REWE Turns Apprentice Recruiting Into a Dating Show With 'Dein REWE Match'
To fill more than 3,000 apprenticeship places, REWE has borrowed the format of a reality dating show — 'Dein REWE Match', hosted by influencer Selfiesandra — running social-first on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, YouTube and streamer platforms.
Recruitment Meets Reality TV
German grocery giant REWE launched a new apprentice-recruitment campaign on 28 August 2026 built as a dating-show format called 'Dein REWE Match'. Instead of a dry careers ad, short entertaining episodes 'match' young people with the apprenticeship path that suits them, fronted by influencer Selfiesandra, who has more than a million followers across Instagram and TikTok.
The campaign spotlights three areas — logistics, in-store market roles and the fresh-food counters — as REWE looks to fill over 3,000 apprenticeship positions across roughly 30 professions. The tagline: 'Hier geht's weiter' ('Here's where it goes further').
A Media Plan That Lives Where Teens Do
The distribution is pure Gen Z: short, platform-native videos on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram and YouTube, extended into gaming and streaming via Instreamly. There is no attempt to drag school-leavers to a corporate careers site; the content meets them in the feeds and streams they already scroll.
"With our new campaign, we want to encourage young people to find their own path," said Leonie Baecker, REWE's Head of Brand Marketing, framing apprenticeship as a starting point for development rather than a dead-end job.
Why Employer Branding Is Going Entertainment-First
Germany's skilled-labour shortage has turned recruitment into a marketing problem, and REWE's answer is to compete for attention, not just applicants. Dressing a careers message as entertainment — with a creator host and a familiar TV format — is how you get a 17-year-old to watch a recruitment ad to the end.
It echoes a wider 2026 pattern we've tracked, from skilled-trades bodies building Fortnite worlds to brands turning hiring into content. The employer brand is now a media brand, judged by watch-time as much as by application numbers.
Marketing Minute's Read
Our take: the format is the message. By choosing 'dating show' over 'careers brochure', REWE signals it understands its audience's culture — and that empathy does more for an employer brand than any list of benefits.
For smaller employers, the takeaway isn't the celebrity budget; it's the principle. Pick one recognisable format your target audience already loves, cast a credible face from their world, and publish where they actually spend their time.
Quick FAQ
What is 'Dein REWE Match'?
A social-first apprentice-recruitment campaign from REWE, built as a dating-show format hosted by influencer Selfiesandra, launched on 28 August 2026.
How many apprenticeships is REWE hiring for?
More than 3,000 apprenticeship positions across around 30 professions, with the campaign spotlighting logistics, in-store market roles and fresh-food counters.
Where does the campaign run?
TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram and YouTube, plus streamer and gaming placements via Instreamly — short, platform-optimised video built for Gen Z.
Recruitment is now an attention contest, and REWE gets it. Choosing a dating-show format over a careers brochure tells a 17-year-old 'we speak your language' before a word is said. The budget isn't the lesson here — the empathy is. Meet people in their culture, and the applications follow. — Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing
Your employer brand is now a media brand — in a labour shortage, you win by earning attention, not by listing benefits.
Is your hiring content built to be watched to the end, or is it still a careers page nobody visits?
If you would like to know more about this topic, please contact us on danieln@merxmarketing.co.uk
Sources: REWE Presse, HORIZONT, Lebensmittelpraxis.
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Written by Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing Ltd and Marketing Minute
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