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How does IKEA come up with names for its products?

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Re: How does IKEA come up with names for its products?

#271

Post by scbrg »

StingyJelly wrote: post #245
dools wrote: post #151

> In other parts of the world, they are basically incomprehensible, but fun! For some reason unknown to either of us it really pisses off my wife when I refer to our IKEA furniture by the Swedish names. I think it stems from a deep seated disdain she has for flat pack furniture. Me: where’s the thing? Wife: in the white cupboard Me: which white cupboard? There are 6 Wife: the white cupboard opposite the piano Me: the…

We are both calling our callax callax and hate it the equal amount. (The word as well as the piece of furniture)

Kallax :-)

Re: How does IKEA come up with names for its products?

#272

Post by Zecc »

jxub wrote: post #240
7734128 wrote: post #20

The door mats are mostly named after places in Denmark, as they should be.

And one of them, "Trampa", means "trap" or "cheating" in Spanish

Move further west, and "trampa" means "excrement" in Portuguese. Usually used in the figure sense, rather then literal.

Re: How does IKEA come up with names for its products?

#274

Post by designerarvid »

Clear and interesting names is extremely good customer experience. Most companies name their products straight from the ERP system, creating incomprehensible codes that sounds like they come from Star Trek.

Ikea has pioneered so much within service design (design beyond the actual product). The in-store journey, the self-assembly, the assembly instructions, clear naming, clear product display, in-store restaurant experience. The list goes on.

After Ingvar Kamprad retired, he continued travelling the world to do store inspections. Full-day walkthroughs that started in the morning at the loading bay and continued throughout the store. Everything was inspected and a list of follow-up actions was created for the store manager.

Re: How does IKEA come up with names for its products?

#275

Post by nullhole »

unwind wrote: post #178
qurren wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The A can still stand for Agunnaryd and the circle at the top can be the midnight sun, which embodies the sprit of Sweden

To reiterate on another comment that would make no sense to Swedish speakers. Å is a distinct letter, with a different and unique vowel sound. It is in no way "a slightly different kind of A". Your suggestion sounds a bit like spelling Apple like AIILE and using the circles to form a cool infinity symbol. Or something.

[dead]

Re: How does IKEA come up with names for its products?

#276

Post by kalind »

tverbeure wrote: post #15

> 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.

I'm a Swede and I knew a guy named Jerker growing up. I always wondered if his parents gave him that name to mess with him. In Swedish "j" is pronounced as the English "y", so I think they could have at least spelled it as Yerker.

Re: How does IKEA come up with names for its products?

#277

Post by reddalo »

wowczarek wrote: post #74
mig39 wrote: post #57

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...

And then, unbeknownst to what the Sci-Fi future might bring, an Italian home appliance manufacturer names themselves SMEG.

SMEG stands for Emilian (the Italian region) Metallurgical Enamels in Guastalla (a town close to Reggio Emilia).

Re: How does IKEA come up with names for its products?

#278

Post by aakast »

sureMan6 wrote: post #259
memsom wrote: post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The umlaut does mean that to a Swede it is not the same word sound at all. I can only guess that is why it was allowed?

The sound is still very close in this situation (ä before r) my guess is they didn't have the Spanish sarna on their radar

To me, a dane, that would be like saying "sarna" and "særna" is the same. They're not.

Re: How does IKEA come up with names for its products?

#279

Post by rafram »

MichaelDickens wrote: post #157
ehnto wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have always thought this about western media. For all of us in non-us countries, the locations, roads and objects are all slightly foreign to us, giving it that other-world feel movies have. But for those in the US, wouldn't it all be a bit familiar? Whenever I watch a movie set in my home country with home accents and locations, it always feels a bit too familiar and it can cheapen the feel a bit.

Well, I'm an American, but US media is disproportionately set in Los Angeles or NYC, and I haven't been to either of those places. I was watching Monk recently, and it feels kinda neat seeing a show shot in San Francisco because I used to live there. I wouldn't say it feels "cheap" though.

You lived in SF and never once went to LA?!
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