Ikea Archive

Ok, this might be as useless as 90% of Twitter apps, but at least this one is fun! It’s called, “The Blogadilla Swedish Furniture Name Generator” and as you might expect it allows you to enter your name and then it morphs your name into an “Ikea-like” product name. A product photo is also displayed and each time you refresh the page you receive a new name and product. (sshh, you can also enter friend’s names and send them the resulting images)

So far I have been morphed into ÄLLENRA which is a bed and ÄLLENBY which is a dresser. All it needs now is a “tweet my ikea” button. And don’t forget to check in on Nils.

Last month we reported on Nils, a German man stuck in a house with no furniture. He was patiently waiting for the new Ikea catalog to arrive so he could select new furniture for his apartment. What made this experiment by Ikea so interesting is that you could actually communicate in real-time with Nils using Facebook and Twitter. I admit that I was addicted to watching his interactions with the outside social media world.

Today we can all rejoice as Nils has his furniture. The Ikea delivery agents showed up with the new furniture and helped him get it all together. The room looks pretty nice – that sure is one wall of bookcases! I would have opted for more seating and probably situated the television a bit higher.

Here’s a video of progress in the room – it’s clear the video isn’t in real-time as all of that furniture required assembly:

Ikea launched a new online interactive advertising campaign in Germany this week. The campaign is called "Warte bis September" ("Wait until September”). The man in the video is Nils and his home has no furniture or accessories because the new Ikea catalog has not arrived yet. Let’s hope the catalog arrives soon!

It’s similar to the Big Brother series; you can watch two different camera angles on his apartment. The phone rings ALL DAY and he rarely answers. From what I can tell, he has friends come over to eat and chat (in German). His doorbell is the one jingle I absolutely hate!

If you want to interact with Nils, you have three options:

• Twitter him (this seems to be the most likely way he will see your message)
• Email Nils
• Call him – +49 40 22 61 11 61 (use a voip provider so the call is cheap)

Here’s the video or go to the site to watch it fullscreen:

Earlier this year, Ikea was named one of the top 10 corporate brands using YouTube.