The Opportunity: Building Customer Habits Through Gamification and Braze
A leading QSR brand had a winner on their hands, literally. Their Spin the Wheel feature had been a hit, driving engagement and boosting orders. But security concerns forced them to shut it down, and the excitement disappeared overnight.
Rather than giving up on the concept, the brand turned to Massive Rocket to find a smarter, more scalable way to bring back the magic, without touching their app infrastructure. Our mission? Recreate the Spin the Wheel experience using CRM automation, enhance the rewards system, and drive real business impact.
The Solution: CRM-Powered Gamification (Without an App Update!)
Most gamified experiences require direct app integration, but we knew that wasn’t an option. Instead, we engineered a solution entirely within Braze, using In-App Messages (IAMs) to create a seamless experience without any need for complex app updates. Here’s how it worked:
- Defining Eligibility
Each Monday at midnight, we identified users who had made a purchase in the past 7 days and were in selected fulfillment center locations. These users were tagged with a custom attribute marking them as eligible for the game. - Delivering the Experience
Once a user opened the app, an IAM prompted them to Spin the Wheel. The rules were simple: take a spin, win a prize. - Tracking & Rewarding
- A game_played event was logged in the user’s profile.
- If they won a prize (like £10 off their next order), the system captured it as an event property and sent it to brand’s backend for processing via a webhook.
- The user’s eligibility was updated to prevent duplicate plays, ensuring fairness.
This entire system was powered by Braze Canvases, allowing for real-time user updates, targeted messaging, and smooth reward redemption, all without modifying a single line of the brand’s app code.
The Impact: A 637% Surge in Orders
The results? Let’s just say they were more exciting than landing on a jackpot prize.
In the first week alone, the client saw a 637.04% increase in orders completed (compared to a control group). By Week 2, this remained at a solid 340% uplift across the four targeted locations.
But the real impact wasn’t just short-term sales boosts, it was customer retention. By offering low-barrier, high-reward engagement, we created a compelling reason for users to keep coming back.
And when customers play more, they order more.
Why It Worked: The Science of Engagement
Anyone can slap a discount on a campaign and hope for the best. But this wasn’t about luck, it was about designing smarter incentives that drive habitual behavior. Here’s why this strategy worked:
| DRIVER | PSYCHOLOGICAL TRIGGER / LOGIC |
|---|---|
| Frictionless Participation | No sign-ups, no forms, just open the app and spin |
| Psychological Hook | The anticipation of winning taps into variable reward theory, a principle that keeps users engaged (think slot machines, but with actual guaranteed value) |
| Loyalty-Driven Rewards | Instead of arbitrary prizes, users received discounts that nudged them toward their next purchase |
| Data-Backed Optimization | Every touchpoint, eligibility, participation and redemption was logged and analyzed to refine future campaigns |
The Trust Factor: From Spin the Wheel to Bingo
Numbers don’t lie, and neither does trust. After seeing the success of Spin the Wheel, brand came back to Massive Rocket with a new challenge: implementing a gamified Bingo experience.
This follow-up project reinforced what we already knew: when you build campaigns that deliver real value (not just vanity metrics), brands see you as partners rather than just a service provider.
And that’s where the real magic happens.
Read The Customer Story
Key Takeaways: Winning with CRM-Powered Gamification
Want to replicate this kind of success? Here’s what we learned:
- Understand the Client’s End Goal – Is it sales? Retention? Reducing dormant users? Defining clear success metrics is non-negotiable, and a must for gamification focused loyalty to success.
- Make It Exclusive – Campaigns with some form of barrier-to-entry (e.g., recent purchases, loyalty status) drive higher engagement and better ROI.
- Analyze Everything – Tracking user behavior and iterating based on insights turns a one-off campaign into a repeatable growth engine.
The Bigger Picture: Loyalty is More Than Just Points
Gamification isn’t just about spinning wheels or playing games, it’s about incentivizing behavior that benefits both the user and the business.
By shifting from a generic loyalty program to a contextual, CRM-driven engagement strategy, this leading QSR brand found a way to reward customers in a way that felt natural, fun, and habit-forming.
Massive Rocket’s role? Making it all work seamlessly, so that brands can focus on what they do best: delivering great customer experiences.
Get in touch to start building your loyalty gamification engine!
