November 5, 2026
Red Bull’s Tetris campaign: from advertisement to interactive brand experience
Red Bull | PHD Media Netherlands
The challenge: how do you create genuine attention in a world of distractions?
We’re bombarded with advertising every day: on the street, on our phones, everywhere. As a brand, how do you make sure people truly remember you, rather than just see you? Red Bull faced exactly that challenge and, together with us, found a unique answer. Instead of making an advertisement, they decided to create an experience people could take part in themselves.
The strategy: get your audience involved
The idea was simple and powerful. Instead of showing a standard video from their global Tetris campaign, we turned a huge 4.5-metre-tall digital screen at Amsterdam Centraal into a working games console. Travellers waiting for their metro could play the classic game Tetris on this giant screen using their phones. This turned random passers-by into the heroes of the campaign. The result:
- Instant attention: A huge, playable Tetris game in a station? It’s impossible to ignore. It instantly caught the attention of thousands of travellers.
- Real interaction: People did more than watch: they actively took part. They tried to set a high score and could even win a ticket to the final in Dubai.
- A physical experience: he Red Bull brand became a fun activity in the middle of the city, rather than just an image.
The result: an experience people remember and share
This approach proved a direct hit. The screens generated 6.3 million impressions, but the real win lay elsewhere. The game was played hundreds of times by people who deliberately took a moment to engage with Red Bull. This created an effect you’ll never achieve with an ordinary advertisement:
- Strong engagement: Players were focused on the game, and therefore on the brand, for minutes at a time. That builds a much stronger bond than a fleeting glance.
- Earned media: The experience was so unique and fun that people filmed it and shared it widely on social media such as Instagram and TikTok. This generated a lot of extra attention at no extra cost.
- A lasting memory: Participants played a game, had fun and became part of a special event, instead of watching an ad. That’s something you remember.
The power of smart technology
This case shows where the future of advertising is heading: creating interactive, fun experiences. At CS Digital Media, that’s exactly our speciality. We use our own smart technology, developed in-house, to help brands stand out. We offer more than screens: we work with you to turn your campaign into an unforgettable moment. Think of 3D visuals that seem to leap out of the screen, or campaigns that respond to the weather or the time of day. We have the technology in house to make it happen.
