Read time 4 minutes
Why It Matters:
Elisa's campaign highlights how gamification can transform standard promotional events into powerful, memorable experiences that generate leads, increase engagement, and build brand loyalty.
Key Takeaways:
Elisa transformed a routine birthday celebration into a high-impact loyalty and lead-acquisition campaign by implementing an interactive, gamified experience, driving unexpected virality, repeat engagement, and strong marketing performance.
Celebrating corporate milestones often falls into predictable patterns — discounts, simple raffles, and static communications that struggle to excite customers or deliver measurable impact. For Elisa, a leading telecommunications and digital services provider operating in multiple markets, the challenge was clear: how to make a celebration both unforgettable and strategically valuable.
Elisa wanted to:
• Reimagine loyalty engagement beyond traditional emails and static campaigns.
• Deepen brand interaction with existing users of their Elisa Huub streaming service.
• Generate new leads while strengthening customer loyalty around original content.
Rather than relying on ordinary birthday messaging, the team sought a solution that would inspire play, participation, and shareable experiences — pushing past dull promotions toward real brand engagement.
Elisa partnered with Optimove Minigames to build a gamified interactive experience celebrating the 5-year anniversary of its streaming platform, Elisa Huub.
Brand-Aligned Picture Reveal Game
Elisa chose a Picture Reveal game that blended product content with game mechanics. Players uncovered posters from popular original TV series, earning points for each branded visual they revealed. This choice aligned perfectly with the goal of showcasing Elisa Huub's content while keeping audiences engaged.
To incentivize participation further, the campaign included a grand prize — a 55" TV — awarded through a raffle open only to the top 100 players by score. This competitive twist drove both repeat gameplay and deeper emotional investment in the experience.
Dual-Channel Promotion Strategy
Elisa promoted the gamified experience via two pillars: targeted Meta ads and organic outreach to existing customers via email. Meta ads encouraged new prospects to play, while a highly engaging email — featuring a GIF of the game and a compelling “PLAY” call to action — drove high open and click-through rates among existing contacts.
This multi-channel approach ensured broad reach while nurturing existing loyalty — turning campaign entrants into both new leads and reactivated users.
Viral Player Growth and Engagement
The campaign’s most remarkable outcome was its unexpected virality. For every confirmed player acquired through Meta ads, the campaign generated nine additional players organically. Email clicks also showed strong amplification, at a 1:1.5 ratio of players to visitors. In total, each confirmed visitor recruited an average of three extra participants through sharing and organic reach alone.
Repeat Interaction and Time Spent with the Brand
Player engagement was strong across the board: on average, each unique lead played the game 5.1 times, with game sessions averaging 81 seconds — translating to nearly 7 minutes of active brand interaction per player. This reflects far deeper engagement than typical static campaigns achieve.
Enhanced Loyalty and Brand Memory
By inviting users into a branded gamified experience rather than merely presenting content, Elisa drove intrinsic motivation, achievement, and interactive learning — all of which contribute to stickier brand memory. Repeat gameplays, competitive elements, and shared participation all helped reinforce Elisa Huub’s value and narrative in users’ minds.
Glen-Gregory Lille, Digital Marketing Specialist at Elisa, summed up the campaign’s success:
“The unexpected virality of the campaign was its most fascinating aspect.”
Ready to transform your next marketing milestone into a high-impact gamified experience? Contact Optimove to request a demo and see how easy it is to build interactive campaigns that drive loyalty, leads, and repeat engagement.
