Sunday 19 October 2008

IKEA DOES SIMS



The owner of IKEA is one of the richest men in the world, and it all started when he was a young boy in southern Sweden, selling matches from his tiny wooden garden shed. 
IKEA stands for the first initials of the owners name 'Ingvar Kamprad' and where he grew up, 'Elmtaryd' and his home county in Småland, 'Agunnaryd'. 
In 1943 when Ingvar was 17, he started his small business selling matches, candles, watches, pens and all sorts at a reduced price. He then realised, in order to make profit, he needed to entice people into buying a little more than they needed. For example if they needed matches, maybe they needed to extra candles too?

The first store opened in Stockholm, and is to date the biggest IKEA store in the world. The layout of the store are made so that you have to walk around the whole store, advertising goods on the way. And because the products are all relatively inexpensive, and all compliment each other, they are picked up.
Ikea's motto is: "To create a better everyday life for many people"
The branding has stayed very Swedish, all it's products have Swedish names, and the restaurant promotes swedish food - well some swedish foods - the only food that people would dare to eat!
The children's playroom is called 'Småland', the name of the place Ingvar grew up which literally means 'little land'.

Proving that good marketing truly does know no bounds, Scandinavian furniture giant Ikea has found a way to sell their oddly-named, build-it-yourself furniture in the virtual world. Yes, design icons like the Leksvik coffee table and Ektorp sofa will now be featured in “The Sims,” the game series that allows players to simulate all the actions (and we do mean ALL of them) of real life with virtual people in a game setting. Instead of actually going outside and…you know…living life and stuff…

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