IKEA Toybox
Open the game- Brand
- IKEA
- Year
- 2018
- Objective
- Engagement
- Industry
- Retail
- Mechanic
- AR
Objective
IKEA addressed two parental concerns revealed through research: 50% of parents struggle to spark creative play for their children, and children under 8 spend over 2 hours daily on screens. The brand aimed to create a family-oriented solution that would encourage imaginative, offline play while finding a practical use for cardboard packaging waste.
Solution
IKEA Toybox is an AR mobile app developed in five weeks by Wunderman, Kantar Consulting, and Mini Mad Things. Users point their smartphone cameras at flat IKEA cardboard boxes, and the app overlays step-by-step instructions showing how to fold and transform the boxes into toys—robots, race cars, dollhouses, and other designs. The research foundation analyzed 50 million rows of dialogue from 17 years of parent conversations to understand childcare concerns and shape the toy design ideas embedded in the app.
Results
The app premiered at Cannes Lions in June 2018. No public metrics on downloads, user adoption, or environmental impact were disclosed.
