Olle Kirchmeier/Visit Sweden
“Bolmen,” Sweden needs you to know, is greater than only a rest room brush. It’s a glowing, forest-lined lake within the south of the nation identified for clear water, boating, swimming and kayaking. Yet because of the vast attain of Ikea, the place many merchandise borrow their names from real-life Swedish websites, most individuals in all probability know Bolmen as a toilet cleansing set.
Don’t get me improper. As far as rest room brushes go, this one has a pleasant, smooth design. But the Swedish tourism board needs the opposite Bolmen to return to thoughts when folks hear the phrase. It’s launched a brand new advertising and marketing marketing campaign referred to as Discover the Originals that is reclaiming these bizarre Ikea product names for the locations they belong to.
“Toftan, Ektorp, Voxnan, Hemsjö, Kallax… these are all fantastic locations in Sweden. Yet most individuals affiliate these names with waste bins, sofas, bathtub towels, block candles and shelf programs,” the tourism board says. “It’s time the world know that these names belong to fantastic locations in Sweden.”
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The marketing campaign focuses on 21 locations, from Viking monuments to castles, silver mines to charming villages. Among the spots highlighted is Mästerby, which past being a helpful step stool is a historic website on the island of Gotland that marks a 1361 battle between Swedes and Danish invaders. Then there’s Järvfjället, a Lapland location of mountain climbing and cross-country snowboarding trails (or an workplace chair that is available in darkish grey, blue and beige). And Toftan, a city that is much more picturesque than the Ikea trash can that shares its identify.
Toftan is unquestionably greater than an Ikea waste bin.
Mikael Svensson/Johnér
The Discover the Originals marketing campaign consists of in depth background info on every vacation spot, in addition to concepts for issues to do and locations to remain. That’s in all probability an excellent factor, since doing an online search on lots of the websites pulls up Ikea merchandise forward of all different outcomes.
Ikea did not instantly reply to a request for a remark concerning the PR push. But the marketing campaign expresses appreciation for the ever present multinational firm that designs and sells ready-to-assemble furnishings and residential equipment.
“In Sweden, we’re happy with Ikea and in a method you possibly can say that they helped us make Swedish locations world well-known by way of the names they borrowed for his or her merchandise,” Nils Persson, chief advertising and marketing officer of Visit Sweden, mentioned in a press release. “Now we would like, with heat and a twinkle in our eye, to point out the originals behind the product names and invite the world to find the entire of Sweden.”
At a time when worldwide tourism has taken a success from the pandemic, the advised Swedish locations look additional inviting. Be positive, in fact, to verify any COVID-related journey restrictions earlier than getting up off your Ektorp sofa.