Hunting for Easter Eggs: How We Launched Our New Mobile App at Happeo 🥚🐇📱
7 mins read
Rolling out a new technology doesn’t have to be boring, or a forced activity. It’s time to get creative about how you can get creative in the launch of your new mobile intranet within your organization.
The launch of Happeo’s new mobile app was one of the most impactful updates we’ve ever released. We were very excited to share the app with our customer community and see the impact it will have on users’ on-the-go intranet experience.
And, of course, we couldn’t wait to use the new app ourselves and wanted to make this launch extra special. Our team made sure to prepare a dedicated launch campaign for our employees, and the results speak for themselves.
Read on to learn what Easter eggs have to do with Happeo’s mobile app launch, and how you can replicate this or a similar fun engagement activity within your own organization.
Step 1. Preparation - Scattering the eggs 🍳
As a springtime spin on our new launch, a few of our employees took an interesting task upon themselves: to scatter Easter eggs in our mobile app. More practically, they had to insert the image of one of our egg-cellent team members into various Channels, Pages, and People profiles in our Happeo (see some examples below).
The task for the rest of the team would be to help our Internal Comms (IC) manager collect those eggs throughout the following two weeks. In order to do that, they’d need to screenshot each egg they found in the app and send it in a message to the IC manager. That way, we’d get our team members to use the app and explore its improved navigation.
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the Happeo Mobile App
Step 2. Campaign launch - The Easter Egg Hunt Begins 🤩
The team announced the launch of the new mobile app during our company weekly meeting the weekend before Easter. After giving a quick overview of the new app, we ensured that everyone was all ears and announced a contest.
Here’s the quick story that was shared: “Our internal comms manager lost quite a few Easter eggs around our mobile app and needs help collecting those eggs over the next two weeks. Every egg counts as one entry to the contest, and each egg found serves as an entry into the contest. More entries - more chances to win the secret prize.”
On the day of the campaign launch, we saw a 164% spike in the number of users on the new app.
Step 3. Keep the excitement up 🔥
Needless to say, the idea worked. Our internal comms team spent the next couple of weeks receiving countless messages from our employees with screenshots of the Easter eggs and marking down entries as they poured in.
Throughout these two weeks, we also shared updates on the leaderboard. These updates not only fostered a sense of competition but also boosted the engagement surrounding the contest.
Step 4. Announcing the winners 👀
Two weeks later, it was the moment everyone had been waiting for: in another weekly meeting, it was time to announce the results, and of course, the three winners of the contest.
This was truly an exciting moment to share with everyone (and I’m not saying it because I was one of the three winners).
Key results
So, what did we achieve with this launch campaign? Let’s look at the numbers:
- We doubled the user count on Apple devices.
- 2 weeks after the start of our campaign, we saw 90% of our app users to be on the new app.
- The user count on the new app is 20% higher than the all-time highest we’ve had on the old app.
- On the day of the campaign, we had a 164% increase in users on the new app compared to the day before.
- A week post-campaign we still saw total users at 3 times as high as the average daily users of the old app.
Takeaways
This, of course, is not the only way you can launch a mobile intranet to your users. There are so many other ways to get employees excited and to help ensure the rollout process goes smoothly for you and your users.
If your organization has frontline, deskless, or employees on-the-go, a mobile intranet can change the way everyone works together and the business altogether.
Learn more about the power of a mobile intranet in our new guide:
Happeo's Mobile App Playbook
Your Guide to Delivering the Best On-the-Go Intranet Experience
An organisation can launch its new mobile app by hiding virtual Easter eggs across different sections of the platform to encourage staff exploration. In this campaign, a few employees hid images of team members within various Channels, Pages, and People profiles. The rest of the company was then challenged to find these hidden images. This setup naturally prompted everyone to navigate through the new app’s interface.
To participate in the contest, employees had to take a screenshot of each Easter egg they discovered. They then submitted these screenshots directly to the Internal Comms manager. Each discovered egg counted as a single entry into a prize draw, meaning that the more eggs an employee found, the higher their chances of winning. This fun initiative successfully motivated employees to download the app, log in, and actively explore its improved navigation features.
By turning a standard technology rollout into an interactive, gamified challenge, the organisation avoided a dry, forced onboarding process. This creative approach is highly replicable for any business looking to launch a mobile intranet, particularly those with frontline, deskless, or on-the-go employees who rely heavily on mobile communication. It proves that fun, community-driven activities can make internal software rollouts highly anticipated, engaging events rather than mandatory IT chores. Ultimately, it transformed a simple update into a memorable experience that brought the entire team closer together.
What results did Happeo see from gamifying its mobile app launch?Gamifying the mobile app launch delivered outstanding engagement metrics and significantly boosted adoption rates across the company. On the very first day of the campaign launch, there was a staggering 164 per cent increase in the number of active users on the new mobile app compared to the previous day. This immediate spike demonstrated how quickly a well-timed, exciting announcement can capture employee attention and drive instant downloads.
The positive momentum continued well beyond the initial launch day, leading to highly impressive long-term adoption statistics. Just two weeks after the campaign began, 90 per cent of all active app users had successfully migrated to using the new version of the mobile app. Furthermore, the overall user count on the new application was 20 per cent higher than the all-time highest user count ever recorded on the older version of the app.
The campaign also proved highly effective at establishing long-term, sustained usage habits among staff members instead of just a temporary peak. One full week after the launch campaign had officially concluded, the total number of active users remained three times higher than the average daily user count of the old application. Additionally, the business managed to double its total user count on Apple devices, showcasing strong, cross-platform success and showing that a fun launch can drive permanent software adoption.
How was the internal mobile app launch campaign structured and managed over the two weeks?The launch campaign was structured as a step-by-step initiative designed to build anticipation, maintain momentum, and reward participation over a two-week period. It began with a weekend launch announcement during the company’s weekly meeting, just before Easter. After a brief overview of the new mobile app, the Internal Comms team captured everyone’s attention by presenting the hunt as a story where the manager needed help finding lost eggs, with every egg serving as a contest entry.
Once the hunt began, the Internal Comms team actively managed the incoming submissions to keep the internal excitement levels high. Over the next fortnight, they received countless direct messages containing screenshots from staff and meticulously recorded each entry. To maintain a healthy sense of friendly rivalry and competition, the team regularly shared leaderboard updates with the entire company. This ongoing transparency kept the momentum going and encouraged continuous app usage throughout the fortnight.
The campaign concluded after two weeks with a grand finale during another weekly company-wide meeting. During this final gathering, the team announced the overall results of the hunt and revealed the three contest winners who received a highly anticipated secret prize. This structured progression from preparation to a thrilling finale ensured that interest never waned, transforming what could have been a standard IT rollout into an engaging, interactive, and company-wide celebration.
