was carried in out in January 2020 with an impressive participation rate of 98%. The total result of the survey was published in May 2020. It revealed an employee satisfaction score of 76%, which according to Global Employee and Leadership Index (GELx) positions JYSK in the top 10 of major international businesses.