Would the Billy by any other name be as sweet? What's in a name when it comes to furniture? Obviously, our purchasing decisions are driven primarily by comfort, style, quality and (for some more than others) a retailer's overall brand cache. But marketers and branding experts put a lot of stock in the value of product naming as a way to create an emotional connection with the potential buyer. A product's name can conjure up a trendy era, style, or even mindset. Names can make a product seem more masculine or feminine, depending on the target clientele. Names can also evoke a sense of exotic or ethnic allure.
Crate & Barrel
Crate & Barrel furniture tends to have names that sound strong, assertive and bold (Marsden, Portico, Troy and Axis), perhaps to build consumer trust in the products as contemporary but also timeless and well constructed. Crate & Barrel’s director of product and sourcing development, told the Associated Press that the store tries to "convey an emotional connotation to the product — quirky, clever or provenance — which we hope will resonate with the customer." Sometimes retailers will name a product after a famous person. Crate & Barrel's upholstery buyer says she named a wing chair Astaire "because it’s covered in soft shimmery leather that reminded me of an elegant ball gown; an old-school, iconic dancing reference." When the store named a sofa after a living celebrity, however, it backfired. The Ian sofa was named after Studio 54 co-founder and hipster hotelier Ian Schrager. Apparently Ian wasn't amused and his lawyers issued a cease-and-desist letter. The sofa has since been renamed Aiden, not coincidentally one of the most popular boys' names in the country right now.
Pottery Barn Kids
Indeed, naming products after trendy baby names is an obvious strategy. Pottery Barn Kids' bedding collections have names like Emma, Hannah and Hayley. The Madeline and Kendall furniture collections have replaced the once prominent Madison line. The furniture at Pottery Barn Kids, which is obviously marketed toward new parents, is clearly divided along gender lines, with the Thomas collection more traditionally masculine (sharper lines, bolder colors) than the Camilla line, which is softer and more stereotypically feminine.
Room & Board
Like Crate & Barrel, Room & Board tilts toward a more gender-neutral or masculine naming strategy, with names that evoke a sense of classic masculinity (the Cameron, Barton, Frederick and Townsend collections) and Hollywood glamour (Hutton, Dean, Orson and Maddox). Some of the pieces appeal to the buyer's literary or intellectual side, with names like Holden, Harper and Hawthorne.
Design Within Reach
The majority of products sold at DWR carry their original vintage names, often associated with the designer who created them. The retailer's own collections often have futuristic names that sound vaguely technological, such as Neo and Brix.
Anthropologie
This chain's naming strategy fits perfectly with its boho-chic aesthetic. Names like Mathilde and Patrizia are romantically foreign; quirky, but not too unfamiliar or strange because of their American parallels Matilda and Patricia. Other items are more ethnic or exotic, such as the Springbok bench, Bodhi desk and Kasbah coffee table, which conjure up images of supermodels trekking across the globe in faux-vintage sundresses and pre-faded lace-up boots. Anthropologie has wisely embraced an effortlessly chic Francophile aesthetic, too, with its Atelier chesterfield and Amelie sofa.
IKEA
IKEA, of course, is the king of furniture naming. The company uses its own special naming system. According to Wikipedia, IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad is dyslexic and decided proper names and words, rather than a code, would make the products easier to remember. Upholstered furniture, coffee tables and media storage have Swedish place names, while beds, wardrobes, and hall furniture have Norwegian place names. Bookcases are named for occupations (with the exception of the ubiquitous Billy!). For a full list check out Wikipedia | IKEA.
What are your favorite furniture names? What do they mean to you (if anything)?
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Are you telling me the Camilla bed pictured above is for kids? Not fair! :(
Interesting article. Know in fabrics it has a lot to do with the prints and colors in name selection.
I guess Ian Schrager hasn't been in a Room and Board lately...
Interesting read. Thanks!
Very interesting info here! Fascinating to see how these stores play off your psyche in order to sell a product.
Good read, thanks for researching this - I always wondered how they name stuff. This winter I ran into a lady who had named the gondola and my favorite ski runs at a nearby mountain and I thought that was the coolest thing.
Nobody tops IKEA product names. MOst fo the time they're plain weird and funny too.
BOKLOK, POANG, FARTFULL...
Many of West Elm's furniture pieces/collections are named after streets in Brooklyn.
Very interesting read!
what about the obvious? if a retailer sells a 3rd party that someone else also sells-- perhaps in a different fabric or finish, or identical product with different sku or packaging--a name helps make said product appear unique to a given retailer. That and it's harder to price compare.
I wondered where Room & Board's Zane sofa got its name? Is Billy Zane famous enough to get his own sofa?
Thanks for this article! I've always been curious about the origins of store's product names.
Although easy-to-pronounce names are probably more desirable among stores as well as the buying public, I wish I could see more culturally diverse names in magazines and furniture catalogs. (Perhaps my bias comes from having an unusual Spanish surname - the kind that a chair probably won't be named after, but still!)
Some of Room and Board's names also happen to be those of Minneapolis/Saint Paul neighborhoods (Loring, Hawthorne and Selby)
For those of you interested in further reading about how retailers analyze consumer behavior and connect with their consumers, stop by www.myshopper360.com for more shopping insights. Disclosure: I write for this site but I promise you it's right up the alley of this topic.