Submitted by OgilvyAgency IPI Score 95/100

PlayVember

Events & Experiential Activations

Ogilvy created PlayVember for IKEA, a month of daily play challenges plus in-store playable posters that got kids to swap screen time for hands-on making.

Case in 60 seconds

IKEA wanted kids and parents to swap screen time for hands-on play and to bring its the-fun-is-in-the-making philosophy to life.

Little hands that used to be tapping iPads had drifted from making things, and families needed an easy reason to put screens down.

Run PlayVember, a full month of daily challenges kids and parents answer using things around the home.

Ogilvy released a new challenge each day and gave away in-store playable posters kids could turn into toys like hoops, catapults, and kites.

No metrics are reported on the source page; participation, reach, and store impact are not disclosed.

Strategy Breakdown

The primary strategy-learning section — interpretation, not a press-release summary.

Kids and their parents in the UAE looking for offline, creative things to do together.
Children had shifted toward screens and away from hands-on, imaginative play.
A brand philosophy about making is easy to state but hard to make people actually do.
IKEA positioned itself around the belief that the fun is always in the making.
A daily, low-cost, do-it-at-home format makes participation easy and repeatable across a whole month.

Creative & Execution System

Assets & channels

  • Daily play challenges across the month
  • In-store playable posters (basketball hoops, catapults, kites)
  • At-home makes such as drum kits, superhero capes, storybooks, and badges

Partners

  • Ogilvy (Ogilvy UAE / Memac Ogilvy)

Participation mechanic

  • Kids and parents answered each daily challenge using things around the home and made toys from in-store posters

Creator role

  • Not disclosed

Why Ogilvy's strategy worked

  1. 1

    Turning the fun-is-in-the-making philosophy into a daily challenge made the belief something families could actually do.

  2. 2

    A month-long, low-cost, at-home format made participation easy and repeatable.

  3. 3

    In-store playable posters tied the at-home activity back to IKEA's stores and products.

  4. 4

    Framing play against screen time gave parents a clear, relatable reason to take part.

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