Intel’s biggest laptop launch in years happened to happen in 2020. And thanks to lockdown rules, getting laptops into people’s hands wasn’t an option. Online features on a product page became the source of informatio, but average time spent on a product page is 5.9 seconds, which made it clear that customers weren’t reading through product features.

Replicating the in-store laptop shopping experience is hard because online shoppers can’t physically appreciate the sleek product features of a new class of laptops. Compound this with the implications of a COVID world, and we had our work cut out for us. Our job was to engage our core audience quickly, all while educating them on the features and benefits of the new Evo-based laptops.

Introducing Intel Evo Code Seeker. The Intel Evo platform raised the bar for premium laptops. So, to promote the platform launch, we raised the bar on the typical online scavenger hunt, making the most advanced one the internet has ever seen. We created a game of digital hide-and-seek that baked in Evo laptops’ product features with pop culture to create clues that had people obsessed. To win one of 50 exclusive laptops, people pored through product features for hints. To host the activation, we partnered with the smartest guy we knew, Jeopardy champion Ken Jennings, to help create the toughest riddles the internet has ever seen.

The Intel Evo platform was designed to bring out the best in people who focus on creating, connecting and achieving in everything they do. This audience uses a laptop as their main personally owned computer (for personal, work or school purposes). Our consumers skewed a bit younger, and they spent a majority of 2020 looking for any outlet to plug in that energy. By the time Code Seeker launched, they’d reached the end of Netflix, played every game and had a million Zoom happy hours. Code Seeker was intentionally designed to fill the gap — give them something challenging to stimulate the mind. Our “sweet spot” of this large group was the subset of people who purchase top-of-the-line laptops. We specifically targeted them for their ability to go their own way and be the early adopters of new tech — in fact, they usually obsess over it.

Fifty premium laptops were given away between Nov. 16 and Nov. 26. Forty clues were released over this time period via Intel’s Instagram Stories or posted directly to the content hub (microsite), which led directly to 40 hidden prize codes. The first person to successfully enter a code instantly won a laptop. However, players who entered codes that had already been found were entered into a drawing at the end of the activation, for a chance to win one of 10 additional laptops. Codes were hidden throughout the internet, starting with Intel’s OEM partners, Dell, HP, ASUS, Acer and Lenovo. However, the scale was much larger, and pop culture was infused into the activation. We had a ton of great, high-profile partners outside of tech. We worked with recording artists and musicians, designers, artists, a world-renowned photographer, a professional sports organization, and even an Airbnb host.

Super targeted towards social influencers:

*128,559 visits to the hub

*114,371 unique visitors to the hub

*Average of 8 minutes on the site

*1,831 harder-than-hell validated clues found

*It took over 20 days, 14 hours, 58 minutes to solve all 50 clues (first to solve)

809,314 total clue views

Led to huge spikes on internal tracker and in sales (redacted for client confidentiality)