Overview

Partner influence typically flows through a single point of contact—and traditional holiday gifts don't change that dynamic. The strategic opportunity was clear: replace the standard wine basket with an experience that could reach multiple stakeholders across partner organizations. The Linnworks Holiday Dash was a 33-day gamified campaign designed to engage sales, developers, marketers, and presales teams at 60+ partner companies. Rather than a one-time gift, this created sustained touchpoints that educated, entertained, and rewarded partners. The result: 246 participants across 60+ partners and a measurable 44% uptick in referrals.

Challenge

Traditional holiday outreach solved only the surface problem—and often missed the mark. Standard corporate gifts created no meaningful engagement or brand recall, partner communication flowed through a single contact limiting organizational reach, partners lacked structured awareness of product updates and use cases, there was no mechanism to drive product education or advocacy across sales and technical teams, and holiday gestures rarely translated into measurable business impact.

Solution

A mobile-first gamified campaign replaced the traditional gift with an experience. The Linnworks Holiday Dash rewarded participation with tiered incentives, creating multiple reasons for different roles to engage with the brand and product story. By structuring the campaign with varied reward tracks and mechanics, it appealed across sales, technical, and presales roles. Engagement mechanics were designed to educate and reward partners in equal measure—creating lasting touchpoints rather than a forgettable gesture.

Results

• 246 players across 60+ partner companies (55%+ of companies had 5+ unique players)

• 29,000+ total sessions played over 33 days, demonstrating sustained engagement

• 44% uptick in agency partner referrals in Q1, directly attributable to campaign momentum

• Multi-stakeholder reach across sales, developers, marketers, and presales teams within partner organizations