Elisa is the leading telecommunications and digital services provider in Estonia and Finland, part of the Finnish-based Elisa Corporation operating in over 100 countries internationally. They provide a wide range of services, including mobile and fixed-line telecommunications, broadband internet, television, and cloud solutions.
Elisa employs more than 6,100 professionals in over 20 countries, with a revenue of EUR 2.2 billion in 2024. As a pioneer in telecommunications and digital services, their mission is a sustainable future through digitalisation.
The history of Elisa reflects the changes in Finnish society. Everything started in 1882 when telegraph mechanic Daniel Johannes Wadén, often referred to as “the father of Finnish telephone”, received permission to establish a telephone company in Helsinki. The establishing of Helsingin Telefooni was followed by a long development phase all the way to the 1960s when the ever quicker progress started.
Known for its innovative approach, Elisa focuses on delivering high-quality customer experiences. That’s why they partnered up with Adact, having found excellent use for gamification in both Marketing and HR. They’ve created more than 50 gamified campaigns during the 2 years with Adact, validating the benefits of interactive experiences are for not only lead acquisition and loyalty but also for onboarding and educating.
Thinking how to use gamification for loyalty and lead acquisition? Here’s how they did it!
Corporate birthday celebrations have grown predictable over the years, typically involving small discounts or simple raffles. The digital marketing team at Elisa wanted to challenge this uninspired tradition and transform it into an engaging, competitive experience.
As the streaming service Elisa Huub turned 5 years old, it was the perfect time to try something new!
The goal was to enhance customer engagement, raise awareness of Elisa Huub’s original series, and celebrate their biggest fans.
They decided to go for the Picture Reveal game, featuring posters from their original TV series. It’s perfect for showcasing and introducing products, while offering an engaging experience for the players. And it’s easy to set up!
To make participation more enticing, they introduced an exciting grand prize of 55” TV as an addition to exclusive Elisa Huub merchandise.
Only the top 100 players (ranked by their scores) entered the raffle to win, making the experience competitive and therefore resulting in even more time spent with the brand through repeated gameplays.
Although exciting prizes and competitive elements are not a must-have for gamified marketing campaigns, they serve as an extra incentive for engagement. This increases the click through rates, brand memory and contributes to increasing awareness of featured products and services.
The ads showcased simple visuals of the game in action, emphasizing the chance to win a TV. All you need is to create excitement, guide expectations and sprinkle in a bit of extra incentive in order to improve your CTR and conversion.
The marketing budget was divided between current customers and potential new clients. Using landing page views as the primary metric, they found that existing customers were 44% more likely to click on the ad compared to new prospects.
Pillar 2: Organic Reach and Emails
Elisa paired organic social media content with a targeted email campaign aimed at their existing customers. This combination of “game” and a “birthday celebration” delivered exceptional engagement, with an impressive 42.7% email open rate and a 20.8% click-through rate.
The content of the email challenged the community to test their knowledge to win the grand prize. It featured a call-to-action button “PLAY”, directing to the campaign landing page, and a gif teasing with the exciting experience just one click away!
Elisa once again validated the formula for effective loyalty campaigns using good old e-mail marketing. By using these tips and making your campaign a truly interactive experience, your results are (almost) guaranteed to improve.
The unexpected virality of the campaign was its most fascinating aspect. While Meta ads had a high cost per landing page view, they demonstrated an unexpected ripple effect:
Moreover, player engagement was remarkable – on average, each Unique Lead played the game 5.1 times, while the gameplay duration was 81 seconds, resulting in 6 minutes and 53 seconds spent with the brand per player on average.
This is the magic of gamified marketing campaigns.
“The unexpected virality of the campaign was its most fascinating aspect.”
This celebration campaign with Elisa is a powerful testament to the impact of using gamification for loyalty and lead acquisition campaigns. By leveraging Adact’s interactive experiences, Elisa didn’t just celebrate a milestone—they turned it into an opportunity to deepen user engagement, boost brand memory, and truly stand out.
As supported by principles from game theory and the psychology of gamification, when users are invited to play rather than passively receive, their motivation and participation skyrocket. Techniques like variable rewards, instant feedback, and a sense of achievement trigger intrinsic motivators—making the entire journey feel rewarding and fun. Instead of a typical form-fill or static discount, users are immersed in a branded experience that makes your campaign stand out and stick in their memory.
This case study reinforces what we’ve seen time and time again: gamified loyalty campaigns not only enhance engagement but also dramatically improve click-through rates and campaign virality. Whether you’re acquiring new leads or nurturing existing ones, adding an element of interactivity can be a game-changer—literally.
Special thanks to Glen-Gregory Lille, Digital Marketing Specialist at Elisa, for the collaboration and insights that brought this case study to life!
Feeling inspired? The next move is yours—try gamification in your next marketing campaign and see how fun can convert into results. Get started!
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