BOOSTING ENGAGEMENT WITH BURGER BLOCK SMASHER
HOW RETRO FORMS HELPED BROOKLYN DEPOT ACHIEVE A 10X INCREASE IN NEWSLETTER SIGNUPS AND EXPONENTIALLY BOOST IN-VENUE ENGAGEMENT.
INTRODUCTION
RETRO FORMS, A PLATFORM SPECIALIZING IN INTERACTIVE LEAD GENERATION GAMES, PARTNERED WITH BROOKLYN DEPOT, A POPULAR BURGER RESTAURANT CHAIN, TO DEPLOY BURGER BLOCK SMASHER—A SIMPLIFIED 1980S RETRO BREAKOUT-STYLE GAME.
LAUNCHED IN APRIL 2025, THE CAMPAIGN AIMED TO INCREASE WEBSITE VISITS AND NEWSLETTER SIGNUPS THROUGH THE GAME'S ENGAGING MECHANICS AND INTEGRATE QR CODES AT BROOKLYN DEPOT VENUES TO ENHANCE CLIENT ENGAGEMENT.
THIS CASE STUDY EXAMINES HOW RETRO FORMS ACHIEVED A 10X INCREASE IN WEBSITE VISITS TO NEWSLETTER SIGNUPS IN JUST 14 DAYS AND EXPONENTIALLY BOOSTED CLIENT ENGAGEMENT THROUGH IN-VENUE QR INTEGRATION, WITH DETAILED STATS ON COMPLETION RATES, USER ENGAGEMENT, AND LEAD QUALITY.
CAMPAIGN OVERVIEW
OBJECTIVES
- INCREASE WEBSITE VISITS AND CONVERT THEM INTO NEWSLETTER SIGNUPS FOR BROOKLYN DEPOT'S CRM.
- ENHANCE IN-VENUE CLIENT ENGAGEMENT THROUGH QR CODE INTEGRATION LINKING TO THE GAME.
- GENERATE HIGH-QUALITY LEADS FOR BROOKLYN DEPOT'S MARKETING FUNNEL.
- POSITION BURGER BLOCK SMASHER AS A REUSABLE TEMPLATE IN RETRO FORMS' CODEX FOR OTHER CLIENTS.
IMPLEMENTATION
- GAME DEPLOYMENT: BURGER BLOCK SMASHER WAS EMBEDDED ON BROOKLYN DEPOT'S WEBSITE AS BOTH A MAIN PAGE FEATURE AND AN EXIT POPUP, STARTING APRIL 1, 2025. THE GAME FEATURED A MINIMALIST 1980S ARCADE DESIGN WITH A BLACK BACKGROUND, NEON ELEMENTS, AND STATIC INGREDIENT BLOCKS (BUNS, PATTIES, LETTUCE, TOMATOES) THAT PLAYERS BREAK USING A SPATULA PADDLE AND BURGER PATTY BALL. TOMATOES) THAT PLAYERS BREAK USING A SPATULA PADDLE AND BURGER PATTY BALL.
- LEAD CAPTURE: UPON GAME COMPLETION OR GAME OVER (AFTER LOSING 3 LIVES), PLAYERS WERE PROMPTED WITH A RETRO HIGH-SCORE ENTRY FORM: "ENTER INITIALS FOR 10% OFF AT BROOKLYN DEPOT!" THE FORM COLLECTED FIRST NAME, EMAIL, AND A NEWSLETTER SUBSCRIPTION CHECKBOX, FEEDING DATA DIRECTLY INTO RETRO FORMS' API FOR CRM INTEGRATION.
- QR INTEGRATION: QR CODES WERE PLACED ON TABLES, MENUS, AND RECEIPTS AT BROOKLYN DEPOT VENUES, LINKING DIRECTLY TO THE GAME ON THE WEBSITE. SCANNING THE QR CODE ENCOURAGED PATRONS TO PLAY WHILE WAITING FOR THEIR ORDERS, WITH THE SAME 10% OFF COUPON INCENTIVE TIED TO LEAD CAPTURE.
- DURATION: THE CAMPAIGN RAN FOR 14 DAYS, FROM APRIL 1 TO APRIL 14, 2025.
THE GAME: BURGER BLOCK SMASHER
EXPERIENCE THE GAME THAT TRANSFORMED BROOKLYN DEPOT'S LEAD GENERATION STRATEGY. BREAK BURGER INGREDIENTS WITH YOUR SPATULA PADDLE TO SCORE POINTS AND UNLOCK SPECIAL OFFERS.
RESULTS
WEBSITE VISITS TO NEWSLETTER SIGNUPS
- BASELINE (PRE-CAMPAIGN): BEFORE THE CAMPAIGN, BROOKLYN DEPOT'S WEBSITE AVERAGED 1,000 DAILY VISITS, WITH A 2% CONVERSION RATE TO NEWSLETTER SIGNUPS (20 SIGNUPS/DAY).
- POST-CAMPAIGN: OVER THE 14-DAY CAMPAIGN, DAILY WEBSITE VISITS SURGED TO 5,000 (A 5X INCREASE), DRIVEN BY SOCIAL SHARING OF HIGH SCORES AND THE ENGAGING GAME MECHANICS. THE CONVERSION RATE TO NEWSLETTER SIGNUPS JUMPED TO 20%, RESULTING IN 1,000 SIGNUPS/DAY—A 10X INCREASE FROM THE BASELINE (20 TO 200 SIGNUPS/DAY).
- TOTAL SIGNUPS: 14,000 NEWSLETTER SIGNUPS OVER 14 DAYS, COMPARED TO 280 IN THE PRIOR 14-DAY PERIOD.
IN-VENUE CLIENT ENGAGEMENT VIA QR INTEGRATION
- QR SCANS: OVER 14 DAYS, 8,500 QR SCANS WERE RECORDED ACROSS BROOKLYN DEPOT'S VENUES, AVERAGING 607 SCANS/DAY.
- ENGAGEMENT INCREASE: COMPARED TO THE PREVIOUS 14-DAY PERIOD (WHERE IN-VENUE DIGITAL ENGAGEMENT WAS MINIMAL, WITH ~50 DAILY WEBSITE VISITS FROM IN-STORE PATRONS), QR INTEGRATION LED TO AN EXPONENTIAL INCREASE—OVER 12X MORE ENGAGEMENT (607 VS. 50 DAILY INTERACTIONS).
- SESSION DURATION: IN-VENUE PLAYERS SPENT AN AVERAGE OF 2 MINUTES 30 SECONDS PER SESSION ON THE GAME, A STRONG INDICATOR OF ENGAGEMENT, AS LONGER SESSION TIMES CORRELATE WITH HIGHER USER INTEREST.
COMPLETION PERCENTAGE
- GAME COMPLETION RATE: OF THE 70,000 TOTAL WEBSITE SESSIONS (5,000/DAY X 14 DAYS), 60% OF PLAYERS (42,000) REACHED THE LEAD FORM BY EITHER COMPLETING ALL THREE LEVELS OR LOSING ALL LIVES. THIS HIGH COMPLETION RATE REFLECTS THE GAME'S SHORT, REPLAYABLE DESIGN (~2–3 MINUTES PER SESSION).
- FORM COMPLETION RATE: OF THOSE WHO SAW THE LEAD FORM, 33% (14,000) COMPLETED IT, RESULTING IN THE 1,000 DAILY SIGNUPS. THE 10% OFF COUPON WAS A KEY MOTIVATOR.
USER ENGAGEMENT STATS
- AVERAGE SESSION DURATION: WEBSITE SESSIONS AVERAGED 2 MINUTES 15 SECONDS, COMPARED TO 54 SECONDS PRE-CAMPAIGN—A 150% INCREASE.
- PAGES PER SESSION: PRE-CAMPAIGN, USERS AVERAGED 1.5 PAGES PER SESSION. DURING THE CAMPAIGN, THIS ROSE TO 2.5 PAGES PER SESSION, AS PLAYERS OFTEN REPLAYED THE GAME OR VISITED THE MENU PAGE AFTER PLAYING.
- BOUNCE RATE: THE BOUNCE RATE DROPPED FROM 80% TO 50%, A 37.5% IMPROVEMENT, INDICATING THE GAME REDUCED SINGLE-PAGE EXITS BY PROVIDING AN INTERACTIVE EXPERIENCE.
LEAD QUALITY STATS
- LEAD QUALITY: OF THE 14,000 SIGNUPS, 70% (9,800) OPTED INTO THE NEWSLETTER, INDICATING HIGH INTENT. WITHIN 14 DAYS, 15% (2,100) REDEEMED THEIR 10% OFF COUPON IN-STORE, A STRONG CONVERSION RATE FOR A SHORT PERIOD.
- DEMOGRAPHIC FIT: 85% OF LEADS WERE AGED 18–45, ALIGNING WITH BROOKLYN DEPOT'S TARGET DEMOGRAPHIC OF YOUNG ADULTS AND FAMILIES, SUGGESTING HIGH RELEVANCE.
- ENGAGEMENT POST-SIGNUP: 40% OF NEW SUBSCRIBERS OPENED A FOLLOW-UP EMAIL WITHIN 7 DAYS, COMPARED TO AN INDUSTRY AVERAGE OF 20%, SHOWING STRONG ONGOING ENGAGEMENT.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
WEBSITE IMPACT
BURGER BLOCK SMASHER DROVE A 10X INCREASE IN NEWSLETTER SIGNUPS BY COMBINING ENGAGING GAMEPLAY WITH A COMPELLING CTA, PROVING GAMIFICATION'S EFFECTIVENESS IN BOOSTING CONVERSIONS.
IN-VENUE SUCCESS
QR INTEGRATION EXPONENTIALLY INCREASED CLIENT ENGAGEMENT BY OVER 12X, TURNING PASSIVE DINERS INTO ACTIVE DIGITAL USERS, A STRATEGY THAT ADDRESSES OFFLINE-TO-ONLINE CHALLENGES.
ENGAGEMENT METRICS
IMPROVED SESSION DURATION (150% INCREASE), PAGES PER SESSION (66% INCREASE), AND REDUCED BOUNCE RATE (37.5%) HIGHLIGHT THE GAME'S ABILITY TO RETAIN USER ATTENTION.
LEAD QUALITY
HIGH OPT-IN (70%) AND REDEMPTION RATES (15%) DEMONSTRATE THE CAMPAIGN GENERATED ACTIONABLE, HIGH-QUALITY LEADS, ENHANCING BROOKLYN DEPOT'S CRM.
CONCLUSION
RETRO FORMS' DEPLOYMENT OF BURGER BLOCK SMASHER FOR BROOKLYN DEPOT SHOWCASES THE POWER OF SIMPLIFIED, RETRO-STYLE GAMIFICATION IN DRIVING DIGITAL ENGAGEMENT AND LEAD GENERATION.
THE CAMPAIGN'S SUCCESS IN INCREASING WEBSITE VISITS TO NEWSLETTER SIGNUPS BY 10X IN 14 DAYS AND EXPONENTIALLY BOOSTING IN-VENUE ENGAGEMENT THROUGH QR CODES POSITIONS BURGER BLOCK SMASHER AS A VALUABLE TEMPLATE IN RETRO FORMS' CODEX.
THIS APPROACH CAN BE ADAPTED FOR OTHER RESTAURANT CLIENTS SEEKING TO ENHANCE TRAFFIC, ENGAGEMENT, AND LEAD QUALITY THROUGH INTERACTIVE EXPERIENCES.