Digital Promotional Mechanics (Shopper, Retail/Leisure, Online, OOH)

Promotions—whether in-store, digital, or social—offer significant benefits for brands, retailers, and media owners.

For brands, offering attractive prizes or exclusive, money-can’t-buy experiences is a powerful way to gain valuable visibility both in-store and online. This exposure is essential for helping products stand out in competitive retail environments.

Promotions linked to purchase can also influence shopper behavior—nudging them toward buying, trying, or sampling new products.

To elevate engagement, brands can incorporate gamification and immersive technologies like augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR). These experiences make promotions more memorable, drive behavior change, and place the product at the center of the interaction. They can also encourage repeat purchases, ongoing engagement, and long-term loyalty.

Prize promotions offer another key advantage: the collection of first-party data. This data can be used to personalize future communications and offers, helping brands stay connected with their audience.

Additionally, these promotions generate word-of-mouth buzz and fuel social sharing—boosting brand awareness through likes, shares, and follows.

Experiential activations bring excitement and theatre to physical stores, transforming the shopping trip into an enjoyable experience and enhancing the outlet’s brand perception.

For retailers, brand or retailer-led promotions not only make the shopping experience more engaging but also drive store visits, highlight new products, and educate customers. These initiatives can offer a competitive edge, encourage repeat visits, and differentiate stores in a crowded market.

Social media–driven campaigns further amplify impact by encouraging participants to share their experience online—using hashtags or tagging the store—enhancing visibility and attracting new customers.

Here are some recent promotional mechanics that we have created for brands:

Text to win - Coca Cola Share A Coke text and win across multiple retailers

Spin the wheel - Gordon's Gin scan the QR code on pack, pos or click in app to win summer themed prizes ( spin the 3D Augmented Reality wheel!)

Scan the pack free gift with purchase - Guinness Nitrosurge scan the logo ( using AR) to redeem your free gift 

Receipt upload/scan prize draw ( purchase related)- Coca Cola Centra - upload your receipt ( web form) for a chance to win

Prize Draw ( no purchase necessary) 

Shake to win - Smirnoff Shake-AR - scan the QR code (necktie) and shake your 3D shaker for chance to win

Geo tracked - Budweiser - check in ( geo-tracked) at one of 60 Tesco outlets for your chance to win

Scratch-card - Rockshore On-Trade- scan your glass ( Augmented Reality) for a chance to win

Peel reveal: Scan your Ballymaloe (Augmented Reality) for a chance to win

Quiz - Scan your schweppes and play a 'ginspiration' quiz for a chance to win 

WhatsApp: Product Shot/Selfie upload - upload a picture of your Hendricks cocktail for a chance to win

Treasure Hunt/Pokemon Go:  Butlers' Chocolate find the golden eggs and share a selfie to win

Recipe Gamification: Coca Cola Augmented Reality find the recipe ingredients for a chance to win

Scratchcard: Scan your Rockshore for a chance to win

Games: Hula Hoops, scan the pack, shoot the hoops for a chance to win

Games: Sky FAI Sponsorship - crossbar challenge kick to win instant prizes and vouchers

Gift box: 3D augmented reality gift box we crated for 3 Mobile at the 3 Olympia 

Memory Game ( on trade/in pub) : scan your Carlsberg to play a memory game 

Key Considerations for Set Up and costing:

What is the activity goal?

What type of mechanic or experience will answer the brief or activity goal? is it retention or acquisition?

Is a QR code or text number or URL/linkinbio required for point of sale or packaging or media partners 

How many retailers or media owners are running the promotion? Are there different prizes per retailer or media partner

Are the prizes digital or physical? How will they be sent to winners?

Type of prize draw: ( win every day/hour/week magic moments etc) gaming and lotteries act requires that prizes per draw be less than €2,5000. Is a leaderboard required? When do we need to get the prizes send to winners especially for holidays, sporting events, festivals and other time sensitive prizes.

Email comms: will there be weekly comms sent to winners and non winners to keep the promotion top of mind. Will there be nudges or level ups or bonus prizes announced to stimulate entries?

Winners: is there a requirement for the winners to be published online?

Link to purchase – are unique codes required as part of the entry process? some product categories are not allowed to run purchase related prize mechanics that are seen to encourage over consumption.

Test of skill - is this required by legal?

Link to purchase – must shoppers upload a receipt, pack shot/selfie, scan logo, proof of purchase etc

Prize/retailer consideration – will there be different prizes per retailer or will all prizes be distributed across all retailers

Geo-restrictions – do we restrict the entries to certain outlets, territories etc to ensure the right shoppers can participate?

Terms and conditions: who is providing these and what are the lead times for approval? Where will these be published online so that we are covered.

IT Audit: will there be a penetration test and IT audit required?

Will there be ‘opt-ins’ of first party data or social media likes/follows/tagging for ongoing comms? How will data be transferred. Is the supplier approved as a data processor/controller? Is there personally identifiable information being harvested?

Entries volume and scale – will there be large volume of entries required, is high database availability required to manage spikes in volume with media burst and promotional support?

Reporting – does the promotion require Google analytics tagging or daily weekly updates to stakeholders?

How can we help? Drop us an email on info@Return2Sender and we'll come up with some ideas for your next prize promotion or activation