Livsmedelsföretagen
CO-CEO
How we got five iconic food brands to hand their CEO chair to Gen Z
Challenge
Sweden's food industry needs a new generation of talent, but young people are looking elsewhere. Their eyes are set on cool start-ups rather than a career in food production, and the sector has struggled to make itself visible to an audience it badly needs. Livsmedelsföretagen, the Swedish Food Association, needed a way to make food-industry careers desirable again, and to do it at a national scale, fast.
Solution
Livsmedelsföretagen launched CO-CEO, a national campaign in which five iconic Swedish food brands, Estrella, Polarbröd, Löfbergs, Sevan and Arla, each invited an 18 to 26 year old to share their CEO chair for a day. The only requirement was 100% passion. We led the work end to end: insight, strategy, idea and an integrated rollout across earned, paid and influencer channels, giving the campaign reach well beyond the five participating brands.
Results
CO-CEO sparked nationwide media attention and generated more than 450 applications from young people wanting the chair. Interest in working in the food industry rose 21 percentage points among the target audience, from 41% to 62%, a shift that speaks directly to the talent gap the campaign set out to close.
