Seasonality is a major challenge for brands, whatever their sector of activity. They have to adjust their marketing strategy to take account of the different needs of their audience at different times of the year.

But the summer period presents an additional difficulty: a drop in consumer attention and purchase intentions in verticals that are not directly linked to tourism/leisure.

The key to keeping customers engaged over the summer, but also to generate sales, is to understand and anticipate consumer expectations. But above all, it means offering them engaging and well-targeted brand experiences.

In this article, we explain how the summer competitions can help you overcome the main challenges of the summer period. We’ll also share some concrete examples to inspire your future campaigns.

SUMMARY

• The main challenges of summer marketing campaigns
• 3 good reasons to organise summer competitions

Summer is a challenging time for many brands. Many of them see their sales fall drastically or, on the contrary, have to manage a peak in activity. Here are the main challenges they face during the summer months.

1. Attract the attention of less available consumers

Many companies experience a slack period during the summer season due to a decrease in consumer attention. They are often less available (due to holidays, travel, etc.), which has a direct impact on their interactions with brands, particularly on social networks.

During the summer months, engagement rates can drop drastically. A study by HubSpot shows that this drop can be as much as 30% during the summer holidays. It is therefore essential for retailers to adapt their marketing campaigns by offering content that is more visual, less intrusive and more fun.

2. Follow your customers on their summer travels

In summer, consumers also tend to be more nomadic, particularly when on holiday and therefore travelling to tourist areas. For brands, the challenge is to remain available, particularly online or by simplifying the delivery of their products to holiday destinations.

For some sectors, which have a good physical presence throughout the country, the challenge will also be to make these outlets visible. This is the case in supermarkets, for example, by offering geolocated promotions. Sports clubs can also offer summer passes to encourage their users to visit the establishment closest to their holiday destination, or by integrating digital services (such as an online sports application).

3. Meeting different needs during the summer holidays

One of the greatest challenges of seasonal marketing is to understand and anticipate changes in behaviour of consumers at different times of the year. For example, shoppers will be more inclined to spend on leisure activities in summer and more inclined to buy products in winter.

The products and services offered by retailers must therefore be adapted to meet these new needs. To take the example of supermarkets, brands need to take account of the fact that their customers are turning more to fresh products that are easy to eat on the move (ready-to-go).

4. The impact of seasonality on stock management

The challenges of summer marketing campaigns are not limited to companies whose sales are falling. Sectors that experience major peaks in activity can also be hit hard if they are not sufficiently prepared to meet customer demand.

A survey carried out by McKinsey & Company revealed that 70% of retailers observe an overabundance of stock outside seasonal peaks, and 40% of them believe that their stock management could be improved to better adapt to seasonal cycles.

It is therefore crucial for brands to adapt their stock management strategy in line with the seasons. This will help to avoid overstocking or stock-outs during the high season, both of which have a considerable impact on profitability, image and customer satisfaction.

To meet these marketing challenges and better engage their customers over the summer period, brands can capitalise on gamification.This strategy involves introducing fun, interactive formats (such as competitions) into its communication campaigns.

Here are 3 good reasons to adopt Playable marketing this summer and 3 inspiring examples to get you going!

1. Boost your communication and grab consumers’ attention

Summer is a time when consumers are on holiday and looking for lighter, more entertaining content. By organising a competition, brands can offer them a fun and engaging experience and capture the attention of an audience that is less receptive to traditional messages.

Competitions therefore make it possible to multiply the points of contact, even in summer, boosting the brand’s visibility organically (particularly on social networks).

Example: Showroomprivé’s Summer Trips campaign achieved its visibility objective at the height of the summer season, highlighting Parc Astérix as an attractive partner for generating leads.The results have been impressive, both in terms of participation (177K users in total) and engagement (with over 186K games played and an average session duration of 1min49).

2. Maintain sales during a slower period

Summer can be a slow period for some industries. In this context, competitions are an excellent way of stimulating sales. Not only can the format be used to promote the summer offer in an original way (by encouraging the creation of user generated directly by users as part of a photo competition). But it’s also a way of encouraging impulse buying by distributing time-limited discount vouchers.

Example : Altarea Cogedim has launched its Summer Test campaign to energise its shopping centres during the summer sales period. This
personality test was designed to generate point-of-sale traffic and stimulate purchases by sharing personalised product recommendations. The campaign also recruited new fans, leads and opt-ins, helping to enrich the customer database and to
maximise the impact of the summer highlight.

3. Prepare back-to-school marketing campaigns and collect valuable data

Summer competitions can also be used by brands to gather valuable information about their customers (product preference, consumption habits, budget allocated to purchases, etc.) This data can be obtained via the game mechanics themselves (in particular with a Swiper, for example) or using a form (at the start of the course to access the game or at the end of the experience to unlock the reward).

This data can then be used to prepare and optimise back-to-school campaigns and brand communications throughout the year. Using the information collected, the brand can better segment its audience and thus deliver more impactful retargeting campaigns (thanks to personalised content and offers).

Example: The Tape à l’Oeil brand has opted for a summer competition to strengthen its relationship with its customers. The choice of a fun game mechanic such as the Piñata not only boosted the brand’s visibility during the summer period. But gamification also made it possible to collect data and attract qualified leads (thanks to
an opt-in form) which the company could then retarget through an e-mailing campaign, for example.

Conclusion

Competitions are particularly relevant in summer to keep your customers engaged, boost your sales and optimise your future marketing campaigns. It’s an ideal format for the summer period, making your communication more dynamic and more fun. Discover
our marketing game formats and boost your visibility and revenue even during the summer holidays!

There are many reasons why consumers take part in a marketing competition. First and foremost, the majority want to take part in a unique experience, compare themselves with a community (by climbing the leaderboard), but also find out about new products or brand news.

Nevertheless, it’s impossible to deny that gamers enjoy marketing games largely because they offer them the chance to win rewards. The choice of prizes for a competition is therefore crucial to its success. It is a lever for increasing the number of participants, making your interactive game viral and boosting participant retention.

In this guide, we share practical advice and concrete examples of how to choose the best prizes for a marketing competition.

SUMMARY

• Why is choosing the right gifts so important?
• Understand the motivations of the participants of the competition to choose its endowment
• The golden rules of good gamified marketing staffing

Do you know what the first thing participants remember when they discover a competition for the first time?

The prize!

Overall, it’s the game that attracts the most attention from users, ahead of the concept of the marketing game, its graphic universe, the calls to action and the organic brand.

The golden rule for creating an engaging marketing game that encourages your target audience to take part is to choose a striking prize that will capture their attention or stimulate their curiosity!

The prize money for a competition will have an undeniable effect on its appeal. To attract the maximum targeted audience, so it’s crucial to choose your endowment carefully. But it’s also crucial to promote it in all your communication media (media plan, home page, landing page).

This in no way precludes designing a competition that is attractive, challenging and original.

But in order of priorities, the equation for a successful competition is as follows:

A well-chosen prize + a well-thought-out concept = guaranteed seduction

Like any other marketing strategy, the choice of prizes for a competition must be user-centric. Cela signifie concrètement qu’il ne faut pas choisir les lots à remporter en fonction des objectifs de son entreprise (par exemple des produits invendus qu’elle souhaite écouler).

The rewards of a marketing game must be thought out according to the participants’ expectations and what is likely to motivate them to play!

In practice, the right prize will not be the same for all companies and all competitions. The company will have to base its decision on the data it possesses about its target audience. In particular the first-party data it has collected from previous marketing campaigns.

Nevertheless, a better understanding of consumers’ motivations as a whole, and of the current economic context, will enable us to sketch out the contours of the ideal endowment!

Boosting purchasing power with its interactive game prizes

The current boom in marketing competitions is part of a social and economic context that is very specific.

On the one hand, consumers value authentic and playful interactions with brands. They are sensitive to the efforts made by companies to offer them quality content and who are committed to creating a real, close relationship with them.

On the other hand, 74% of French people say that the year 2022 (and its inflationary context) have weakened their finances. 62% will have changed their consumption habits by 2022 to preserve their purchasing power.

Against this backdrop, with household morale at half-mast, businesses have a role to play. They can offer promotions or other commercial actions (such as the famous anti-inflation basket) to help consumers preserve their purchasing power.

But they can also give their target audience the opportunity to win prizes as part of a competition. This will serve the interests of consumers at the same time. In fact, 59% of them are actively looking for promotions. But the marketing game is also a powerful vector for brand awareness, commitment and loyalty.

Now that the company has a better understanding of the motivations of future participants in its competition, all it has to do is choose the right prize accordingly.

Above all, it needs to ask itself the right questions:

• What is the context of my scheme?
• What are the objectives of my interactive marketing campaign?
• What is my target audience: the typical profile of participants, their motivations and their expectations of the brand?
• What is its budget (for the campaign itself and for endowments)?
• What human resources does it have?

Based on their answers and the information we’re about to share with you, it will be easier to organise a winning competition!

The most effective prizes

As a general rule, vehicles, money (in the form of a voucher, for example) and trips are the three most popular rewards for participants in a competition. However, there are other possible prizes to explore, depending on your objectives and the resources available.

Fashion/beauty items, home furnishings and high-tech appliances are also excellent endowment choices.

Choosing a striking prize

The whole point of a good competition prize is to catch the eye and convert as many Internet users as possible into the target players.

The prize must be eye-catching. To do this, it must be visible in the form of a good-quality photo. The visuals must also show the full extent of the prizes up for grabs, as well as their overall value (in euros).

A very good example of hard-hitting prize comes from the competition organised by La Roche-Posay. The campaign’s visuals perfectly showcase the brand’s new serums, which players can win by taking part in a Click & Win. The result: over 69,000 people signed up.

A prize consistent with the brand universe

50% of participants expect a prize linked to their brand. It is therefore advisable to choose a prize that is easily associated with your company, your sector of activity or the marketing highlight ( Christmas, Halloween, etc.). This choice of endowment will increase the conversion rate of the campaign as well as its memorability.

For Black Friday, Norauto has therefore proposed a ‘your order 100% reimbursed’ scheme. This is a promise that is consistent with marketing highlights, giving consumers the chance to grab a bargain.

A prize in line with its interactive marketing campaign

The choice of prize must also be adapted to the context of the marketing game and the objectives it is designed to achieve.

For example, a competition organised to generate leads should choose an exceptional prize (a car or a high-tech device). It can also multiply the number of prizes. To generate traffic and encourage conversion, the gift chosen should be linked to an act of purchase (gift card, discount, etc.).

Targeted prizes for participants

Choosing the right reward for a competition also means defining the target audience you want to reach.. Il peut s’agir d’une cible familiale, avec des enfants. Ou plutôt d’un public féminin/masculin. Les marques devront également s’intéresser à l’âge/génération de leur audience pour choisir la bonne dotation.

The Bonduelle brand has opted for a targeted approach by launching a campaign aimed at customers who have purchased a Bonduelle product. To take part, you had to enter the bar code of your Bonduelle product.

The choice of prize is crucial to accelerating the performance of a marketing campaign, whatever its objective (loyalty, engagement, visibility). So take the time to select rewards or prizes that are both relevant to achieving the objectives you’ve set yourself and meet the expectations of your target audience!

And to make organising your competition easier, discover the Adictiz solution!

With the arrival of Spring and the return of fine weather, the French are looking forward to the May bank holidays, as well as Mother’s Day. This is a symbolic event and therefore a key moment on which brands can capitalise.

Mother’s Day marketing campaigns are a strategic way of raising visibility, stimulating a community and boosting sales. In this article, we share some ideas for Mother’s Day competitions based on the objectives to be achieved.

SUMMARY

• Mother’s Day: a key commercial event for brands
• 1. Mother’s Day competitions to stimulate your community
• 2. A Mother’s Day sales promotion to engage customers
• 3. A marketing game to generate sales for Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day (which takes place on the last Sunday in May in France) is an event celebrated by more than 80% of French people. It’s a time to celebrate mothers and spend time with loved ones. It generates major spin-offs for brands. This is the second biggest marketing event in France in terms of gifts, just behind Christmas.

It has an impact on company sales and is a major boost to revenues. In France, the budget for Mother’s Day is 66 euros. Brands use this opportunity to showcase their products and services or share gift ideas with their customers.

Mother’s Day is an opportunity to communicate values. Retailers can share campaigns that will strengthen their brand image, raise their profile, increase their sales strengthen relationships with their audience.

Gamification to communicate around Mother’s Day

To stand out from the crowd at this major event, companies can engage their community with fun, interactive experiences. Gamified marketing, or the introduction of playable elements into campaigns, is a lever for capturing an audience’s attention.

Companies can turn to different marketing game formats. A photo contest can engage the community around a challenge while generating content (or UGC for User Generated Content) that the brand can share.

The sales promotions, in-store or online, enable you to :

• Collecting data to understand customer expectations around Mother’s Day;
• Share gift recommendations based on collected product preferences;
• Generate sales by sharing incentives such as e-coupons, gift cards, etc.
  
• Build loyalty among the leads generated by collecting opt-ins so that they can be retargeted throughout the year.

Here are 3 examples of original interactive campaigns inspired by gamification, such as the Mother’s Day marketing campaign.

Mother’s Day is an opportunity to forge closer links with the community. The campaigns surrounding this special day are an opportunity to promote family values.

Brands can take advantage of Mother’s Day to create a close relationship with their audience. Using sales events to extend the time spent with the brand.

Example: Galeries Lafayette’s Mother’s Day game

For Mother’s Day, Galeries Lafayette have come up with a 100% winning One-Armed Bandit via a game terminal installed for 3 days in 6 shops in France. Results exceeded expectations, with above-average participation. The 1 minute 20 second game time demonstrated an interest in the animation, confirming the success of this campaign.

Mother’s Day competition was available in mobile format via a QR code. This strategy increased the reach of the campaign. It made it possible to animate all the shops, with
a 100% winning concept. In addition, this co-branding operation made it possible to collect opt-ins for Galeries Lafayette and its partner brand, Rosemood.

To build customer loyalty, brands need to multiply the number of points of contact. Trade fairs are strategic in terms of engagement because they offer opportunities to connect with the audience.

For Mother’s Day, many people turn to social networks to find gift ideas. It’s a good idea to create a competition to engage prospects and customers and move them along the buying funnel.

Example: SFR’s Mother’s Day campaign

SFR’s Mother’s Day campaign in the Caribbean aimed to raise brand awareness by engaging its audience. The mechanics Match 3 was a resounding success, boosted by Adictiz Ads media coverage. Participants were highly engaged, spending an average of 11 minutes on the game per user.

Finally, Mother’s Day is an opportunity to encourage consumers to buy their gifts. The competition is a tool for generating sales, as it allows you to share attractive incentives (vouchers, discounts, free products, etc.) with your customers.

Gamification makes it easier to personalise recommendations by offering retailers methods of collecting product preferences.Via mechanisms such as Swiper or Gift Finder. Brands will be able to offer customised gift guides that are effective in generating conversions.

Example: Galeries Lafayette’s Mother’s Day marketing campaign

To mark the occasion, Les Galeries Lafayette offered its customers the chance to win gift cards. This instant win strategy ( the Pinata) has enabled us to collect qualified leads and boost conversions.

This strategy, based on encouraging purchases, was based on an end page that directed users to offers, while encouraging them to use the gift card on the merchant site.

Conclusion

Stand out from the crowd this Mother’s Day by offering your prospects and customers the chance to take part in a competition. Thanks to our 100% customisable mechanics, you’ll be able to capture buyers’ attention and move them up your sales funnel!