We regularly hear about latest series of funding or unimaginable amount of money being pumped in start-ups in the Indian internet industry.

This money is used by internet companies majorly for 3 reasons,

• Marketing
• Talent Acquisition – Flipkart Largest recruiter at a Top B-School
• Product Development

Read more about why investors are betting big on e-commerce in India.

Let’s just concentrate on the first part here, Marketing.

Almost all the online players right now are spending heavily on marketing online and offline. Indian internet companies have become the next FMCG in terms of spending money on marketing activities and unline FMCG they are not just offline but very heavily present online as well.

When so many similar players are trying to say the same thing, as always it becomes important to break the clutter. The need to differentiate one from the other was always there. The banners, the offers, the creative, copy and communication all look similar. Even the TV ads to an extent were starting to look the same. However, there is always scope to stand out in the cluttered online marketing space.

That is exactly what Myntra did.

Myntra.com used gamification strategy in their latest online marketing campaign to come up with a highly interactive, simple and rewarding treasure hunt which they called India’s Biggest Online Treasure Hunt.

Gamification in marketing is a trend that has come up in the last 2 years globally and looks like Indian brands are finally waking up to it. Putting it in simple words of the famous online blog hubspot.com,

Gamification means engaging your audience in some game so they might win something and in return you get what you want out of them.

Read how hubspot defines gamification

Let’s have a look at the gamified Myntra treasure hunt. I came across the treasure hunt when I signed out of my facebook account. I am sure they were promoting it everywhere apart from Facebook. There was heavy presence about the same on their website as well which attracts around 5-7 million visitors every week. ( Source: similarweb.com)

Facebook Sign Out Page Myntra Ad

The click on the above banner took me to a simple microsite called treasurehunt.myntra.com

The Myntra Treasure Hunt Landing Page

The copy on the landing page was very passable with your usual “Have what it takes..” line in every second marketing campaign that you come across. The good part was that the integration with the actual website and the campaign started from this very moment.

Masterstroke #1

The contest required you to have a Myntra registered id and if you wanted to take part in it, you would have to create one. Now that I have landed on the page, you have already lured me with all the dreams of winning a car, a trip to Singapore and other prizes and also the excitement of playing an online treasure hunt, there is a high possibility that I might as well create a Myntra id.

Myntra Really Simple Question#1

Now, key to a good engaging quiz content or any game for that matter is to make sure that you don’t make it hard enough for people to give up too soon and too easy that it feels stupid that you are even playing it in the first place. Myntra went for a combination of both, average difficulty questions which might look interesting and unknown in the first glance however you look at the options and you realize how obvious the answer is. There is the delight which is then integrated beautifully by Myntra to educate their consumers about the product offerings.

Masterstroke #2

When you are spending so much and creating India’s so called biggest online treasure hunt then might as well make it all about you rather than asking bollywood and cricket questions which have nothing to do with you or your brand.

Myntra.com Really Obvious Answer #1

Obviously you got it right. That’s the whole point. Most of your online campaigns work in isolation. Brands create microsites with social integration and the boast a lot of engagement on them and on social media through that microsite. What’s the point? Welcome Myntra  Masterstroke#3

Masterstroke #3

With every correct answer at every level you got a code ( the treasure ) which you need to hunt obviously on Myntra.com the website. The microsite gave you a “Find Code” link which redirects you to the website and there it was. When you come back to the microsite you see a text box that is visible where you simply paste the code and go ahead. What are you doing? Sampling the Myntra.com website, engaging in the campaign going one level further and increasing visits to the website ( which now matters a lot no matter what the time spend is, to store more and more cookies for retargeting). See below.

I see what you did there.

The same flow was maintained for all the other levels. As soon as one level got over you get a message of what you have won and what you still can achieve if you keep continuing.

Yes, give me more. Game On!

1. Answer a really simple question about myntra.com with really obvious options and hints.
2. Get a code which is a treasure you need to find it by clicking on the link that redirects you to the website and gives the code in your hand.
3. Paste the code and unlock the next level for a better incentive
4. Repeat.

Step 1 to Step 4

The Clincher

With every online campaign comes it’s shareability factor. Will it be talked about on social media? Will it trend? After a brilliantly executed treasure hunt it asks you for one last favor to be eligible to win a car. Normally, users, dont particularly enjoy posting on their facebook wall and spamming the news feed of their friends however, even the most unsocial person on social media would have shared this only because that he/she does not want to lose out on the chance after already taking part in the hunt. There’s your clincher.

Thank you for participating, now please share and spam.

All this is fine, however to every online campaign you need a number to back up it’s success. As the engagement was happening on microsite Myntra.com wanted to track how many levels deep did the users go after starting the quiz. That was very smartly done and measured by using utm_source parameters in the URL which make it really easy for them to pin point where exactly did the user drop off and the time spent on each page using Google Analytics.

This completes the last piece of a perfectly executed, interactive and measurable brand campaign done online by Myntra.com. Do share your views on the same.