Bitburger: Gamification as the key to data-driven marketing
With a creative summer campaign, one of Germany’s most renowned beer brands has found a way to turn emotional engagement into strategic insight, combining memorable experiences with valuable data on consumer behavior and brand loyalty.
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#customer data
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The project at a glance
From bottle caps to personalized marketing campaigns
The scenario
Indirect sales hinder insight
Bitburger is one of Germany’s most recognized beer brands, found in supermarkets, bars, and restaurants across the country. Yet, like many consumer goods manufacturers, Bitburger faces a central challenge: its sales channels are mainly indirect, via retail and catering. This leaves the brand without a direct connection to end consumers and therefore without access to key information about who they are, how they behave, and what drives their decisions.
What’s missing is a true understanding of the customer: Who drinks Bitburger – when, where, and why? Answering these questions is essential for effective, data-driven marketing. Bitburger set out to bridge this gap, bringing its communication strategy closer to the real needs and habits of its consumers.
The Solution
Playful engagement with strategic impact
With its summer campaign, Bitburger built a direct digital connection to its consumers. QR codes printed on bottle caps transformed every beer into an entry point for a fun, interactive summer experience with instant prizes, points, and surprises. Each scan generated valuable first-party data: When and where was it scanned? How often did users interact with the brand? Which prize options inspired them to return?
Bitburger turned a traditional promotion into a lasting brand dialogue. The campaign laid the groundwork for data-driven segmentation, personalized communication, and more efficient campaign planning. What was once anonymous consumption evolved into an ongoing, insight-rich relationship between brand and consumer.
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How we did it
A tailor-made platform for personalized campaigns
Together with 4brands Reply and Open Reply, Bitburger opted for a powerful, scalable platform: the existing B2C app formed the central access point for user interaction. Technologically, SAP CIAM, SAP Emarsys, SAP Analytics Cloud, and a composable Customer Data Platform were used. They enabled seamless data collection and analysis from the first interaction to targeted evaluation. This created a closed feedback loop in which insights were directly incorporated into personalized marketing measures.
The result
Enthusiastic customers and valuable data
Over 20 weeks, the campaign evolved far beyond a traditional sweepstake. Bitburger not only inspired thousands of participants but also gained a deeper understanding of its consumers – laying the foundation for long-term, personalized marketing success.
Direct customer contact despite indirect sales
New consumer insights into behavior, preferences, and usage patterns
Data-driven personalization and segmentation
Increased repurchase rates through playful activation
Scalable solution for future campaigns
The Bitburger Brewery Group brews and markets exclusively premium beers and is one of the leading brewery groups in Germany. The company owns the brands Bitburger, König Pilsener, Königsbacher, Köstritzer, Licher and Nette. It also has a distribution partnership with Benediktiner Weißbräu GmbH. The brewery group is a family business and is now managed by the seventh generation.
4brands Reply specializes in the consumer goods industry and supports companies in the design of their individual digital transformation processes with innovative IT technologies. 4brands Reply's approach focuses on the consumer with his Customer Journey, which covers the entire value chain of the company. The offer includes process consulting and system integration for the core areas of Customer Experience Management, Revenue Growth Management, management of Demand-driven Supply Chains, Enterprise Management and management of a Digital Data Platform.
Open Reply is a Reply Group company specialising in digital transformation, mobile solutions and networked platforms. We offer cross-sector consulting services, conception, creation as well as the development of solutions based on mobile technologies with the aim of sustainably strengthening the market position through a state-of-the-art digital experience.