Brilliant Marketing: Ikea Creates E-Porn for A-Types

As an obsessive-compulsive organizer, I freaked out when I saw the new Ikea e-organizing system posted on Apartment Therapy. But as an Egotist writer, I saw some serious potential.

(Quick note: Before you get too excited, the program is not yet available in English. But, god willing, it will be.)

Obviously, writing about Ikea feels a bit odd in this space. What’s less tech than a bookshelf? But they’ve crossed over into the realm of e-gear by working with the ad agency Laboratory Ideas to create a virtual organizing system for computers. It’s a concept that other companies should look into.

Okay, not everyone can create boxes and shelves for desktop folders, but there are a lot of tangible markets that would benefit from bringing its physical aesthetic to the desktop. What’s a better way to advertise your company than to get its name or logo onto someone’s computer screen? Seriously, us Egotists spend hours rocking in front of the blue-lit screen, coffee in one hand, mouse in the other, frantically trying to absorb wave after wave of content. Once I download this organizer, Ikea has now weaseled its way into our cycle of online activity.

People will inevitably need furniture. And, until we become cyborg creatures who self-sustain and only need to plug-in to recharge, there are myriad other physical products we need. But even physical objects can get a boost from a virtual counterpart.

Now, we’d just like to see something like this come out of New York (cough MOMA Design Store cough), instead of just some dude named Bjorn.

-Annie Strasser