Organize workplace competitions is an excellent way to engage employees and strengthen team cohesion. The fun, interactive aspect of these animations can also be used to serve other strategic HR objectives, such as improving the employer brand, helping employees to develop their skills or retaining talent.

Depending on the expected results, but also on the specifics of the workforce (who may be working face-to-face or remotely), the corporate competition can take different forms.

In this article, you’ll discover 4 ideas of workplace competitions adapted to the professional world.

SUMMARY

• 1. Use edutainment to help your employees develop their skills
• 2. Boost employee engagement with creative competitions
• 3. Strengthen team cohesion through fun activities
• 4. Loyalize and retain talent by rewarding them through workplace competitions

Edutainment is the concept of combining learning and play. Introducing gamification mechanics into a professional training course or awareness-raising workshop not only increases participants’ attention, but also encourages the retention of new information.

Competitions can be used to encourage employees to improve their skills. On the one hand, the fun dimension makes professional training more enjoyable for learners. But by introducing a points system or a ranking between participants, companies can also boost their teams’ motivation and push them to excel.

A quiz shared after a training session, for example, can be a very interesting edutainment format for ensuring that employees have assimilated the new knowledge they have been given.

But the competition can also take place directly during the training module via gamified mechanisms such as the 7 Errors Game, for example. As part of a marketing training course, participants might be asked to identify the elements that need to be changed in the visuals of an advertising campaign, for example.

Today’s companies are facing many new HR challenges. Younger generations, for example, are known to be more volatile and stay with the same company for shorter periods. There is also growing talk of quiet quitting, i.e. the gradual disengagement of employees who no longer feel part of a collective.

To engage their employees, organizations can again rely on competitions. The key is to offer activities that encourage employees to get involved in strategy and the company’s future. A good idea might be to ask them to come up with a new product or service.

This is what Lidl has done with its voting competition. The aim of this corporate competition was to engage employees by asking them to create the brand’s next pizza, soon to be available in stores. The animation met with great interest from the teams, enabling Lidl to collect 21.6k votes throughout the campaign.

In addition to valuing the creativity and ideas of its employees, Lidl boosted their commitment through this competition by choosing attractive prizes. After a prize draw, participants could win kitchen appliances and accessories.

Similar workplace competitions can be set up to boost employee commitment. Customizers or gamified surveys can also be used to solicit feedback from teams and incorporate it into strategic decisions.

Within a company, organizing contests for groups can also encourage employees to work together. It’s a particularly good way of strengthening team cohesion and developing a spirit of camaraderie among colleagues.

Play is in fact a powerful lever for creating bonds, this can be a way for employees to get to know each other better, or to facilitate collaboration on joint projects. For example, the employer can encourage participants in an onboarding session to take part in a Personality Test. New recruits can break the ice by finding out which category of leader they belong to (via the famous 4-color test).

Sports competitions are also an excellent way of driving employee engagement. Employees can get together in teams and challenge each other in disciplines such as swimming, cycling or archery. A Prognostics challenge during a sporting event can also strengthen cohesion within the workforce by inviting employees to bet as a team.

The challenges of corporate social responsibility (CSR) are also particularly interesting for bonding staff and giving greater meaning to their mission. The competition can be used to raise funds (or items such as second-hand clothing) for needy people or charities. The teams that succeed in raising the funds will be rewarded with prizes that can be :

• material (gift, goodies, etc.)
• or symbolic (additional days off, promotion on the company website, etc.).

Adictiz took part in a QVT challenge. To find out more about the operation, read the dedicated article: Pimp Your Cup: Adictiz in-house game

Workplace competitions can also be used to build talent loyalty. As already mentioned, organizations face a real challenge in retaining their employees. In fact, the departure of an employee entails :

• additional recruitment costs,
• a vacancy for a shorter or longer period,
• loss of expertise,
• but also lower productivity.

To retain talent within their teams, employers can organize a competition aimed precisely at rewarding employee loyalty. This type of event can be reserved for senior profiles or, on the contrary, for new recruits whose first months with the company are crucial to their long-term integration.

But the company can also take advantage of special occasions to reward all its employees. DPD, for example, capitalizes on seasonal events such as its 25th anniversary to unite its teams around an internal competition. The organization relied on a simple mechanic (Match 3) to spoil their employees. Participants could win attractive prizes (travel boxes). The result: DPD recorded an average of 41 games per player.

Companies can also reinforce their employer brand by organizing internal competitions such as Instant 100% win. All participants can win prizes, demonstrating the company’s commitment to the well-being and satisfaction of its teams.

Conclusion

Organizing a corporate competition is an excellent way to attract, engage and retain employees. Start by defining the objective you want to achieve, so you can choose the most appropriate event idea. Discover all our customizable interactive mechanics and strengthen your employer brand!

Think about the last time you went shopping, went to the doctor or took a plane…

Although these activities are $ different, they have one thing in common : waiting. You’ve probably had to wait at the checkout to pay for your shopping, wait outside a concert hall to see your favourite artist or queue to scan your hand luggage before boarding a plane.

For users, this waiting time is often a test of patience and a waste of time. And yet.., the wait can be transformed into a qualitative experience thanks to wait marketing. It can even turn an unpleasant moment into a playful experience thanks to gamification.

In this article, we give you tips on how to improve your customer journey and engage users interactively using wait marketing.

SUMMARY

• What is wait marketing?
• The benefits of wait marketing
• Boost your wait marketing strategy with gamification
• Typical wait marketing scenario and inspiring examples

Wait marketing involves companies capitalising on consumers’ attention at this moment to engage them. It can be defined as a non-intrusive communication strategy, and even a timely one, since it takes shape at a time when any form of distraction is welcome.

According to a survey by Pew Research, 77% of people use their smartphone when they are waiting for a call. 53% use their smartphone when queuing, mainly to avoid boredom.

Broadcast a marketing animation in a queue does not disturb the user by interrupting their activity (as when an advert is broadcast between two stories on social networks). On the contrary, it allows them to distract themselves during a time that is perceived as boring or unproductive.

The benefits of expectation marketing

Waiting time, in itself, is the ideal time to capture consumers’ attention and remember a commercial message. This is the case with posters in the metro or at bus stops. But by adding a touch of creativity to these formats, brands can turn waiting into an engaging brand experience, and convert new prospects.

It’s also a way of making the most of areas where consumers spend a lot of time, but which are not used as communication channels. The queuing space in a physical shop, can be used to highlight products and boost the cross-selling rate. But it does not convey an interactive experience with the brand, which would be more engaging for the customer.

The non-intrusive aspect of this form of advertising also enables companies to create a closer relationship with consumers. Brands can offers them a real experience and enables them to pass a time that was considered unpleasant or pointless quickly. They become a source of entertainment as well as a commercial organisation promoting its products.

This waiting period is no longer a constraint, but an opportunity. To achieve this, companies can create an interactive experience based on insights customers. The challenge is to understand your audience and how the brand can ensure that they have a good time.

Companies can take advantage of wait marketing to :

• Motivating customers to come to the point of sale;
• Keep customers entertained while they wait and prevent them from abandoning their purchase;
• Reward waiting time with instant wins;
• Collect data on purchasing intentions to personalise the customer journey
• Develop your sales.

Boost your wait marketing strategy with gamification

If the traditional waiting experience is considered to be unpleasant by individuals, it is because it is often considered to be boring or a waste of time. The challenge for companies wishing to take advantage of this moment to engage consumers is mainly about entertaining them.

This is where gamification comes in. This marketing strategy involves offering users playful experiences, incorporating mechanisms traditionally used in the world of games.

Rather than taking advantage of consumers’ attention to broadcast an advertisement, companies can engage them via an interactive and entertaining animation such as :

• An instant win: this format allows the company to liven up a queue while rewarding its customers for their patience. In practical terms, it allows them to instantly win discount vouchers (or other prizes) by playing a game such as the wheel of fortune or the one-armed bandit.
• Action games (like a quiz, a survey, a vote or a swiper). This format allows the company to entertain its customers while they wait. Once again, it can reward their patience by offering prizes or other benefits. But it is also an effective way of collecting data on the preferences of its audience and, for example, analysing their purchasing intentions.

With a Playable Marketing solution, companies can capitalise effectively on their customers’ expectations. For example, the geolocation function makes it possible to restrict access to the game to customers in the queue.

The CRM connection tool, for its part, makes it possible to exploit the data collected at a point of sale (particularly on purchase intentions) to offer personalised in-store or online support. The brand can then turn this data into a sales opportunity.

In practice, the typical scenario for a wait marketing event will take this form:

1. Drive to store. The customer goes to the shop and finds himself in a queue;
2. Access to the game. They can find out about the game using the posters in the queue and access it using the QR code or URL. The game can also be presented on an interactive terminal.
   
3. Registration. They register using a simplified form and can decide to become opt-in for the brand and its partners.
4. Participation. They can play a game and discover their prize more easily. What’s more, the brand can customise the game to suit a wide range of scenarios.
5. Revelation and gain. In the case of an instant win, the customer wins a discount voucher that can be used at the point of sale. If the brand chooses a prize draw mechanism, customers can receive their prize by email or SMS. Again, this could be a voucher to encourage them to repurchase from the brand.

An example of a marketing campaign to keep people waiting

Auchan supermarkets have set up a wait marketing campaign. To coincide with its sales peak, the chain gave away the following for every purchase over €10 in shop a scratch card with a unique code as well as an additional card for loyalty card holders. The campaign attracted almost 183k registrations in 2 weeks and 325K codes were used.

Eurotunnel, the company that operates the Channel Tunnel, has capitalised on the expectations of its users to raise its profile and generate new leads. To do this, the company used a one-armed bandit with a registration form, accessible only to holders of a ticket number. This format and the use of attractive prizes (smartphones and earpods) boosted the participation rate, with a total of 29K games played.

Conclusion

Wait marketing is therefore a profitable strategy for capitalising on customer expectations and taking advantage of the opportunity to engage them through interactive activities. Take advantage of this opportunity to improve your customer experience and strengthen your brand image with more than 60 gamified formats offered by Adictiz.

With the depreciation of data and the end of third-party cookies, companies are constantly looking for new ways to collect customer opinion and feedback. Surveys have always been a very practical way of gathering data about your target audience. But its gamified format, the interactive survey, is proving even more effective.

In fact, 89% of consumers say that when a task is gamified, they are more motivated to complete it because of its competitive and playful nature.

In this article, we present the advantages of interactive surveys to better understand the expectations of your audience. We’ll also look at how to use gamification to boost engagement, obtain relevant responses and optimise your campaigns.

SUMMARY

• What is a survey?
• Why use surveys to improve your marketing campaigns?
• Why opt for interactive surveys?
• How to gamify your interactive surveys

A poll is a survey in which data is collected from a specific group of people. The aim is to acquire more in-depth knowledge about the various questions you ask yourself about your marketing target: what are its consumer habits, its budget, its preferred purchasing channel, and so on.

The different types of survey

Just as there are several reasons to share a survey with your audience, there are also different survey formats :

• Market research surveys These are used upstream of a project to gauge the needs and aspirations of the target audience. It is aimed at companies wishing to launch themselves with a new audience. It can also help them find out how they are positioned in relation to their competitors, or whether there is a demand for a new product.
• Satisfaction surveys (or NPS – for Net Promoter Score). This type of survey is used to assess whether customers are satisfied with the company’s experience or offering. In practical terms, it involves indicating, on a scale of 1 to 10, how likely it is that the consumer will recommend the brand to friends and family.
• Awareness surveys : They involve asking shoppers about their knowledge of the brand. This is a good way of measuring the success of an advertising campaign, for example, or identifying unexpected associations that consumers may make with the company.

The simple act of asking someone for their opinion is already an effective way of capturing their attention and increasing their commitment. However, responding to a survey can also be a tedious task, especially if the format is not adapted to the audience.

As we have already discussed in other articles, the trend is towards interactive marketing. Users are looking for entertaining formats that introduce game mechanisms to make content more engaging.

Gamification will motivate more people to take part in a survey, which is why it’s a good idea to opt for interactive surveys.

Those surveys can serve several purposes:

• Increase the number of participants and the survey completion rate. The main reason why users rarely complete a survey is that when the format is not interactive or is too long, it loses interest. Incorporating a game element makes the survey more engaging and attractive. This will encourage participants to complete it in order to obtain the reward that has been promised.
• Obtain better quality data. The aim is not only to increase the response rate, but also to improve the quality of the data collected. If the survey is entertaining, participants will be more likely to give honest answers. This is particularly important if the survey includes more in-depth questions.
• Increase brand awareness and customer loyalty. By creating fun surveys, participants will associate the brand with this enjoyable experience. They will be more likely to click, comment or even visit the brand’s website afterwards.

Several interactive survey formats are available to make their feedback forms engaging. Companies can :

1. Turning a survey into a battle

2. Replace the yes/no format with a swiper

Rather than sharing a survey with closed ‘Yes or No’ questions, brands can make the experience more interactive by opting for the swiper. This format is reminiscent of dating applications. Participants drag an image to the right if they like or agree, and to the left if they don’t.

3. Transforming an awareness survey into an interactive quiz

Instead of sending out a long form to test your audience’s knowledge, Trivia is an interactive alternative. This survey format makes it possible to engage participants, who can test their knowledge and even compare their results with other players.

4. Motivating participants with a personality test

Personality tests are another very popular format for interactive surveys. It allows companies to learn more about their customers and enrich their CRM. But it’s also a way of encouraging participants to complete the survey, since the reward is learning more about their personality. For Valentine’s Day, the personality test can reveal the user’s profile and make personalised recommendations.

Is your brand looking for new marketing levers to engage and retain its audience? Gamified and interactive campaigns are effective levers for achieving these objectives, particularly when they rely on the interactive mechanics of the winning moment.

This game lets participants know immediately if they’ve won a prize or a gift. This is just as addictive as it is beneficial for the brands that organise it. They stand out from fake games where participants never win anything (spam, scams).

In this article, we reveal the advantages that a brand can gain from creating an instant win game online and how to run a successful campaign in 4 steps.

The principle behind instant win games is simple: it’s a mechanic in which participants know immediately after playing that they have won a prize. This distinguishes it from another type of marketing game, such as a prize draw, where you have to wait an amount of timebefore finding out who the winners are.

The first advantage of this aspect is that it makes you want to participate because you’ll know immediately whether you’ve won a prize or not. It’s also simple for the company. The instant win game works by time slots designated as ‘winning’. So all you have to do is enter at the right time to win a gift. And outside these time slots, all participants will lose.

Companies can also opt for a 100% winning mechanism. All they just have to distribute a promotional code at the end and offer larger prizes in certain time slots.

Instant win competitions have become popular because of their immediacy and simplicity. Companies set them up on social networks or websites to engage their audience, build customer loyalty or promote a new product.

The different types of instant win games

The popularity of instant win games is due to their versatility. It is possible to choose from different game mechanics depending on your target audience and the objectives you have.

For example :

• Create a wheel of fortune. This is a must-have instant win game. Participants spin the wheel to try and win a gift or promotional code.
• The scratch card game: games of chance such as scratch cards, lotteries, are also instant wins. Participants will know whether or not they have won after scratching an image. Quick and fun, scratch cards can also be used to reveal a new product.
• The one-armed bandit). Inspired by casino games, this instant win allows you to distribute gifts to your audience at random. Once again, you can personalise the signs so that they represent the prize to be won (a promotion, a product, etc.).
• The dice game; very popular in many cultures (where it is known as Yams or 421), the dice game is also a very popular format in gamified marketing.

Instant win competitions offer a number of advantages to the companies. The first is that their ultra-simple game mechanics allow you to maximise participation and commitment.

The ability to find out immediately whether you’ve won or not encourages members of your community to take part or even share this interactive animation. This makes the marketing game an excellent way of boosting visibility. What’s more, there are plenty of customisation options available, so you can boost brand awareness while enhancing your image.

Creating an instant win competition is also an effective way of generating leads. Participants can be asked to fill in a form before rolling the dice or the wheel of chance. In this way, the company collects first-party data easily and can learn more about consumer habits.

Finally, instant wins are particularly well suited to companies that want to increase their conversion rate or build customer loyalty. By distributing promotional codes to the winners, they can encourage participants to visit their site and place an order.

Shared in a reactivation email, this marketing game can encourage a customer who hasn’t bought from the brand for a while to discover a new collection, etc. Or simply reward a loyal customer with gifts/promotions.

Choose the right game mechanics for your objectives and target audience

For an instant win game to be effective, it is important to clearly define your marketing objectives and target audience. If the aim is to build audience loyalty over the Christmas period, an Advent Calendar-style game will be the appropriate format.

The target audience you wish to engage is also an important factor to take into account when choosing the right game mechanics. Some worlds may be more effective with one audience than another. 

Choosing the best prizes

The whole attraction of the instant win game is the chance to win an attractive gift. That’s why it’s important to choose the right endowment. Promotional codes are a good idea, especially during shopping periods like the festive season or Black Friday.

Companies can also boost engagement and conversions from their events by offering exclusive prizes. The prizes in the tech world are the ones that work best. Ahead of the launch of a new collection, participants can win items that are not yet available in their online shop.

Define clear conditions for participation

To create an instant win, it is essential to clearly indicate the conditions of participation to avoid unpleasant surprises for participants. The conditions are set out in the entry form. This is another key element in a successful instant win, as it will enable the company to collect data about its audience.

Promote an instant win game

Once the company has created its instant win game, all that’s left to do is promote it to the public. Social networks, QR codes in shops and banners on the website are good ideas for raising the profile of the game. Influencers can also be good relays for boosting the participation rate.