alt Hacker NewsHow does IKEA come up with names for its products?
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Amazing. A post asks a question in the title that I actually want answered, and then goes on to answer that question clearly and succinctly. Maybe the best corporate content I've seen this year.
For a Swede it must seem kind of strange to understand the product names. You see an ACORN toy, a NIGEL bookshelf, and the CROYDON sofa... which sounds like it belongs in a council estate flat.
Definately more fun would be the Polish version. How many people can pronounce the BYDGOSZCZ sofa, the PRZEMYSŁAW bookcase and the PSZCZOŁA soft toy?
> Did you know that we name around 2,000-3,000 new products every year?
It's more likely that the whole product catalog contains 2-3k products. [1][2][3] So no, you don't.
[1] https://www.ikea.com/us/en/cat/products-products [2] https://lar5.com/ikea (~ 2200) [3] https://namingschemes.com/Ikea_Product_Names (~ 1300)
My favorite is `fejka` for the artificial plant/flower.
I think "being as widely-understandable pun as possible" is definitely one of their naming priorities.
The door mats are mostly named after places in Denmark, as they should be.
The $50USD Bluetooth speakers "NATTBAD" gave us a good chuckle.
https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/nattbad-bluetooth-speaker-yello...
About 25 years ago, one rule was that everything related to the toilets was in Danish. He said it was the Swedish Danish rivalry.
Fun Dutch observation: IKEA’s ANTILOP high chair sounds like “anti lopen” in Dutch. “lopen” = “to walk” So the name can be interpreted as “anti walking” or “prevents your baby from walking away.” I know it’s actually named after the animal (antelope), but the accidental Dutch wordplay is perfect for a baby chair.
> Did you know that we name around 2,000-3,000 new products every year?
I find this surprisingly high; I guess it’s _products_ and not _names_, meaning that five colors of the same product count as five new products but only one name.
This is so random. I had just pulled this exact page up this morning to settle a debate with coworkers over whether the product names were real Swedish words or not. I thought they were all made up!
Was very surprised to find things like “bookshelves are all men’s names”, “all names must have ä, å, or ö”, etc.
Complete coincidence that this is #2 today. Had to check that ’NaOH’ wasn’t one of my coworkers
The Fräck mirror was named after the commonly used faux swear word on Battlestar Galactica, where one of the characters used a similar mirror:
https://www.ikea.com/ca/en/p/fraeck-mirror-stainless-steel-3...
The product names have made me chuckle quite a few times in the past. Such an easy way to make your products more likeable.
Also, maybe semi-relevant: I made a small guessing game about the IKEA product catalogue in case someone wants to be lightly entertainment for two minutes [1].
If you ever find yourself in southern Sweden (or Copenhagen and fancy a train ride across a cool bridge) the IKEA museum at Älmhult is well worth a visit: https://ikeamuseum.com/en/
Ever since I heard this song, it now always plays in my head whenever IKEA comes up - have a listen while reading:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4si8w8WMFc
(Rob Paravonian - Particle Board) - of Dr. Demento, etc., fame.
As someone named after an IKEA chair, I can testify I took no offense while assembling myself. https://manuall.co.uk/ikea-bertil-chair/
Bedroom and living room furniture is named after Norwegian places
My Swedish friend told me they make the more expensive things to sound more Swedish and the cheaper stuff to sound Norwegian.
Any speakers of either language able to confirm or deny?
> preferably contain the letters Å, Ä or Ö
I always thought it's just a natural consequence of using Swedish language, turns out it's on purpose!
> preferably contain the letters Å, Ä or Ö
Yes, but why prefer these letters?
I don’t know Swedish. Is it because these diacritics make the names seem more exotic?
Nice, How to use that strategy for software? But first It makes sense?
I had assumed it involved a dartboard.
I love how the chose Verde, which means value, for their long time retired kitchen furniture. They were so good that they still sell above their original retail prices now.
https://zagge.ru/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/13333008.jpg
Translation:
Somewhere inside IKEA.
- How do we call the table lamp?
- GNVOERK> Ingvar Kamprad, founder of IKEA, had a hard time remembering numbers and numbers
And also numbers I assume. Does it mean something like “endless stream of numbers”?
I’m very surprised that they have 2000-3000 new products every year. Checking every name against every language of countries they operate in to avoid “bad” names must be a pain.
> Every possible product name is carefully checked to avoid undesirable meanings in other languages, political or religious affiliations and fit into our global profile.
Hey Donna [1]...
I figured they just let a Dala horse walk around on top of a bunch of keyboards and whatever string comes out is the new name?
Maybe
> Every possible product name is carefully checked to avoid undesirable meanings in other languages, political or religious affiliations and fit into our global profile.
I love the JERKER desk that I bought 26 years ago, so I assume this rule must be younger than that.