Success Story
Ooni, the popular outdoor pizza oven company, embarked on an innovative marketing journey by teaming up with Playable. This collaboration brought a fresh and interactive twist to Ooni’s marketing efforts and led to impressive results in their customer engagement and lead generation.
Ooni wanted to enhance customer interaction on their website and create memorable experiences for their audience while collecting marketing permissions. To do so, they turned to gamification. The idea was simple but powerful: turning ordinary brand-customer interactions into engaging playable experiences to connect with their audience in a unique way.
Ooni’s journey into gamification began with a comprehensive six-week onboarding process*, guided by a dedicated Playable onboarding specialist. They played a pivotal role in helping Ooni understand the possibilities of gamification and the Playable platform. The onboarding process was designed with two primary objectives in mind: to impart gamification strategy tactics with expert tips and tricks, and to provide hands-on training on utilizing the Playable platform effectively.
During this immersive onboarding period, Ooni and Playable worked closely together to build and launch two distinct games, each contributing to Ooni’s growing expertise in gamified marketing. In the first game, a Valentine’s Day personality test, Playable took the lead, with Ooni closely observing the step-by-step process. This approach not only allowed Ooni to witness the game creation process in the platform but also empowered them with valuable how-to insights for future projects. The second game, a St. Patrick’s wheel of fortune, was built by Ooni with continuous guidance and assistance from Playable throughout the entire process.
Once the onboarding process was completed, Ooni was assigned their dedicated Customer Success Manager to help them with their gamification strategy going forward. They also have access to Playable online chat support if they have any technical questions when using the platform to ensure they are always supported when they need it.
*Playable’s onboarding process is now 8 weeks
“After going through the onboarding process, and creating the first couple of games, I definitely had more confidence in using the platform. The onboarding process helped to explain the different functionality of the games from a strategic level, for example, what could drive leads, or what was better to generate traffic to our website.” Andrea Gonzales, Digital Campaigns & Partnerships Manager
“After going through the onboarding process, and creating the first couple of games, I definitely had more confidence in using the platform. The onboarding process helped to explain the different functionality of the games from a strategic level, for example, what could drive leads, or what was better to generate traffic to our website.”
To illustrate their gamification success, Ooni’s St. Patrick’s Day wheel of fortune campaign, built as part of their onboarding, serves as a remarkable example. Designed around the concept of luck and tied to St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, this campaign allowed participants to spin the wheel for a chance to win prizes, which included vouchers of 20€ and 40€ off an Ooni pizza oven, and a free recipe ebook as the consolation prize. Design-wise, the clever use of a spinning Ooni pizza oven with its’ chimney as the pointer added a special touch to the game, aligning with Ooni’s brand identity. In addition, Ooni learned that offering the free eBook as a consolation prize ended up being a great idea to incentivize participation, instead of participants winning nothing at all.
The St. Patrick’s Day campaign achieved exceptional results, driving relevant traffic to Ooni’s website and generating a significant number of leads at a lower cost per lead. Despite the relatively low-value prizes, participants were drawn in by the interactivity of the gamified experience, underlining the power of playable marketing for them.
This aligns with the key findings of a consumer research report conducted by YouGov in partnership with Playable, indicating that for participants, the primary drive is the act of winning itself, while the size or value of the prize holds relatively less significance.
“With this campaign, we drove loads of relevant traffic to the website, and it got us quite a lot of new leads at a really efficient cost-per-lead. We are very happy with the overall results, and it’s definitely a campaign we would want to run again, possibly with other kinds of holidays too.” Andrea Gonzales, Digital Campaigns & Partnerships Manager
“With this campaign, we drove loads of relevant traffic to the website, and it got us quite a lot of new leads at a really efficient cost-per-lead. We are very happy with the overall results, and it’s definitely a campaign we would want to run again, possibly with other kinds of holidays too.”
Since they have completed their onboarding with Playable, Ooni has taken gamification to the next level. They’ve introduced 3 always-on campaigns on their website: an educational quiz about pizza, a fun shooting game (where you need to destroy pizza ingredients before they reach your Ooni oven!), and an exciting drop game (where you need to catch pizzas with your Ooni oven, while avoiding pizzas with pineapples at all costs!) These always-on campaigns succeed in engaging their audience and collect marketing permissions on an on-going basis, while also showcasing Ooni as a fun brand to interact with, and therefore positively influencing their brand image.
Looking ahead, Ooni plans to expand with two more always-on campaigns, keeping the focus on engagement and lead generation. They’re also considering campaigns to gather enhanced customer data points with gamification, using for example personality tests. Finally, Ooni is committed to continue leveraging gamification for seasonal campaigns. Ooni’s collaboration with Playable has highlighted the significant impact of gamification in today’s marketing strategy.
Ooni’s choice to partner with Playable for their gamification journey has proven to be a strategic advantage. Ooni highlight Playable’s exceptional support and expertise as instrumental in driving Ooni’s gamification efforts to success.
One of the key factors in Ooni’s satisfaction with Playable is the responsiveness of the chat support. Anytime Ooni had questions or encountered challenges within the platform, Playable’s chat support was readily available to provide solutions and guidance. This real-time assistance played a crucial role in ensuring a seamless gamification process. The value of having a dedicated Customer Success Manager has given Ooni personalized consultations and strategic insights, allowing them to maximize the potential of their gamification campaigns when they need it.
“Because of the onboarding process, I felt like I came onto the platform really understanding the basics of how to create a new game, and then our Customer Success Manager is very good as well. What I find extremely useful, especially with the small details of the games I don’t know how to use, is the chat support. They are exceptional – they always reply almost immediately with a solution in the form of screenshots or videos.” Andrea Gonzales, Digital Campaigns & Partnerships Manager
“Because of the onboarding process, I felt like I came onto the platform really understanding the basics of how to create a new game, and then our Customer Success Manager is very good as well. What I find extremely useful, especially with the small details of the games I don’t know how to use, is the chat support. They are exceptional – they always reply almost immediately with a solution in the form of screenshots or videos.”
“The Playable platform has given us a clear competitive advantage. Without it, the campaign would have taken too much time, been too difficult, and we would have risked operational problems and breakdowns during the campaign. With the platform it all works – I don’t have to worry at all.”