Ööloom is a small sleepy animal-friendly company that was established by four young people in 2014. The design store is based in northern European country Estonia, and offers colorful and fantastical sleeping masks, or face blankets, as the creators like to call them. Their slogan tells us to sleep like a wild animal, because unlike humans, animals have never had any trouble sleeping.
It all started when one of the founders, Karmen, was thinking of what to get her friends for Christmas, but failed to find anything meaningful or useful at an affordable price. She decided to DIY the presents instead, and the first animal felt sleeping mask was born.
The idea quickly grew from there. Johan, Mihkel, and Jan teamed up with Karmen, and Ööloom was born in 2014.
Ööloom’s team has received a number of design awards, incl. the prominent Estonian Kuldmuna award on two occasions. Ööloom’s team (from the left): Johan Kallas, Mihkel Virkus, Karmen Heinmaa and Jan Plaan.
The name of the company is quite quirky – in Estonian, öö stands for night and loom for animal; but understanding and remembering the name can be quite challenging for anyone that speaks English. The four creators of Ööloom give a brief explanation: öö as in boo and loom as in, “Sorry I didn’t mean to loom over you like a scary monster, I just want to be your friend.”
Smart Marketing
From its inception, Ööloom has placed a lot of emphasis on marketing and design, from the product and packaging to the wording of their newsletters. It helped that all four founders worked in design, branding, or advertising – right from the start they knew what creative direction the company should take. Five key descriptors were chosen for the product and company: quirky-confident, tongue-in-cheek, clever, raw, and wizard. From there, the sleeping mask became a face blanket, and the face blanket’s packaging became a pillow box. With its unique product and packaging, Ööloom offers an experience rather than simply a product.
The sleeping masks – or face blankets – are made of handmade Estonian sheep wool felt. This gives the animals a homey, authentic feel that can’t be replicated via mass-production. The masks are also natural and breathable – exactly what you need for a good night’s sleep.
Johan, one of Ööloom’s creators, mentions that their face blankets have received tons of great feedback from customers around the globe.
He recalls how their product once popped up on an Instagram account with 38 million followers, “That time, when Hollywood star Priyanka Chopra posted a picture of her wearing our mask on Instagram definitely stands out.”
The Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Enterprise Estonia have used their masks as official gifts. “We’re incredibly proud of that fact. Our animals were even given as gifts to the Pope’s delegation during his visit to Estonia in autumn last year,” Johan tells us.
Erply Provides a Bigger Picture
The success of the four friends has all but made them sleepy. A couple months ago, they joined forces with a large bookstore chain and introduced reading socks that have proven to be a huge hit. “We’ve already got a couple new products cooking for the autumn/winter season, but we’ll talk about those when the time is right,” muses Johan.
Erply has played a part in Ööloom’s success, enabling them to concentrate on further growth.
“When we first started, our accounting and warehouse were pretty much a mess. We tried a couple programs out until we finally landed on Erply,” reflects Johan. “Once we found Erply, we immediately knew it was the perfect choice for us.”
Ööloom wanted to find reliable and logical accounting software that could be used to manage multiple stores and warehouses from one centralized platform. Johan adds that Erply’s excellent customer service that always has timely solutions to any problem they call in for. “Erply has succeeded in giving us a clear understanding of where all our products are and what our financial situation is,” Johan summarizes Ööloom’s experience with Erply.
If you crave a great night’s sleep and can’t wait to meet Ööloom, their products are available online and in stores in Italy, Germany, France, Great Britain, Denmark, Finland, Poland, Lebanon, Taiwan and Australia.
Ööloom’s Three Recommendations for Any Starting Entrepreneur
- Don’t just dwell on your idea – way too many ideas get put on the shelf because people refuse to start with a compromise. The truth is, just start somewhere! You can always improve your product and service later down the line.
- Do what you love to find success. If an entrepreneur believes in their product or service and is passionate about it, so will others.
- Managing the daily life of a company doesn’t only include coming up with great ideas. There’s a lot of boring and repetitive work that has to get done. Don’t forget to design the management of your company. Find the correct tools, methods and equipment. A good motto is, “Work smart, not hard”.
