Gamify's Top 9 Best Advergames | Gamification Marketing 2021 (video)

Advergames have been used by some of the largest brands in the world over the last 30 years. From 7up’s “Spot” in the 90s to Burger King’s “PocketBike Racer” in the 2000s.

Advergames primary purpose is to bring about activity & engagement to capture their users’ attention and link a positive experience to the associated brand.

Because advergames are interactive, people don't passively watch like they do with TV commercials, banner ads or any other form of traditional advertising. They are encouraged to participate in a way which not only rewards but connects the players to the brand and other players via a leaderboard which can invoke real emotion as you will see below in some of the examples.

In this list, we’ll be counting down some creative ways some brands have used video games to engage with their audience. Here are The Top 9 Best Advergames by Gamify in 2020.

IMB Bank’s "Buzzy Bee Runner"

Aim
IMB Bank organises outdoor movie nights all around Australia to keep communities connected. They approached Gamify as they wanted a fun way to engage their audience while the groups waited for the movie to start.

The Solution
Gamify set up QR codes displaying on both the movie screen and basic signage on-site. Players could simply scan the QR code with their phone and could play instantly with no downloads required. We had real-time leaderboards and prizes for the winner. At 8 pm every night the game would finish and the top 5 players would be sent automatic emails and receive their free popcorn vouchers.

The Result
The result was a truly engaged audience with everyone battling for first place. The prize was a simple, free popcorn but the players didn't seem to care, it was more about winning and having your name on the leaderboard! The campaign ran so well that IMB continued to use it across their entire tour of the country.

KFC's "Shrimp Attack"

Aim
Many companies used games to sell a product or service. KFC Japan approached Gamify to create a mobile game to create hype around their new product on the menu, Shrimp. 

The Solution
Gamify made a very basic online game with a backstory. You had to protect the KFC headquarters by flicking away strips who was trying to attack! We called it “Shrimp Attack”. KFC simply sent the link out via social media, from there the plays and social shares took care of themselves.

The Result
Though Shrimp Attack is one of our more basic games, this game brought in over 800,000 players and 600 hours of playtime. Resulting in KFC having to stop the game mid-campaign as they actually run out of the product.

Nissan's Netball Kiosk Game

Aim
Nissan had just created their new Intelligent Mobility technology which auto-corrects your driving, finds the best path and reacts to fast-changing traffic. Nissan had also been sponsoring the Fast 5 Netball World Series. They wanted to highlight both of these aspects in a video game which would be at a conference booth.

The Solution
Gamify created a game which tested user’s reaction speed. Nissan’s Netball game was linked to 3 screens to emphasise the 180-degree sight of Nissan’s technology. Players had to swipe quickly and stay alert out of the corner of their eye to ensure they could catch the netballs being thrown at them. The speed would then increase to make the game almost impossible to continue. This also allowed for faster rotating of players and highlighted that human reaction is no match for Nissan’s new technology. 

To make it even more fun, Nissan offered rewards for the top players including Netball merchandise signed by the entire team, which was announced and awarded just before the Grand Final game.

The Result
The result was 1000’s of plays with the average player playing over 4 times. The kiosk was the only booth at the conference which had lines of people showing up. They also had QR code posters for customers walking by to scan and play on their mobile. Nissan loved the game so much that they did another game called “Soccer Curve” and promoted it over social media, getting record plays and shares with minimum effort.

Donut Papi's POP Game

Aim
Donut Papi is a doughnut shop that was getting a lot of love and follows internationally but didn't have much engagement or brand awareness with their local community, which didn't help with sales as they only delivered locally. Donut Papi approached Gamify to increase their email database and following of their local community.

The Solution
Gamify created a swipe game with their doughnuts and a physical leaderboard on the main street. At the end of each day, the winner would win a doughnut. iPads were also set up in store for those waiting for their orders and people could play on their website which also ended up increasing their website traffic dramatically. 

The Result
Donut Papi increased their local database by over 520% in one month and have since reused the game for multiple campaigns.

Wendy’s Smoky Shroom Sprint

Aim
Wendy’s wanted to highlight their new mushroom burger and TV ad campaign “Catch the Human”. They wanted to create a game which would be played and shared on social media as much as possible.

The Solution
Wendy’s partnered with Gamify to make an endless running game where you played as ‘Wendy’ and had to run through the forest, jump over logs, slide under trees, dodge the netted traps and of course; collect burgers.

The game was played on mobile, tablet and computer, accessible from anywhere in the world.

The Result
Wendy’s received over 4x more social shares for this game than any previous marketing campaign they had done and has since returned to Gamify for further game campaigns.

Sage Intacct's Snowball Game

Aim
Sage wanted a Christmas game which would both engage with their customers but also encourage them to vote for their favourite charity.

The Solution
Gamify created a snowball game with multiple levels. The player had to get to the end and then enter their email address in order to vote for their favourite charity. The charity with the most votes at the end of the campaign would receive a donation from Sage.

The Result
Thousands of plays and over tens of thousands of dollars raised in the process.

RedBalloon's V8 Race Rush

Aim
RedBalloon is one of the largest experience-based companies in Australia and was excited to use game advertising after Gamify appeared on Shark Tank. The CEO wanted to increase leads to their new V8 Racing experience. Their current offer wasn't getting the click-throughs they desired and wanted an exciting and easy to promote their products.

The Solution
Gamify created a Racing game based on their actual cars. Players had to capture the red balloons within the racecourse. The game was playable by computer, tablet and phone. Gamify actually took the discount down from 30 to 15% off and only allowed only the winners to get the 15% discount.

The Result
Website and mobile players tried harder than ever to “win” the discount. Those who won the discount felt like they had actually earned it and this resulted in double the voucher redemption rate and sales.

V Energy's Quiz Game

Aim
V, the biggest energy drink brand in Australia and New Zealand approached us to advertise their new Purple V drink which helps users focus while studying.

The Solution
Gamify created a series of four quizzes and memory games which were released each week. Players were notified of the new game and the total score was calculated to find the ultimate winner. 

The Result
Customers learnt more about V, and V received 1000’s of plays with an average time of 2 minutes per player each game. They loved the result so much they did another game shortly after.

Resmed's Run 'n Rest

Aim
ResMed wanted to increase awareness around the importance of sleep while also promoting their key influencer Ken Duncan, Australia’s most iconic photographer.

The Solution
Gamify created a game which incorporates both a fast game element and a quiz to show the importance of both mental and physical alertness and the need for good sleep. We worked with Ken who in the game had to avoid caffeine and try to pick up pillows. To ensure the player is understanding the game, every 15 seconds the player would be asked a question which you had to get correct in order to move on.

ResMed made it even more competitive by offering weekly prizes over 4 weeks with regular updates over social media.

The Result
Tens of thousands of plays. Over 50% of players ended up on ResMed’s website and 1.9% of players shared the game on their social media pages, resulting in free advertisement and countless units sold.

Summary
At Gamify, we have created or helped create over 9,000 game total campaigns. You’ve experienced just 9 of them. If you would like to offer your clients more creative marketing solutions, get in touch with us today.