Success Story
SPAR Hungary has long recognized the power of marketing gamification in grocery retail. They have been using gamification for over 10 years, primarily on Facebook and with contests using codes from purchase receipts. Games were launched regularly, with multiple agencies involved.
The project management resource and the cost in bespoke agency work was not sustainable so they turned to Playable. Already working with SPAR UK, Playable also offered the big benefit of the ability to build gamification campaigns at scale, and in-house using Playable’s gamification platform.
The old way we used to do gamification was not efficient. Now, we can launch one game per month, sometimes more, and the games are far more elaborate and drive more results than ever before, going from 1,000 to 2,000 players on the on-receipt AP contests we use to run to up to 120,000 sessions with playable games. Katalin Varga, Head of Digital marketing communications, SPAR HU
The old way we used to do gamification was not efficient. Now, we can launch one game per month, sometimes more, and the games are far more elaborate and drive more results than ever before, going from 1,000 to 2,000 players on the on-receipt AP contests we use to run to up to 120,000 sessions with playable games.
One of the major goals for SPAR HU with playable marketing is to drive customer loyalty – and they are well aware that games are a key driver to achieve this. One key objective with game campaigns is to drive downloads of their MYSPAR app.
How does it work? SPAR launches a new game and promotes it through digital and traditional marketing (e.g., on their social media, in their MYSPAR app, in their flyers, etc.). Participants play the game, enter the draw, and at the end, there is a CTA to download the MYSPAR app – which has been proven to work as a great incentive.
They also include a field in the registration form of each game to encourage participants to sign up for their newsletter. Having customers with both the MYSPAR app and a newsletter subscription are great ways to stay top-of-mind for SPAR HU; sharing great discounts and offers, as well as new brand-related games, to ultimately build strong relationships with their audience.
We have seen incredible results using gamification in our MYSPAR app to build brand loyalty. Now, most participants in our playable campaigns come from the MYSPAR app. Whenever we send out a push notification, we can see the number of sessions is peaking impressively. Katalin Varga, Head of Digital marketing communications, SPAR HU
We have seen incredible results using gamification in our MYSPAR app to build brand loyalty. Now, most participants in our playable campaigns come from the MYSPAR app. Whenever we send out a push notification, we can see the number of sessions is peaking impressively.
As a grocery retailer, SPAR HU also engages in retail media partnerships with other brands as part of their marketing strategy. Their second goal in using playable marketing was to monetize this partner channel, and activate these brand partners by offering a more engaging and result-driven way of promoting their products.
Brands can partner with SPAR to promote their products in their app, flyers, TV ads, in-store, and more. Extending this into promotion via games was a clear next step.
In 2023 for the first time, they launched a full-day event for their brand partners to introduce their new offering: slots to promote products/brands in games. They showcased how gamification worked and the amazing results brands could achieve both in increasing brand awareness and sales.
SPAR HU planned for 12 games during 2024, with both single and multiple brand slots available. During the event all slots for the year were booked, as brands clearly saw the benefits of this new offering from SPAR HU – even having to add extra slots to accommodate the demand!
We were limited in terms of what we could offer to our suppliers. Of course, they could book Facebook posts, TV slots, places in our offline flyers, and in-store promotions, but there were not endless possibilities—and nothing outside the box. So, when we got the idea of offering slots in games, we knew it would work very well! Katalin Varga, Head of Digital marketing communications, SPAR HU
We were limited in terms of what we could offer to our suppliers. Of course, they could book Facebook posts, TV slots, places in our offline flyers, and in-store promotions, but there were not endless possibilities—and nothing outside the box. So, when we got the idea of offering slots in games, we knew it would work very well!
With one of their private label brand, S-budget, SPAR HU launched a drop game where participants were snowboarders who had to catch S-budget products while avoiding trees. The goals were both to bring awareness to S-budget products and to get participants to download the MYSPAR app. Participants could win one of ten SPAR Prize Cards worth HUF 10,000 (approximately €27).The campaign was live from the 5th to the 31st of October, right ahead of the snowboarding season.
In cooperation with a famous Hungarian chef, SPAR HU launched a campaign to promote a new cookbook they made in collaboration with the chef. In the game, participants needed to cut the ingredients to cook a famous Hungarian dish, using ingredients from SPAR private label products, without cutting the cookbook itself, which they needed to make the recipe later on. At the end of the game, there were three different CTA buttons: to try the game again, try other games, and download the MYSPAR app. As with the previous campaign, participants could win one of ten SPAR Prize Cards worth HUF 10,000 (approximately €27). The game was live from November 9 to November 29, 2023.
In this multi-brand partnership campaign, in collaboration with Elmex (a toothpaste brand), La Lorraine (a bakery group), and Zott (a protein drink brand), SPAR HU launched a fun hit the target game where participants had to hit the costumed products while avoiding hitting the products that were not wearing a carnival costume. Participants could win one of three prizes: an iPhone 15, three PlayStation 5 consoles, or ten AirPods (2nd generation). On the first landing page, below the game, SPAR HU also presented the three products promoted by the partner brands to increase awareness. At the end of the game, there was a button to encourage participants to download the MYSPAR app.
It was challenging to build a campaign that could accommodate three very different products—toothpaste, donuts, and protein drinks. However, we settled on the carnival theme, and it was a hit – both the suppliers and the customers were happy! Katalin Varga, Head of Digital marketing communications, SPAR HU
It was challenging to build a campaign that could accommodate three very different products—toothpaste, donuts, and protein drinks. However, we settled on the carnival theme, and it was a hit – both the suppliers and the customers were happy!
But SPAR Hungary’s best campaign so far has been their advent calendar! For 24 days throughout December, SPAR engaged their audience with daily quizzes and mini-games, offering various daily prizes such as MYSPAR points, free recipes, phone wallpapers, and more. Plus, they had a main prize: a family ski weekend in Austria – very on point with the season!
Now that SPAR HU have validated that playable marketing in grocery retail works so powerfully to both increase customer loyalty and activate partners, they are ready to move their strategy to the next level. Using Playable’s platform capabilities and features, they are planning to offer even more incentives to play the games in-app, allowing participants to win vouchers that can be directly added to their MYSPAR app and used in-store during their next visit. They also plan to enhance their data insights by tracking when vouchers won in games are used in-store and associating them with each customer; ensuring deeper customer understanding, and clearer results for their brand partners.
SPAR UK has cracked the code to customer engagement. Their secret? Interactive and gamified seasonal campaign landing pages!
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