IKEA’s loyalty program, IKEA Family, is free and easy to join, but with the proliferation of loyalty plays on offer from brands, IKEA Family was at risk of becoming just another program filling up people’s inboxes with unopened emails.

With an abundance of loyalty offers spruiking the same points and discounts, how do we stand out with a value exchange that only IKEA can offer?

With tight budget constraints, the brief needed to focus on retaining our most loyal (and valuable) IKEA Family base, whilst ideally compelling a broader audience.

To get IKEA Family back onto people’s radars, we needed an idea impossible to ignore and too irresistible not to share, so ultimately, we could deepen brand engagement, further encourage sign ups and have more members swiping enjoying the benefits of remaining loyal to IKEA Family.

We used one of IKEA’s most beloved icons, Swedish Meatballs, to create a new icon that made loyalty program members feel like total ballers. Introducing The BallerCard by IKEA Family, a fully gold card unlocking an unrivalled culinary experience: a year’s supply of IKEA’s Swedish Meatballs (or veggie balls).

BallerCards were delivered to IKEA Family’s most loyal members in premium, meatball-scented packaging that exuded opulence and luxury, making for a baller experience all the way through from unboxing to unbuttoning that top button after eating 416 free meatballs.

Only 250 BallerCards were created, and only IKEA Family members were in with a chance to own one, making it 80 times more exclusive than the Black AMEX, 591 times rarer than an original Picasso and owned by only .00004% of the population. Making the BallerCards for an exclusive few made our Family members feel extra special and everyone else extra jealous.

To rekindle the allure of IKEA Family on a limited budget, we used 10 data points to identify and reward 250 IKEA Family megafans so they would feel appreciated, remain keen loyalists, and importantly, would feel so surprised and delighted they’d share the perks of joining IKEA Family with the world.

The mega fans had something in common - they’d enjoyed eating at the IKEA restaurant over the past year. Further social listening confirmed our fans don't just flock to IKEA for flatpack furniture, they also come because they’re obsessed with our iconic Swedish meatballs (plus the chicken, veggie and plant options).

We created 250 gold BallerCards, unlocking a year’s supply of free meatballs. BallerCards were delivered in bespoke, meat-ball scented packaging, launching to media, and the world, with a film that added charm to this exclusive launch. All to promote the ballin’ perks of being a loyal Family member.

Ballers were invited to enjoy free Swedish meat, chicken, veggie or plant balls for an entire year (10/2022 - 10/2023) at the in-store IKEA Swedish restaurant. 250 premium, gold BallerCards were sent out to IKEA Australia’s Family members, arriving in meatball-scented packaging between 30/09/22 – 04/10/22. Prior to this a teaser eDM was sent out to members, on 12/09/2022, letting them know something special was on the way. Once the cards had been delivered, we fueled the hype by releasing The BallerCard film, promoting the launch to the world on 05/10/22 with media PR outreach and an organic social posts on IKEA Australia’s Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.

The results were pretty baller. With a $0 media spend we achieved 4.1 million reach in earned media. 57% increase in store visits by Ballers. Retention rates of this audience grew 30 percentage points, to 87% from 57% retention rate. 204% search volume for ‘IKEA Family’ vs. previous year. BallerCard owners proudly posted their baller status to their own networks, creating 250 unpaid IKEA Family ambassadors from the one ballin’ experience.