Love Mondays have now been in Stockholm for three weeks and we've been lucky enough to have found some great studio space with a local ad agency Satumma Family Business (SFB) who are the guys behind the Absolut Disco bottle (below). It has been a great start - winning our first local client already. We've experienced the importance of FIKA (the basic meaning "to have coffee", often accompanied with pastries or sandwiches), and even witnessed the most snowfall in Stockholm (in November) for over 100 years! Lucky us.
Sweden has some great and well recognised brands such as Ikea & H&M, but are there other brands out there that might not be as commonly associated with the land of the midnight sun? Below we've outlined our Top 10 Swedish Brands:
Absolut Vodka has become one of the most popular spirits brands in the world - most recognised for their series of collectable limited edition packaging. Six years since it's launch in the US in 1979, Absolut was the most imported vodka there and is currently the third largest producer of alcoholic spirits in the world. They have embraced innovative printing techniques and have built a strong following, with consumers waiting in anticipation for the next collectable bottle:
Björn Borg is a Swedish apparel fashion brand best known for their underwear embracing bold colours and prints. They also produce shoes, purses, glasses and perfume. Named after the former professional tennis player of the same name, the company was formerly named World Brand Management (WBM), and has stores in seven European countries. Sweden and the Netherlands being the most important ones, with new markets in Germany and the UK:
Design House Stockholm is a collective that brings together the brightest minds in Scandinavian design. A lot of these housewares are really quite affordable for beautiful design pieces. You can also find items at Horne and Vertigo Home. We love the playfulness and minimalism of their products.
Kopparberg Cider is made by Kopparberg Breweries in the town of Kopparberg in central Sweden. Established in 1882, the brewery is family owned and is the main employer for the tiny town of just 4,000 people. Kopparberg Breweries AB is Sweden's largest cider brewing company. Our favourite flavour has to be Elderflower and Lime...yum!
& Other Stories is a subsidiary of H&M and they engage a lot of local designers to create collections. But actually, one of their most recent collaboration was with Swedish songstress Lykke Li, which is super cool. The prices are a bit higher than H&M — you’re looking at stuff in the $50-$100 range but well worth it we think.
Svedka is a Swedish brand of vodka, manufactured in Lidkoping, Sweden and owned by New York based Constellation Brands. The spirit is available in many flavours. It is probably best known in the US for the advertising campaign created by the New York-based agency Amalgamated, introduced in late 2005, with a futuristic "spokesbot" designed by Stan Winston. The ads make the claim that in the year 2033 Svedka will be the most popular vodka in the world.
Surprisingly enough, Svedka is not widely distributed in Sweden. It is not sold at Systembolaget, the government owned chain of liquor stores in Sweden which is the only retail store allowed to sell alcoholic beverages that contain more than 3.5% alcohol by volume.
Nudie Jeans humbly started in Gothenburg, Sweden’s second largest urban centre. Since day one the brand has utilised the same signature swirl-like pocket stitching, which has become a really strong brand equity. They combine this with unforgettably zany silhouettes like the Grim Tim and Steady Eddie. Here is what else you need to know: Nudie produces all products from 100% organic cotton, they run a number of Nudie jean repair shops across Europe, and the brand has played a pivotal role in raw denim resurgence.
Spotify is a legally sharing and streaming copyrighted music online remains a hotly debated issue. The company has been able to bridge that gap by providing online music streaming services as a legal alternative to pirated music file-sharing sites. Started in 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon, Spotify allows users to freely listen to, stream and share millions of music tracks to their computers and mobile devices such as smartphones. With its Facebook integration, users can also see and listen to what their friends are currently playing as well. We listen to it everyday here - it rocks! (or Pops).
Cheap Mondays was initially founded as a second-hand clothing store on the outskirts of Stockholm by partners Örjan Andersson and Adam Friberg. In the brand’s early days, the shop was run under the name “Weekday,” whereas the brand name was later shifted to”Cheap Monday,” derived from the fact that the shop’s opening hours were limited only to Sunday. The distinctive, monochromatic skull logo has become the brand’s most identifiable trademark, and is commonly used throughout the brand’s catalog of jeans, flannels and shirts. In 2002, H&M purchased 60% of the company for $92 million USD.
Fjällräven (Swedish for Arctic Fox ) is a Swedish company specialising in outdoor equipment - mostly clothing and rucksacks. Fjällräven was founded in 1960 by Ake Nordin. The original product was an external framerucksack. The Fjällräven rucksack proved comfortable, durable, and, along with outdoor clothing made from tent fabric, it made the brand well known in just a decade. The company has a strong market presence in the Nordic countries. It is also represented in other European countries, especially Germany. Among its more well-known products are Greenland jackets and various versions of the Kånken rucksack. We love the vast colour palette of their products, and the branding is pretty unique with a retro twist.
