The surprising success of BRUNKRISSLA
Over the last 15 years, more than 20 million people have been tucked in under a BRUNKRISSLA quilt cover at bedtime. It’s a reality the developers and designers of the popular product never imagined in their wildest dreams. We thought we were creating a short-lived pop of colour for the bedroom that would last a season or two before people wanted something else. We were very, very wrong.
In her 40 years working at IKEA, Ann-Sophie Karlsson has never seen anything as surprising as BRUNKRISSLA. Her job is to make sure products get to the customer and store shelves stay stocked. She was part of the team that brought BRUNKRISSLA to stores back in 2001. At the time, we thought it would be a fun and fashionable decor addition. We were confident people would like it, but had no idea how much. “Our customers just fell in love with this quilt cover immediately,” says Ann-Sophie. The factory making BRUNKRISSLA created 300,000 quilt covers to start. It wasn’t nearly enough. The next year they made double... and it still wasn’t enough to keep pace with how quickly people were picking up BRUNKRISSLA from store shelves. By 2003, more factories and more workers were hired to keep up, creating five times as many quilt covers as before. That year, 1.6 million BRUNKRISSLA quilt covers were made and sold. Since then, every year more than a million customers take BRUNKRISSLA home to snuggle up in.
What customers want
In a world where fashion trends change almost as quickly as the weather, BRUNKRISSLA is a rarity. “It’s still there because it’s so popular,” says Ann-Sophie. “A lot of customers like BRUNKRISSLA. We have met customers out in the store who say ‘I’m here to buy BRUNKRISSLA for the second time or for the third time’.” That’s why all our customers are the ones to thank for BRUNKRISSLA’s long run. And you can all rest easy in your BRUNKRISSLA covered beds at night, because no matter the latest fad, we always strive to ensure you can get the products you love.
