A trivia game is a quiz of factual questions, each with one right answer, played for points, against the clock or against other players. Brands use it to put their facts, ads, products or sponsorships into play and reward the people who know them with a score, a ranking or a prize.
How it works
A question appears, usually with three or four answers, and the player taps one. The screen says right or wrong, often reveals the correct answer and moves on. Correct answers score points, sometimes with a speed bonus, and many games put a countdown on each question. The round ends after a set number of questions or when time runs out, on a score screen that can lead to a leaderboard, a prize draw or a discount code.
Brands often bend the answer step. Google's Smarty Pins had players drag a Maps pin to where they thought the answer was: the closer the pin, the fewer miles lost. Live formats add a host. On Volkswagen's IQ.Trivia stand at the 2022 LA Auto Show, a host launched each round from a tablet, questions reached visitors' phones and an LED wall together, and faster correct answers scored more.
Where brands use it
Trivia turns up wherever a brand has facts people enjoy knowing: sport, film and TV, gaming and the brand's own history. Our quiz and trivia shelf holds 118 games, personality quizzes included. Brands build it around sporting events: Singapore Airlines ran a Grand Prix quiz that doubled the draw odds of anyone who added a KrisFlyer number, a loyalty play. Broadcasters use it as a second screen: TV4 sent questions tied to the action on the ice during its 2013 Ice Hockey World Championship broadcasts. At events and venues it fills queues and shared tables, as at GrubHub's Lollapalooza food court and Thorpe Park. More in our quiz campaigns collection.
When it fits
Choose trivia when the brief is knowledge: you want people to learn or recall something specific, such as what happens in your ads, what your product does or the team you sponsor. Each wrong answer followed by the right one is a small lesson. It works best with audiences who already care about the subject, such as fans, gamers or members, because they enjoy proving it. Rounds are usually short: five questions of 30 seconds each for Sancor Seguros, a four-minute clock for the Xbox Vault. Light versions run on self-serve quiz tools and travel through social posts, QR codes and email; live ones need a host, a screen and a shared moment, such as a match, a broadcast or a trade show stand.
When not to use it
Skip trivia when the audience neither knows nor cares about the subject: questions they can't answer read as an exam. To recommend a product or sort people into types, use a personality quiz, which has no right answers. For a quick reward at checkout or sign-up, an instant win game or spin the wheel asks less. Fixed question sets wear out once played, so plan new rounds. On prizes, Britain's Gambling Commission says a prize competition must turn on skill, judgement or knowledge and that multiple choice questions rarely qualify; fall short and you may be running an illegal lottery. Timers shut out slower readers: WCAG's Timing Adjustable criterion asks that limits can be turned off, adjusted or extended unless essential or part of a real-time event.
Examples from the library
Game Time — Chevrolet (2012)
Agency: Goodby, Silverstein & Partners · Platform: App
Viewers downloaded the free app before Super Bowl XLVI, registered and got a personal seven-digit number plate. Whenever a Chevy commercial aired, a push notification dropped a trivia question about that spot, alongside polls on the game. A correct answer entered the player into prize draws, and if their plate turned up on a car in a Chevy ad, that car was theirs.
Result: According to Goodby Silverstein & Partners, the app passed 703,000 registrations, players answered 25 million trivia questions and spent nearly 1.6 million hours in it, and Chevrolet gave away 20 cars and thousands of other prizes. The work took Gold in the first Mobile Lions at Cannes in 2012.
The Xbox Vault — Microsoft (2021)
Agency: Makemepulse, Assembly Media Inc · Platform: Web
For Xbox's 20th anniversary, players entered a 3D vault modelled on the heist set of Netflix's Red Notice. They had four minutes to find 27 artefacts from Xbox history, from consoles to gear from Halo, Fallout and Minecraft. Clicking one opened a four-option question about it, and correct answers scored points. As time ran low the vault glowed red, then the doors shut. Points converted into up to three sweepstakes entries, and only the best score counted.
Result: Over a ten-day run from 15 to 24 November 2021, more than 230,000 players tried the vault, generating over 130,000 sweepstakes entries and more than 20,000 social posts sharing scores, according to Makemepulse.
Copa América — Sancor Seguros (2021)
Agency: Brote AD · Platform: Web
Fans tapped through from a Sancor Seguros post, Story or pinned Highlight on Instagram or Facebook to a web quiz about Argentina's national team and Copa América history. Five multiple-choice questions came one at a time, each on a 30-second countdown, and after every answer the screen showed whether it was right and, if not, the correct one. Only players who got all five right entered a draw for one of three official team shirts.
Result: 35,147 people played, about 1,400 a day. Posts about the contest were seen by 1,077,559 users, the campaign drew 34,608 interactions and the brand gained 6,398 followers across Facebook and Instagram, according to Easypromos.
FAQ
Is a trivia game the same as a quiz?
Trivia is one kind of quiz. Wikipedia describes a quiz as a mind sport in which people try to answer questions correctly; trivia questions are the factual kind, each with one right answer. A personality quiz looks similar but has no right answers: it sorts players into types, often to recommend a product.
Can a branded trivia quiz give away prizes?
Yes. Chevrolet gave away cars, and Sancor Seguros drew shirts among players with a perfect score. Rules vary by country. In Great Britain a free draw or prize competition needs no licence if it meets the Gambling Act 2005, says the Gambling Commission. Paid entry raises the bar: see our sweepstakes entry and take local legal advice.
What makes a good trivia question for a brand?
One your players can answer and want to. Our strongest examples ask about something the brand has just shown people or that fans already love: Chevrolet about the ad that had just aired, Xbox about artefacts from its own history, Sancor Seguros about the team it sponsored. Give each question one clear right answer, believable wrong ones and a reveal that teaches something.