The holiday season is a strategic time for brands. According to a study by the CSA institute for Cofidis, the French spend an average of 323 euros on gifts. It’s crucial to capture their purchasing intentions and take advantage of the month of December to reinforce your presence in consumers’ minds. Broaden your audience and boost sales.

In this guide, we help you refine your Christmas marketing strategy. We explore what your brand can aim to achieve, and provide tips for creating impactful campaigns in the run-up to the holidays.

SUMMARY

• 1. Building brand awareness with a Christmas marketing strategy
  
• 2. Bringing in-app users to life over Christmas
  
• 3. Generate new leads with your Christmas marketing strategy
  
• 4. Boost conversions during the Christmas holidays
  
• 5. A Christmas marketing strategy to build audience loyalty
  

Christmas is a time when consumers are receptive to advertising messages, looking for gift ideas and offers. This attention provides an opportunity to increase visibility to a wide audience.

Gamification, or interacting with consumers through playful experiences, is an interesting way of building brand awareness. Games capture attention. They can encourage sharing on social networks, amplifying the reach of the campaign.

Our tips for an effective Christmas campaign:

• Create online competitions: offer Christmas-related challenges.
  
• Distribute a Quiz to present your brand in a fun, high-impact way.
  
• Encourage social sharing: Encourage participants to share their scores or experiences on networks to increase visibility.
  

Example: Crédit Agricole’s Christmas campaign

With “Les Jolis Comptes de Noël”, Crédit Agricole launched a solidarity campaign for the festive season. Each day, the Advent Calendar unveiled content highlighting the bank’s actions. More than just a simple operation, this campaign engaged the community. It was adaptable to the regional caisses, reinforcing the brand’s local roots.

Mobile app purchases account for half of all online sales. It’s crucial to attract consumers to this channel, and animate users to maintain their interest for the holidays.

Gamification provides brands with features that encourage visitors to return and stay longer on the app. This increase in engagement translates into more purchasing opportunities and a higher average shopping basket.

Our tips for an effective Christmas campaign:

• Integrate time-related games: Add themed mini-games (like an Advent Calendar) to keep users entertained and loyal over the long term.
  
• Offer rewards: Offer promotions or products accessible via the application.
  
• Energize the in-app purchase journey at every stage. Brands can integrate a quiz at the beginning of the journey to collect customer preferences and offer better recommendations. At the checkout stage, they can propose a Winning Instant and put discount coupons into play. Offer rewards: Propose promotions or products accessible via the app.
  

Example: Showroomprivé’s Christmas campaign

Showroomprivé launched an Advent Calendar on its app to maximize its visibility at Christmas time. Thanks to the presence of numerous partners, the operation attracted a high level of response from users, with almost 500,000 registrations. Engagement was also high, with 1.1 million boxes opened and 10.5 million pages viewed, offering partners excellent visibility throughout the game.

As the holiday season approaches, consumers are on the lookout for bargains. This makes it easy to collect customer data and generate leads. Playful mechanics encourage users to provide their contact details or give their opt-in in exchange for an entertaining experience or prizes.

Our tips for an effective Christmas campaign:

• Organize contests with registration: Ask participants to sign up to a mailing list or fill in a form for a chance to win Christmas gifts.
  
• Offer personalized tests: Share quizzes to discover the “ideal gift”, in exchange for an e-mail address to receive the results.
  
• Use engaging pop-ups: Implement playful pop-ups on your e-commerce site to encourage visitors to sign up for your newsletter (in exchange for a bonus).
  

Example: Electrolux’s Christmas campaign

Electrolux launched the Atelier des saveurs de Noël campaign with a Match 3 mechanic, with more than two games played per subscriber. An opt-in push was integrated to maximize collection, reinforcing the effectiveness of the campaign. The distribution of prospecting emails via Adictiz Ads enabled us to reach affinity segments targeted according to consumer profiles and verticals, optimizing performance and lead collection.

Buying intentions are high during Christmas, making consumers inclined to finalize their purchases to receive their gifts before the 25th. Game mechanics can boost brand conversion by sharing incentives (such as discount coupons). They are excellent tools for guiding users through their experience (via targeted recommendations). They make the customer journey fluid and memorable.

Our tips for an effective Christmas campaign:

• Use competitions to generate UGC and reassure customers. Authentic content, shared by customers, is more effective in boosting conversions.
  
• Personalize the experience: Use the data collected (via a Survey, a Battle or a Shopping List) to propose product recommendations tailored to users’ preferences.
  
• Create time-limited offers: Use counters or daily challenges to encourage consumers to complete their purchases.
  

Example: Showroomprivé’s Christmas campaign

For Christmas, Showroomprivé launched a Grapple game aimed at increasing its visibility and boosting sales with vouchers, by collecting telephone numbers and opt-ins. Nearly 49% of registrants provided their numbers, demonstrating their interest in the brand.

Last but not least, Christmas is a key marketing period for strengthening ties with customers by offering them memorable experiences or exclusive rewards. Fun and games increase the amount of time spent with the brand. They boost brand loyalty and encourage customers to come back for more.

Our tips for an effective Christmas campaign:

• Launch interactive loyalty programs: Propose challenges or missions to complete in order to accumulate points.
  
• Organize a digital Advent calendar: Brands create recurrence by offering a surprise or promotion from December 1 to 25.
  
• Encourage co-creation: Invite customers to participate in product design or vote for the best proposal to reinforce their sense of belonging.
  

Example: Starbucks’ Christmas campaign

Every year, Starbucks offers limited-edition gift cards designed for the Christmas season. These cards, decorated with festive motifs, are intended as gifts and rewards for loyal customers. This initiative enables Starbucks to keep its customers engaged over the festive period. It also enables Starbucks to boost sales through card refills and reinforce its brand image by associating itself with traditions.

Conclusion

By integrating gamification into your Christmas campaigns, you can achieve a variety of objectives by offering your customers a unique experience. Create playful experiences that reflect your image and engage your audience across your channels: e-commerce site, app, social networks and stores!

You’re probably familiar with Candy Crush Saga. Launched in 2012, it is the world’s most popular digital game, attracting more than 240 million monthly active players and accumulating more than 3 billion downloads.

Candy Crush is based on a simple Match 3 principle: line up identical items (in this case 3), swapping their positions to make them disappear and score points. Easy to learn and addictive, this mechanic is an asset for brands looking to energise their campaigns and captivate their audiences.

In this article, we explain how to create an online Match 3 game and customise it so that it fits into your world. We share examples of how to use this format as a recruitment and loyalty tool.

SUMMARY

• Why integrate the match 3 game into your marketing campaigns?
  
• Our tips for creating an engaging online match-3 game
  

The Match 3 game is a fun, intuitive and captivating format that brands can incorporate into their marketing strategy. This mechanic is used to engage, convert and build audience loyalty. Here are the reasons to adopt it to optimise your communication and move users through the sales funnel.

1. To boost your profile

The Match 3 game is ideal for attracting an audience because it is well-known and appreciated. Simple and addictive, it captures attention and increases brand visibility.

It’s easy to customise the design to reflect the brand’s visual identity and immerse customers and prospects. By adding functionalities (a ranking and the ability to share your score), Match 3 can go viral and amplify the reach of a campaign (on social networks).

Example: As part of the Men’s World Handball Championship, Lidl proposed a campaign aimed at increasing brand awareness through this partnership. The game was positioned as a strategic lever for capturing data and recruiting qualified leads in affinity with the brand.

2. To engage your audience

The Match 3 game immerses users in a fun and interactive world. Brands evoke positive emotions linked to entertainment, but also to the possibility of progressing in the game and winning rewards.

Because of its addictive nature, Match 3 extends the interaction between the brand and its audience and multiplies the points of contact (by tracking scores or adding new levels).

Example: SFR Caraïbes’ Mother’s Day game campaign aimed to increase brand awareness while engaging its audience. Backed by Adictiz Ads media coverage, the campaign was a success, with remarkable engagement: each participant spent an average of 11 minutes playing the game.

3. To generate leads

Brands can use Match 3 to enrich their database and collect new leads. To access the game or the rewards, participants have to fill in a registration form. The information collected can be used to segment leads (according to their profile and their behaviour or interactions with the game).

This format can be a conversion tool, via the rewards distributed. These are incentives to buy (such as promotions or discount coupons to be used on the next order).

Example: The Floa Sweets campaign was dedicated to increasing the visibility and awareness of the Floa Bank mobile app, in order to encourage its use. The Match 3 mechanic enabled Floa to recruit new users and build loyalty while boosting app downloads.

4. To enhance your database

Finally, the Match 3 game enables brands to enrich their customer base by collecting:

• demographic data (via the entry form),
  
• behavioural data (by monitoring player interactions),
  
• direct feedback (including micro-surveys at the beginning or end of the game).
  

The data obtained will be used to create highly targeted (retargeting) marketing campaigns. For example, a user who has unlocked all the levels could receive a personalised offer or message.

Example: Electrolux’s Ecoline campaign was launched with the aim of engaging consumers in reducing their energy consumption. At the same time, the brand aimed to recruit new opt-in leads. The media campaign exceeded its objectives, with over 70% of opt-ins coming from the Adictiz Ads source.

Before launching a gamified marketing campaign, here are a few practices to follow to ensure it is as effective as possible.

1. What software should I use to create a match 3 game?

Advertisers can use platforms specialising in playable marketing to create their match 3 game. These tools offer an intuitive interface and functionality tailored to their needs. They can be used to personalise their marketing game, optimise its distribution or track campaign performance.

2. How do I customise my match 3 game?

With Adictiz Box, you can fully customise your game to reflect your brand identity. The graphic elements (backgrounds, colours, icons) can be adapted to reflect the brand’s values and visual universe. The difficulty of the game can be configured and levels introduced to prolong engagement.

3. How do you manage endowments?

Rewards are essential to motivate participants. Gamification tools make it easy to manage rewards. Whether in the form of discount vouchers, free samples or physical gifts. Advertisers can configure random or conditional winning mechanisms (based on a minimum score), and automate the allocation of prizes to simplify management.

4. Can someone take charge of my campaign?

For companies lacking the time or resources to manage their campaign, Adictiz offers turnkey support via Adictiz Studio. The agency’s teams take charge of the creation, design and optimisation of the campaign.

5. How can I make my campaign more visible?

To maximise the impact of a match 3 game, brands can call on the services of a Media Agency. The latter will be responsible for promoting the game via targeted advertising campaigns on social networks. Partnerships with influencers and multi-channel actions to boost the game’s visibility and brand awareness.

6. How can I track the performance of my campaign?

Thanks to a gamified marketing tool, companies can easily track their KPIs using detailed dashboards. These allow you to monitor your metrics in real time. For example, the number of players, average time spent or data collected (leads). These insights will help advertisers adjust their strategy and achieve better results.

Conclusion

Creating an online match 3 game is an effective strategy for animating your community and boosting engagement. With Adictiz, the design and delivery of your campaign is seamless and easy to adapt to your objectives and your audience!

The second half of the marketing calendar is a strategic period for brands… Back-to-school, sales, Black Friday and the end-of-year festivities… A succession of high points provide opportunities to engage and convert audiences.

If you don’t want to miss out on an event that will help you achieve your sales objectives, it’s essential to be well prepared. In this article, we take a look at the key events not to be missed in the second half of the year. We also share tips on how to put in place an effective strategy and make campaign execution easier.

SUMMARY

• Second-half marketing calendar: highlights not to be missed
  
• 4 tips to boost your second-half marketing
  

The second half of the year is full of events that punctuate consumers’ lives and offer brands opportunities to engage them. From the summer holidays to the end-of-year festivities, not forgetting commercial festivities such as Black Friday and sales, each high point presents its own challenges and requires meticulous preparation.

Here are the highlights of the second half of the marketing calendar and how to position yourself to maximise these sales opportunities.

Holidays and summer sales (July-August)

The months of July and August are marked by two major events: the summer holidays and the summer sales. The summer holidays represent a challenge for brands. They need to adapt their communications to maintain the link and prepare for the new season. As for the summer sales, this is an opportunity to sell off stocks and boost sales. At this point in the marketing calendar, it is crucial to :

• Leverage an omnichannel strategy (physical and e-commerce) to engage a volatile audience and communicate its offers during the sales period.
  
• Implement a lead recruitment strategy to reach prospects who don’t know the company and boost the impact of sales.
  
• Once the sales are over, focus on customer knowledge and loyalty. August is the time to gather preferences and refine your positioning and offers for the autumn and the final quarter.
  

Back to school (September)

The back-to-school period is a key time for all sectors of activity, from fashion to high-tech, retail and culture. At this time of year in the marketing calendar, consumers are looking for suitable offers, but also attractive prices. Brands can :

• Capitalise on the data they have collected to propose personalised offers. They will meet the expectations of a demanding audience, who are looking for practicality and good deals;
  
• Take advantage of the back-to-school rush to boost their drive-to-store strategy and generate more traffic. It’s an opportunity to forge a bond with customers by encouraging them to visit the shop to discover products and take advantage of benefits (targeted advice, attractive promotions, etc.).
  

Halloween (31 October)

Popular in France, Halloween is a must for the leisure, food and ready-to-wear sectors. Brands can capitalize on the festive atmosphere with creative campaigns, limited collections or immersive experiences to capture attention. It’s a time to build brand awareness and engage your community, via social networks.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday (end of November)

These two commercial holidays mark a major peak in consumption, both in-store and online. Black Friday and Cyber Monday are opportunities to clear stock before the holidays, and to capture customers through flash offers and sales.

The challenge for brands is to attract consumers with attractive discounts. But also a smooth shopping experience (optimized logistics, secure payment, etc.).

Christmas and New Year’s Eve (December)

The marketing calendar comes to an end with the festive season. Brands need to attract consumers looking for original gifts. To stand out from the crowd, they need to optimize their offer (gift sets, special editions, personalization services), pricing and logistics. It’s also crucial to reach buyers with engaging storytelling and emotional communication.

Every highlight of the second half of the year represents an opportunity to increase brand visibility, boost sales and build customer loyalty. By anticipating these events and adopting the right approach, companies can maximize their impact and capitalize on consumer trends.

Careful planning and a good understanding of your audience are essential to turn these appointments into successes. Here are 4 ways to stand out in the second half of the marketing calendar!

1. Anticipate your campaigns

In marketing, anticipation is key. It’s essential to plan sales actions several months in advance to ensure smooth, efficient execution.
Planning your marketing calendar allows you to :

• Positioning of highlights according to strategic objectives, audience expectations and marketing budget;
  
• Define a coherent strategy for each highlight,
  
• Optimize advertising budgets (to avoid a tricky situation before the Christmas holidays).
  
• Ensure smooth logistics management (stock optimisation, etc.)
  

A structured marketing calendar facilitates the implementation of campaigns and avoids hasty actions that could impact on the brand’s performance and image.

2. A high point, a marketing objective

Each event in the marketing calendar must be linked to specific objectives:

• Acquiring new customers and increasing sales for Black Friday
  
• Conversion and loyalty during the festive season,
  
• Branding and animating the community for Halloween,
  
• Customer knowledge and preference gathering during August.
  

3. Capitalise on relevant gamification mechanisms

To position themselves at the best times, brands need to identify the interactive mechanisms that are relevant to their objectives. Their choice must take account of each event and the related strategic objective.

Instant Win games (a Wheel of Fortune or a scratch-off game) are suited to conversion objectives and to a commercial holiday such as Black Friday. More creative mechanics such as competitions and challenges are ideal for promotion and branding objectives and for high points such as the summer holidays or Halloween.

4. Measure and improve your marketing strategy on an ongoing basis

Conclusion

Every event in the marketing calendar represents an opportunity for your brand to increase its visibility, boost sales and build audience loyalty. By anticipating these highlights and deploying a strategy tailored to your audience, you can maximise the impact of your speaking engagements and achieve your sales objectives. Plan your second half of the year using our dedicated guide and turn these meetings into sales successes by distributing our marketing games.

With budgets back in hand, new purchasing intentions and the start of the sprint towards the end of the year, the strategic stakes are enormous. Provided you know where to focus your efforts. So how do you get your fourth term off to a good start and maximise the impact of your back-to-school communications?

SUMMARY

• The major marketing challenges of the autumn
  
• 3 tips for a successful back-to-school communication operation
  

The statistic to remember: Nearly 4 out of 5 French people (79%) are planning to change their shopping habits this autumn.

The marketing action to launch: a marketing campaign on social networks with an interactive and engaging format to maximise the brand’s visibility.

An example to follow: For its “Back to School” campaign, SFR relied on the Match 3 mechanic to promote the start of the new school year. This addictive game recruited over 4,200 leads and generated 38 games played per participant. The Adictiz Ads media campaign generated a 98% response rate, an essential factor in the game’s visibility.

2. Refine customer knowledge to improve future marketing campaigns

The statistic to remember: 83% of consumers say they are willing to share their preferences with a brand in exchange for a personalised experience. And brands that exploit first-party data generate 2.9 times more revenue.

The marketing action to launch: Brands can, for example, share an interactive Personality Test on their site to better understand their customers’ interests and needs. Customers will then be redirected to relevant product pages or automatically retargeted by email with targeted offers.

An example to learn from: The interactive quiz shared by MaGare+ as part of its back-to-school game enabled the company to collect valuable data on its audience. For example, it has been able to identify the station services that are most likely to be of interest to its customers.

3. Capitalise on purchase intentions to improve conversion

Key statistic: At the start of the new school year, families spend an average of 304 euros per person.

The marketing action to launch: Consumers are more likely to make a purchase or create a customer account in exchange for a discount or reward. Brands can boost their conversion rate by proposing an attractive welcome offer (a discount on the first order) or by distributing discount coupons via a 100% instant win.

An example to follow: For the back-to-school season, Kiabi launched a campaign focusing on lead generation and conversion, giving participants the chance to win attractive prizes, including shopping vouchers. Thanks to media coverage via Adictiz Ads, the operation recorded an opt-in rate of 68%, testifying to participants’ commitment to the brand and the effectiveness of the campaign.

4. Building loyalty and preparing for the last quarter of the year

The last quarter of the year (Q4) is crucial, with events such as Black Friday, the autumn sales and the festive season. Building customer loyalty from September onwards maximises sales during this strategic period and considerably reduces the budget for future marketing campaigns.

The statistic to remember: A loyal customer spends on average 67% more than a new customer (Source: Harvard Business Review). Not to mention that attracting a new customer costs five times more than bringing one back.

The marketing campaign to launch: to boost your retention rate, there’s nothing better than an innovative loyalty programme. This will encourage consumers to buy from the brand by giving them access to more attractive discounts or previews of Black Friday offers.

An example to follow: In 2021, Decathlon has decided to transform its traditional loyalty programme into a more inclusive offering, allowing customers to collect points through various actions (in particular their interactions with the brand) and no longer just when they make purchases. The catalogue of rewards has also been expanded, giving programme members the opportunity to spend their points at partner stores.

To maximise the impact of back-to-school communications, brands need to put the right strategy in place. Here are three tips for optimising your sales operation and achieving concrete results.

1. Identify your objectives and your target’s needs

An effective back-to-school marketing campaign must therefore be perfectly tailored to the expectations of its audience. To achieve this, brands need to collect data upstream. Marketing games will enable them to analyse the preferences and behaviour of consumers in greater detail, so that they can better qualify their leads.

2. Stand out from other advertising campaigns