Willem II Engages Fans With Gamification

Objective

Willem II, a Dutch professional football club, launched a summer campaign around their 2020 home jersey release with the goal of generating viral buzz and creating active fan participation. The campaign used an intriguing narrative hook—announcing the team captain had left the club via social media—to spark curiosity and drive engagement with the fan base.

Solution

The club deployed a multi-game gamification experience through the Playable platform featuring four interactive games. Players who participated accumulated clues in the form of coordinates pointing to a secret physical location. The best-performing players were invited to a real-world scavenger hunt where one lucky fan found the team captain at the sponsor's office, who handed over a key to unlock the club's fan shop and reveal the new jersey collection. Participants who completed all four games earned free personalized name printing on any jersey purchase.

Results

The Willem II campaign drove 27,583 site visits within 2–3 hours, generating 6,529 registrations and 602 newsletter signups in the first 3 hours. Players spent an average of 3 minutes 19 seconds across the four games, and the campaign became a viral sensation with coverage across local and national media outlets.