IKEA USA announced the launch of The Life Improvement Project, a program designed to educate, inspire and empower people to improve their lives, as well as the lives of others in their community.  The national program consists of a range of contests and activities, giving IKEA employees the opportunity to get further engaged in local community initiatives.

The Life Improvement Project supports the company’s new brand platform, The Life Improvement Store, an idea designed to communicate the company’s core vision and mission of creating a better everyday life for the many people.

The list of activities and competitions include

—Life Improvement Sabbatical Contest (September 14—November 8): Those that are interested in winning a year-long sabbatical (worth $100,000) to improve the lives of others can submit their Life Improvement proposal online at www.thelifeimprovementproject.com.  Five finalists will be chosen from submissions by a panel of judges and the winner, determined by public vote, will be announced on January 31.

—Life Improvement Store Seminars (October 9—July 24): IKEA will host a series of 51 free Life Improvement Store Seminars across the country to provide customers with the tools, inspiration and product suggestions to help people improve their life at home. These seminars will be hosted by experts from 13 publications and will be offered in select stores by life coaching experts.

—Life Improvement Co-Worker Challenge (September 8—December 8): IKEA is hosting an internal Life Improvement Co-Worker Challenge to provide $10,000 each to support five winning community projects suggested by teams of co-workers across the country for a chance to win additional funding and support for a local charitable organization/cause of their choice.

—“Made By” Advertising Campaign: Ogilvy & Mather created an integrated marketing campaign, titled “Made by,” to demonstrates how everyday people create individual living spaces “made by” them, and “designed by” IKEA to help make their life at home better.