Promotional games are a standard tool used by banks and major retailers to stimulate transactions. Alfa Bank differentiated through a bold prize and a simple participation mechanic: customers made purchases with an Alfa Bank card or completed foreign-exchange transactions, activated participation in the mobile app and received a chance to win a trip to Antarctica for two. Promotional games are usually built around cash prizes, discounts or predictable rewards. Since similar mechanics are used by virtually every major bank and retailer, the category is saturated and difficult to differentiate in. Alfa Bank’s own brand platform, “For Those Capable of More,” made it possible to move beyond the standard cash-prize model and turn a routine banking mechanic into an emotionally meaningful experience.
Problem
Motivate customers to make the Alfa Bank card their primary card without requiring them to change their established spending patterns. The campaign needed to be simple, emotional and valuable enough to compete with numerous promotional games in the market. A customer may hold cards from several banks. The task was to make the Alfa Bank card primary during the promotional period and establish a lasting financial behaviour pattern. Customers already paid for coffee, fuel, groceries and subscriptions, so the campaign had to provide a meaningful reason to make those same payments with Alfa Bank.
Solution
The campaign combined a clear product mechanic, a strong customer insight and an unusual prize. Customers participated through ordinary purchases and foreign-exchange transactions, after activating the game in the mobile app. The grand prize was a trip to Antarctica for two. Money would have been an obvious choice, but it would not express Alfa Bank’s brand platform. “For Those Capable of More” called for a reward that felt rare, bold and genuinely memorable. The title “Antarctica Is Cashless” directly connected the extraordinary prize with the required behaviour: cashless transactions. Customers continued doing what they already did every day, but gained the opportunity to travel somewhere they could not visit spontaneously. The communications architecture included digital advertising, targeted media, video, outdoor advertising, metro placements, indoor media, branch communications, native influencer Stories and direct communications via messenger, SMS, email and mobile-app notifications. The prize presentation became a separate newsworthy event. The winner received the certificate at an ice arena and had to break it out of a block of ice with a hammer, turning the final draw into an emotional and visually memorable campaign climax.
Results
Customer transaction volume increased by 7%, against a target of 5%. Foreign-exchange transaction volume increased by 8%, against a target of 5%. Promotional-game participation increased by 50%, against a target of 25%. Total revenue increased by 74%, against a target of 5%. Campaign reach: 3,000,000 people.
