The BANG mug is the first example of an approach that has become key to IKEA: that it is possible to have a far lower price for a familiar product which everyone knows the normal price of. On its launch, BANG cost just fifty cents. It came in white, green, yellow and blue, and was immediately very popular.
But it actually all started with a hot dog. Most people who have visited an IKEA store are familiar with the hot dog, which still costs fifty cents today. It began being sold at stores in the late 1980s, and Ingvar Kamprad wanted the hot dog to be half the price of one in town. Customers should be amazed at how cheap the hot dog was, and also how delicious. It was a success.
IKEA soon discovered that the same approach could be applied to other products – and the BANG mug was the first. The mug sold very well, but it soon required some product development. Since the mug was not stackable, it took up too much space in distribution and sales. A new model of BANG was developed, but the function and design were not as good as before, and it was nowhere near as popular with customers. After four years it was replaced by the TROFÉ mug, which was stackable and looked good. It is still sold in 2021, only under the name FÄRGRIK. The price has barely gone up since 1996 and, to quote Ingvar Kamprad, it still doesn’t cost any “more than the loose change in people’s pockets”.
