Marketing curiosity: Event storytelling with the Zifo Open Quiz

Curiosity – a most natural and rewarding human quality. Every question is an opportunity to learn…and what better way to do that than at a quiz competition?

At Tellable, we’re passionate about asking the “why”s and “how”s of things, so when Zifo – a global scientific informatics company – approached us with the opportunity to manage the marketing for the Zifo Open Quiz (or ZOQ, as it’s fondly known), the answer was obvious.

For the uninitiated, here’s a little background: The Zifo Open Quiz, formerly known as the Landmark Quiz, is an iconic piece of Chennai’s history; a testament to the importance of staying curious. When Landmark closed its doors in 2020, the quiz came to a standstill, leaving Chennai bereft of its quizzing energy. Zifo - a life sciences technology business with curiosity as their core value, wished to support a tradition that shared its values, and brought the quiz back to life in 2023. No devices, no internet access – just good ol’ human intelligence. In the era of AI, it’s heartening (and reassuring!) to see a thirst for knowledge thrive in the young and old alike.

So, how does one market curiosity? How do we get people to take notice, and then interest, in answering questions you could just ask Google?

It’s simple. It starts with a marketing plan… that eventually goes out the window when the event takes on a life of its own. It’s okay, it happens. Plans change! But what’s something that’s more crucial, and stays true? A story.

A name. A logo.

Sleek, clean, and straight to the point, in typical Zifo style. Just three words – “Zifo Open Quiz” – to eliminate all doubts, and officially begin the 2025 edition of Chennai’s beloved cerebral showdown. We tweaked the logo from the previous edition to keep the spirit but level up the look; only a few minor but creative changes to arrive at a wow! version.

Question One: How do you make people save the date?

With web banners teasing the upcoming event on ZOQ’s dedicated website, and inviting the curious to ‘save the date’, the process wasn’t unlike crafting a movie trailer. And like with movie fans, we needed viewers to get hyped for the main deal.

Question Two: How do you reach out to the next generation of thinkers?

As of 2024, the Zifo Open Quiz has opened its doors to eager school students, with a school round happening on school campuses across the city. How could we create value for a demographic that spends all day answering questions? Our poster designs had to reflect the enthusiasm of the youth; It needed to be fun, colourful, and fire up their competitive spirits. After all, who doesn’t like being right?

Question Three: How do you fill 1,500 seats in less than a month's time

Trivia, mini quizzes, memes – all packaged in a heartfelt invitation. Spread out across WhatsApp communities, Instagram, Facebook, and Meta advertisements, we were reaching out a hand to the curious with posts that reflected the value of being a part of ZOQ.

The idea? “Without you, and your curiosity, this would not happen.” As the saying goes, the people make the quiz. (Or something like that!)

It was clear the sentiment resonated with our audience – once the registrations opened, they didn’t stop coming. 1500+ participants, 600+ teams, and a whole lot of excitement. We used that energy to power our last piece of work – a minute long trailer video serving as an introduction to ZOQ, that would then be played on the big screen on the day of the quiz to get the audience pumped. The trailer video gave people a glimpse of the main prize (received with cheers from the audience), past winners (more cheers), and a short section of questions. We knew we’d done something right when we heard people excitedly murmur answers before the video’s timer ran out – a true aperitif to the quiz’s main course.

A quiz we had the pleasure of attending ourselves, so you can take our word for it; in fact, don’t be too surprised if you see us participating ourselves next year!

Telling stories that people love, and sign up for

So yes, we may not have been answering quiz questions, but we had our own moment of coming together to “win”. From social media planning and copywriting to graphic design and animation, team Tellable put our heads together – and successfully completed marketing a mega event, all through the lens of storytelling.

In conclusion? Google and ChatGPT are great, no doubt, but watch a group of friends jump with excitement when they get answers right as a team, and you’ll know what really matters after all.

While our methods of finding answers continue to evolve, our need to understand hasn’t changed. Be it a beloved quiz competition or your next event, Tellable’s curiosity knows no bounds.

Let’s discover stories together.

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