In the rapidly evolving landscape of modern media, traditional media entities face both immense challenges and unprecedented opportunities. Navigating this complex terrain requires agility, innovation, and a deep understanding of contemporary consumption habits. Enter CH Media, a stalwart in Switzerland’s media sector. With its rich legacy of upholding journalistic integrity and its vision to pioneer advancements in engagement, CH Media stands as a beacon, illustrating how traditional media powerhouses can successfully adapt, innovate, and remain relevant in the digital age. This case study delves into CH Media’s strategic responses to the digital shift, highlighting their commitment to evolution while preserving the core values that have been their cornerstone.
Founded on core principles of openness, proximity, and independence, CH Media has firmly developed itself as one of Switzerland’s leading media entities. The company champions a liberal stance in journalism, emphasizing the critical role of free speech and an informed public in nurturing an open democratic society. With around 1,800 employees in German-speaking Switzerland, CH Media produce high-quality journalism through their extensive range of daily and weekly newspapers and magazines. Furthermore, CH Media has made a significant mark in the Swiss entertainment industry, dominating both the private radio and television sectors.
Their commitment to relevant, relatable journalism, combined with entertainment that resonates, allows them to connect with approximately three million people daily across various platforms. In addition to their strong media presence, the group also operates state-of-the-art printing facilities, rounding out their comprehensive portfolio of products and services.
With gamification we can transfer our message in an interactive and emotional way, helping us to encourage readers to delve deeper into our brand.
In an increasingly digitized world, traditional media companies like CH Media, which rely significantly on printed materials, are confronted by the profound challenge of adapting to the evolving consumption habits of their audiences. The print industry has faced declining circulation numbers and lower advertising revenues as more readers migrate online for news and entertainment. This transition is especially apparent among younger audiences, who consume content on mobile devices and social platforms. Attracting and retaining this demographic is vital for the sustainability and future growth of media entities. However, a deeper understanding of their consumption habits, preferences for interactivity, and the kind of content that resonates with them is needed.
Furthermore, the widespread expansion of free online content and the rise of global tech giants that dominate the digital advertising market puts immense pressure on traditional media houses to find sustainable monetization strategies for their digital content. This often involves striking a delicate balance between paywalls, subscription models, and ad revenues, ensuring they don’t alienate their existing readership while attracting new digital natives.
Lastly, leveraging an omnichannel approach poses its own set of challenges. While it allows media companies to reach audiences through varied platforms, it requires a seamless integration of content, branding, and user experience across print, web, radio, television, and even social media. Managing such diverse channels necessitates technological know-how and professional editorial judgment to tailor content effectively for each medium. Furthermore, in a world of misinformation and ‘fake news,’ maintaining journalistic integrity and trust across all platforms is essential, demanding vigilance and a continual investment in quality journalism.
In a proactive effort to adapt to the shifting tides of the media landscape and safeguard their future, CH Media embraces gamification as a consistent part of their marketing strategy. Targeting younger audiences, they recognize the dynamic behaviors and preference for the mobile-first approach of today’s youth. Through gamification, CH Media transforms passive content consumption into a fun, interactive experience. According to Philipp Oetterli, Head of Regional Brand Marketing at CH Media, Gamification allows them to create an emotional connection that helps encouraging readers to delve deeper into the brand’s extensive media portfolio.
This innovative approach works particularly well at regional fairs and events at which CH Media takes part at as a media partner. Here, gamification’s interactive games and challenges serve as powerful magnets, drawing attendees in and engaging them in a fun game, collecting their contact details for the prize draw, thereby possibly converting them into potential leads. In this manner, gamification elevates brand visibility and is a strategic move to collect invaluable insights into audience preferences and behaviors.
But CH Media’s use of gamification goes beyond momentary interactions at events. It’s a testament to their vision of promoting lasting engagement and loyalty among their readers. They position themselves as a forward-thinking media powerhouse, ever-prepared to engage audiences across various platforms, leveraging the omnichannel approach of their portfolio. Using gamification to connect the offline and online worlds further underscores CH Media’s pledge to be available whenever and wherever their readers need them, whether through a tangible newspaper at home or digital content on the go.
CH Media’s decision to collaborate with Brame has been driven by a combination of the software’s user-friendly experience and the platform’s tailored customization options. The tool’s intuitive nature ensures a smooth and efficient campaign creation process and allows CH Media to create campaigns that fit their needs.
What sets Brame apart is its flexibility: CH Media can effortlessly modify the layout of any campaign, enabling the game’s aesthetics and design to align with the company’s distinct branding seamlessly. This ensures that every gamified experience is not only engaging but also consistently reflects CH Media’s identity.
According to Philipp Oetterli, the true value that Brame offers lies beyond its software capabilities. In his words, the support from the Brame team has been outstanding. Whether CH Media encounters a query or faces a challenge, Brame’s responsive and efficient support ensures quick resolutions. Furthermore, their proactive approach towards accommodating special requests exemplifies a true partnership spirit. This unwavering dedication to client satisfaction and adaptability makes Brame an invaluable ally for CH Media in their gamification journey.
The support of the team at Brame is outstanding. Their response is reliable, quick and efficient.
CH Media’s gamified campaigns are various. However, what they share amongst each other is their great effect and success.
Utilizing Brame’s software, CH Media skilfully designed a diverse range of games to enhance their presence at prominent regional events across Switzerland, including the WEGA, HESO, and LUGA. Whether using interactive digital Quizzes or “Guess the Picture” games, the outcome was resoundingly positive. These three events alone boasted an impressive average conversion rate of 68%. Moreover, participants were not just fleeting visitors; they were deeply engaged in the task at hand, spending over a minute engaged with the games. These results serve as a testament to the compelling engagement potential that gamification offers and CH Media’s successful harnessing of it to connect with their audience both offline as well as online.
Try it yourself and give CH Media’s Guess the Picture campaign they’ve launched for the 2023 LUGA right now.
As the festive spirit of the Advent season dawned, CH Media was faced with the dual challenge of capturing sustained audience attention in a competitive market and conveying genuine gratitude to their loyal readers. CH Media innovatively used gamification, launching an interactive Advent Calendar with daily surprises. Each day, readers were presented with an opportunity to win a different prize sponsored by one of CH Media’s partner network. The results were overwhelming: the calendar recorded more than 125,000 total visits and almost 74,000 completed games in just 24 days. Furthermore, it proved instrumental in gathering more than 14,000 unique leads, underlining the campaign’s dual achievement in audience engagement and lead generation.
Embracing the summer spirit, CH Media launched a “1-Week Summer Calendar” campaign, designed to spotlight its abo+ Magazin subscription. With daily chances for players to win tickets for various leisure activities and exclusive concerts and shows, the campaign was met with overwhelming enthusiasm. Within just a week, the calendar recorded over 4,500 visits. The level of excitement was evident in the impressive average return rate of 4.5 times per player, meaning that players returned almost daily. The surge in interaction not only increased awareness for the abo+ Magazin subscription but also solidified CH Media’s determination in promoting deep-rooted customer engagement.
By using gamification for several different campaigns, CH Media has tested and determined key strategies to elevate their brand promotion within the dynamic media and publishing realm. A crucial learning is the importance of an omnichannel promotion approach. Seamlessly integrating print, web, and social media channels proved critical, with campaigns like the Advent calendar as a great example.
Regarding in-person events and fairs, a strategic combination of using their own channels to publish pre-event newspaper promotions and on-site visual aids like TV screens and posters proved to work best.
Yet, another integral part of this success must be attributed to the dedicated on-ground personnel. Their presence not only augments the visibility of the campaign but also fosters genuine engagement with attendees.
The overarching lesson? CH Media’s learnings with promoting gamification campaigns emphasize the power and necessity of an omnichannel strategy, which is why the media company harnesses diverse channels to ensure consistent and relevant touchpoints with their vast audience.
As CH Media looks to the future, their commitment to gamification remains determined, with plans to ingrain it even more deeply into their marketing and engagement strategies. Particularly during in-person events, such as regional events they partner with, or public events such as open airs and festivals, gamification will remain a cornerstone. Beyond offline events, CH Media is keen on keep harnessing gamification online, where they keep attracting new and existing customers alike.
Experimentation remains key. CH Media is eager to keep explore more interactive game types that resonate with their audience’s preferences. Up next on their radar are variations of Drop Games or Driver Games, further expanding their gamification repertoire to keep their engagement strategies fresh, dynamic, and highly engaging.
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