In autumn 2023, Finanz und Wirtschaft launched its stock market game, securing significant user acquisition and engagement

Finanz und Wirtschaft has established itself as one of Switzerland’s premier business publications. Specialising on news pertaining to publicly listed companies and the Swiss stock market, the newspaper has become akin to The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times in the Swiss financial landscape.

As part of the larger media house TX Group, Finanz und Wirtschaft caters to Switzerland’s German-speaking population with both print and digital news delivery offerings, which represent approximately 5.9 million inhabitants.

In pursuit of new business growth avenues, Finanz und Wirtschaft aimed to reach a previously untapped audience, engage them, and attempt to convert them into subscribers.

Why gamification?

Gamification was not a new territory for Finanz und Wirtschaft. Having previously experimented with a successful investment game a decade ago, Finanz und Wirtschaft wanted to replicate a gamification approach but on a much larger scale.

Noticing the positive results in user registrations and audience engagement achieved by other financial or business newspapers through their Fantasy Funds stock market investment games, Finanz und Wirtschaft decided to partner up with Norkon, the company behind Fantasy Funds.

Collaboration and game promotion

Group cross-pollination

Collaborating closely with its parent company, Finanz und Wirtschaft tapped into TX Group’s network of brands for maximum reach and efficiency.

Following this approach, readers and subscribers from other newspaper brands were introduced to the game and Finanz und Wirtschaft’s specialised business content. For example, the sister company 20 Minutes is a widely popular tabloid newspaper, offering an ideal platform to tap into a younger reader demographic.

Those efforts were accompanied by a strong advertising campaign across platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google.

Appealing landing page

In addition, Finanz und Wirtschaft crafted a highly engaging registration page with an appealing design, making it very easy for readers to get motivated and join the game.

Beyond providing rules and game details, the page prompted players to join and compete against eight Swiss high profiles, who were all financial professionals in their occupational fields. These included a financial institute professor, the chairman of the board of directors of a national bank, and the CEO of a Swiss online bank, among others.

Upon creating their portfolios, players had the opportunity to compare their own portfolios with one of those professionals, adding an extra layer of intrigue and providing greater insights to the immersive gaming experience.

Over the course of eight weeks, participants in the Finanz und Wirtschaft investment game competed for a grand prize of 10,000 CHF (approximately US$11,000), sponsored by the Swissquote bank. Players could also win weekly prizes for top-performing portfolios, valued at 300 CHF (US$330).

The results

Finanz und Wirtschaft had outlined three objectives, which they wanted to achieve with Fantasy Funds. These were:

1. Reaching new audiences

The newspaper aimed to attract 10,000 players. In running a pre-launch period of two weeks ahead of the official game start date, the newspaper had already registered 12,731 players by the second competition day.

By the end of the competition, a total number of nearly 17,000 participants were registered, which was seen by the publisher as a “huge success.”

Notably, 87.9% of these participants were newly registered users, demonstrating the game’s effectiveness in reaching new audiences. Analytical insights further indicated that each player visited the Finanz und Wirtschaft Web site an average of 4.3 times, showing sustained interaction and ongoing interest.

2. Growing subscribers

Finanz und Wirtschaft strategically placed promotional offers within the game portal to encourage players to convert to subscribers at a lower fee. An initial surge in subscriptions was observed during the game period, in addition to a solid plan for continuously nurturing free players with newsletter e-mails.

3. Sponsorship growth

The last objective aimed at achieving financial sustainability by offsetting the game’s investment costs through sponsorship agreements. This objective was successfully met through the partnership with the Swissquote bank. The sponsorship typically took the form of logo displays on the game platform as well as the grand and weekly prizes, which players could win.

Finanz und Wirtschaft’s Fantasy Funds initiative effectively met its three key objectives, showcasing how a unique and strategically aligned game can successfully drive audience engagement and growth. This successful implementation of gamification not only expands the company’s readership but also demonstrates the potential for innovative approaches in the media industry to create lasting connections with audiences.

As Finanz und Wirtschaft continues to innovate, its success with the Fantasy Funds game sets a benchmark for future endeavors, solidifying the company’s position as a leader in the Swiss financial news landscape.

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