The owner of Åhléns demands their advertising be "less woke"

In Sweden, Åhléns new CEO, Ayad Al-Saffar, aims to ensure that every Swedish city has its own department store. He believes that physical retail is thriving and has already turned the company's financials around. Under his leadership, Åhléns has gone from ten years of losses to profitability, making the brand more appealing.

In a long-form interview in Ekonomikanalen he speaks frankly about his strategies and ambitious vision. And how he built his career by noting what sells even as a young kid in Rättvik.

For Ayad Al-Saffar, who comes from a successful trading family in Lebanon, the most important mission for Åhléns is to bring the shopping centers of Swedish cities back to life. He often tells his children that he wants to succeed and be remembered for it.
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- "I am probably the only refugee who came to Sweden with Valentino shoes on my feet. I ended up in Rättvik in Dalarna and I remember thinking that the other refugees were so talented who trained so much. But then I realized that they wouldn't be working out just because they were wearing jogging clothes. They had no style and no class at all but I learned that a lot of tracksuits are sold in Sweden so that was one of the first products that I imported and started selling."

Åhléns brand has recently been known for advertising that annoyed Swedes, instead of attracting them. There was that time when an ad claimed that Yule wasn't Swedish, which had Swedes up in arms schooling the brand on where the traditions came from. A father reading Pippi Longstocking to their kid, but in Dari, annoyed many. And in 2016 there was basically a national emergency because Åhléns dared to have a boy Lucia. For what its worth, it didn't go well for ICA when they did it in 2013 either.

Conclusion; Swedes really hate it when you mess with their traditions.

Ayad Al-Saffar has another observation, the consumer doesn't recognize themselves in "woke". This past decade trend of inclusivity has excluded regular people. From Ekonomikanalen:

- "I ask the marketing department: who do you celebrate Christmas with? Your family or your friends? Your family! Then we will have families in our pictures and not groups of friends.

Åhléns customers must recognize themselves in the images we show. Sometimes it gets way too woke.

When I bought Åhléns, it was as if they could never show a Swedish guy or girl in the advertising and it gets too odd. An example is when they showed a handsome dark-skinned guy that they tested make-up on. It will be too much. The picture was very nice and would fit as a painting behind a hotel reception, but the marketing department said that they would wallpaper Sweden with that picture for an offer on foundation. I said it like it was: my daughters won't buy make-up at Åhléns because this guy wears make-up. What's wrong with having pictures of ordinary girls when it's ordinary girls who shop with us? It might sound racist but it's not because it's plain simple marketing."

What a radical insight, show ordinary people in ads to appeal to ordinary customers - who are the majority - to sell more.