IKEA wanted to bring its employer brand closer to its consumer brand through a campaign with maximum brand impact on a minimal budget. It decided to show the many different career paths that can be taken through online building platform Roblox – a unique mini-IKEA experience that would gamify career progression at the company. It also paid 10 UK and Ireland players to build it. Although Roblox was used as a key channel, it also made use of social media, PR, IKEA.com webpages and integrated communications to publicise the platform.

Social videos on Meta, LinkedIn and TikTok, as well as store activity, encouraged people to apply to be the paid players. Internally, the initiative was used to drive conversations on careers at IKEA. Within Roblox, visuals showed the IKEA design concept through showroom areas, a Swedish food market and bistro. Actual IKEA co-workers were selected to have their digital avatars come to life in the game. Players could also earn exclusive user-generated creations inspired by iconic products such as IKEA’s meatballs.

The campaign made the most of a mix of social and co-worker communication assets. Within the game, characters would talk about careers done differently at IKEA to get people curious, there were life-size cut-outs in store and other communications, and there was a national communications plan to reach and inspire co-workers. This 360-degree ecosystem brought viral attention to the IKEA employer brand, through millions of social media engagements and impressions, coverage in news and consumer titles and views on its website. Applications per job went up by 50% year on year.