No app needed
Participants scan and play in their browser, nothing to install.
Year-end campaigns
Digital advent calendar for business
Twenty-four days, one door a day: a piece of content, a prize or a chance to win. Your customers open it from their phone, through a QR code, with nothing to install.
Announced for November · Business planWhat a calendar played in the browser changes
Four decisions that set your participation rate long before the artwork.
One QR code
A single QR code for the poster, flyer, newsletter and in-store screen.
Hosted in France
Data hosted in France, with consent and deletion built in from day one.
Seven languages included
One calendar, seven languages, a single participant database.
Three mechanics, three very different campaigns
This choice comes before the artwork: it drives the rules, the prize budget and what you are allowed to promise in your communication.
Instant win
Every door opened gives an immediate result, win or lose. Prizes are spread across the twenty-four days in advance.
- Daily traffic
- Loyalty
- Buzz
See the detail
- Choose it if
- You want daily traffic and a reward that lands straight away, while the participant is still there.
- Watch out for
- You need as many prizes as announced winners, and a spread that holds until the 24th. Stock exhausted on 8 December leaves the remaining sixteen days with nothing to offer.
Prize draw
Every entry feeds a draw held afterwards, on a date announced in the rules.
- Daily traffic
- Loyalty
- Buzz
See the detail
- Choose it if
- Your prizes are few but strong: a trip, a large product, an experience that is hard to multiply.
- Watch out for
- The reward is deferred. Contacting the winners and announcing the results publicly are part of the campaign: skip them and it ends in silence.
Daily content, no prize
Every door opens a piece of content: a tip, a behind-the-scenes look, a recipe, a promo code, a video. No chance, no prize pool.
- Daily traffic
- Loyalty
- Buzz
See the detail
- Choose it if
- You are after the relationship and visibility rather than entry volume, and you have something to say.
- Watch out for
- With no prize and no chance involved it is no longer a prize competition and the legal frame gets lighter — but you need twenty-four genuinely finished pieces of content, and that is the real cost of this format.
The frame to put in place before 1 December
These pointers describe a campaign run from France. Running one for participants in another country brings that country's rules into play too.
Written rules — Readable from the calendar itself before the first entry, not only on request.
See more
They name the organiser, the dates, the entry conditions, the prizes and their value, how winners are picked and how prizes are handed over. They must be reachable from the calendar itself, not only on request.
Filing is optional — A prize draw stays valid in France without filing the rules with a bailiff.
See more
A prize competition is valid in France without the rules being filed with a judicial officer, formerly the bailiff. Many organisers do it anyway, for its evidential value in a dispute or because their insurer asks for it. It is a choice, not an imposed formality.
Free entry — Free entry, no purchase required: the default for operations open to the public.
See more
That principle shapes most campaigns open to the general public. As soon as a purchase conditions entry, the applicable frame changes: settle that question before the posters go to print, not after.
Minimal data, GDPR — An email address is usually enough; ask only for what you truly need.
See more
An email address is usually enough to reach a winner. Asking for a date of birth, a postal address or a phone number just in case makes the form heavier, drops completion and commits you to justifying every field. Consent to receive marketing messages is collected separately from the entry itself.
This page is an editorial summary, not individual legal advice. Every campaign has its specifics: have your rules reviewed by a legal professional before you publish them.
Timeline: five milestones that hold the campaign together
Counted back from a 1 December opening. Each milestone gates the next one.
- D-60 — early October
Prizes and budget locked
Prizes are negotiated early; they drive the mechanic and the rules.
The detail
This is the milestone that blocks all the others. Supplier prizes are negotiated early, year-end orders go out in November, and the number of winners drives the mechanic as much as the mechanic drives the number of prizes.
- D-30 — early November
Rules written and reviewed
The rules are written once prizes are set, then proofread.
The detail
The rules follow from the prizes: until those are locked, they cannot be written. Allow time for a legal review, and for filing them if you choose to.
- D-14 — mid November
Artwork and twenty-four doors ready
Twenty-four visuals, twenty-four pieces of copy: the task that overruns most.
The detail
The artwork for each door, the copy for each day and any content behind it. This is the item that overruns most often: twenty-four doors means twenty-four visuals and twenty-four texts, not one duplicated template.
- D-7 — late November
Full test from a real phone
Scan, play, win and read the email, from a real phone.
The detail
Scan the QR code with a phone, open a door, win, receive the email, read the redemption terms, in every language you publish. Testing from a desktop machine proves nothing about the real journey.
- Day zero — 1 December
Opening and distribution
The QR code goes live; the first three days matter most.
The detail
The QR code goes out on its channels. Name who watches the entries for the first three days: that is where the friction no test revealed shows up.
Budget: where the money actually goes
Three items, in this order of weight.
- 1
The prizes
The dominant item, and the only one you cannot trim without it showing. One strong prize a week often holds attention better than twenty-four anonymous ones: perceived value counts for more than the number of winning doors.
- 2
Producing the twenty-four doors
Artwork, copy, any video. This cost follows your creative ambition, not your audience size: it is the same for a hundred players and for a hundred thousand.
- 3
Distribution
Printing the materials, sending the emails, any paid media. A calendar with no traffic is a beautiful empty page — and this is the item people underestimate after spending on the first two.
Who provides the prizes?
The organising brand, in nearly every case. Many campaigns also lean on a partner — a neighbouring shop, a supplier, a complementary brand — offering a prize in exchange for visibility.
Frequently asked questions
What is a digital advent calendar for business?
It is a twenty-four-day marketing campaign, from 1 to 24 December: each day a door opens with a piece of content, a prize or a chance to win. Participants reach it from their phone through a QR code or a link, with no app to install. For the company it is a daily appointment with its audience and, depending on the form, a way to collect opt-in contacts.
Do participants need an app to take part in a digital advent calendar?
No. The calendar opens in the phone's browser, after scanning a QR code or clicking a link. No download, no account to create: that is what separates a three-second entry from someone leaving before the first door.
Does a company advent calendar have to be filed with a bailiff?
In France, no: a prize competition is valid without filing the rules with a judicial officer, formerly the bailiff. Many organisers choose to do it for its evidential value in a dispute. Written, freely available rules, on the other hand, remain essential.
What data can you collect from participants?
The data that serves a stated purpose, and nothing beyond it. An email address is usually enough to reach a winner. Consent to receive marketing messages is collected separately from the entry, and every field you ask for must be defensible if you are audited.
How long does it take to prepare a digital advent calendar?
Allow two months. Prizes are negotiated around sixty days before opening, the rules are written once the prizes are locked, a month out. The twenty-four visuals and texts take a good two weeks, and the last week is kept for testing the journey on a real phone.
Instant win or prize draw: which one for an advent calendar?
The instant win rewards straight away and sustains the daily return, but it needs as many prizes as announced winners and a spread that holds until 24 December. The prize draw suits rare, strong prizes: the reward is deferred, and announcing the results is part of the campaign.
Can you run an advent calendar with no prizes at all?
Yes. Each door can open a piece of content: a tip, a behind-the-scenes look, a recipe, a promo code, a video. With no prize and no chance involved it is no longer a prize competition and the frame gets lighter. In exchange you need twenty-four genuinely finished pieces of content, and that is the real cost of this format.
Is the QronoPlay advent calendar available?
It is announced for November, in the Business plan. The platform's other game formats are available today and launch the same way, by QR code, with the same hosting in France and the same seven languages.
Prepare your year-end campaign
Create your account to get hands-on with the platform now, or tell us about your calendar project: we will tell you what is feasible and from when.