“Catch the Chili!” - The Swiss Ad-Tech startup and the media agency achieve significantly higher engagement through playful interaction.
Zurich, September 10, 2024 – The new Spicy McCrispy from McDonald’s is not just a culinary highlight but also the star of an innovative advertising campaign. To make the fiery burger known in Switzerland, the Ad-Tech startup C Wire and the media agency OMD Switzerland developed an interactive, game-based advertising format, which was played on leading Swiss news websites.
The idea behind the innovative campaign: Users should discover the new burger in a playful way. The heart of the ad format is the click-game “Catch the Chili!”: To learn more about the Spicy McCrispy, users must quickly click on the chili pepper among various vegetables.
Playfully increasing attention and engagement
Inspired by the gaming world, the campaign ran on Switzerland’s most well-known news platforms and resonated strongly with readers. The interactive ad format showed significant success and impressive KPIs, proving the positive impact of the campaign: with a 90% share of screen, very high attention was achieved, while the engagement rate, based on games started, was 1.36%. On average, users spent 10 seconds actively engaging with the ad message. Additionally, Brand Metrics determined an 11% brand lift in awareness for the Spicy McCrispy.
Alexander Schmitt, Managing Director of OMD Switzerland, is enthusiastic: “Thanks to gamified advertising and AI-optimized contextual planning from C Wire, we are addressing our target group in a personal and attention-grabbing way. It’s unique and also works without cookies.”
Brand safety and precise targeting through AI matching
In fact, contextual AI matching ensures that the campaign is integrated exclusively into articles relevant to the brand. This leads to increased attention, engagement, and landing page KPIs. Martin Garling, Managing Director at C Wire, further explains: “With us, there is no placement in negative news environments. We stand for the highest brand safety.”
Thanks to C Wire’s characteristic cookieless delivery, the creative is displayed on a wide scale and with extensive reach, regardless of users’ cookie and browser preferences, and only on premium Swiss websites. Another advantage of the format: gamification campaigns encourage user interaction, stand out from the advertising clutter, and remain memorable. “Especially during the summer, with the European Football Championship, the Olympic Games, and numerous festivals, playful ad campaigns are particularly well-suited,” Garling added.
Live-Preview - McDonald’s - Playable Ad
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For further inquiries:
Martin Garling, martin.garling@cwire.com
