Äripäev Achieves Audience Growth with Investment Game in Saturated Market
With approximately 17,000 subscribers in a country of 1.4 million people, Äripäev has one of the highest market penetration rates for financial news subscriptions globally.
Making the game a success
1. A Trusted Brand at the Core
Äripäev’s game was anchored around Investor Toomas (Investor Thomas), a real-money investment portfolio managed by Äripäev journalists since 2002, which has achieved more than 10x growth and outperformed the S&P 500. Investor Toomas exemplifies Äripäev’s long-standing financial expertise and editorial credibility. This existing trust meant the investment game felt legitimate and reliable for players from day one.
2. Real influencer portfolios mirrored in the game
Äripäev collaborated with eight well-known Estonian investment influencers, who participated in the investment competition and recreated their real-world portfolios inside the game environment.
Players could follow these ambassador portfolios directly in the game, observe their performance, and compare strategies.
This real-world observational approach amplified the reach of the game tremendously, across social media platforms, generating organic content and increasing trust through transparency.
3. A highly social competition
The Fantasy Funds stock market game enables strong social mechanics, encouraging players to:
- Create private leagues with friends, colleagues, or family
- Join official sponsor-backed leagues with prizes
- Return and compete on public leaderboards
For Äripäev, leagues represented a highly popular feature, allowing players to compete directly against Äripäev journalists, public investor figures and against “Investor Toomas” himself.
Over 400 leagues were created, driving repeat visits and peer-to-peer engagement.
This social structure created built-in storytelling and shareable moments across digital channels.
Inclusivity & education
Äripäev chose not to set an age limit, aiming to make participation as inclusive as possible.
This decision led to one of the most surprising outcomes, as the second prize winner was an eight-year-old girl, who won a business trip for two. She attended the award ceremony together with her parents – the whole family had participated in the game, each managing their own portfolios. Ironically, the parents’ portfolios didn’t rank as well as their daughter’s in the game. The young winner had followed a simple buy-and-hold strategy, sticking with the same stocks throughout the game rather than actively trading – a lesson that resonates with the wider community.
The game’s inclusive, educational design can engage whole families, spark conversations about investing, and reinforce timeless principles like patience and long-term thinking.
Sponsorship & partner strategy
The main sponsor of Äripäev’s investment game was one of Estonia’s largest bank, serving approximately 600,000 clients (nearly half the national population). Additional partners included major market institutions such as NASDAQ.
Juhan Lang emphasizes that: “Strong, brand-aligned partners were critical for the success of our game. Random or weak partnerships would not have worked.”
By sponsoring the game, partners were able to benefit from:
- Brand exposure to a highly engaged, investment-minded audience
- Association with Estonia’s most trusted financial media brand
- A positive, educational brand experience
Game Launch Strategy & Experiential Marketing
Äripäev treated the game not just as a digital product, but as a full-scale event campaign with sponsors, key activities and adequate marketing. The project extended far beyond digital gameplay:
Launch Event
- For the official investor game launch, Äripäev organized “ringing the bell” at the NASDAQ Baltic headquarters in Tallinn
- Estonia’s top investor influencers were present
- The event was live broadcasted and live covered extensively across Äripäev’s news platforms
Ongoing promotion
- Extensive editorial coverage
- Influencer-led social media amplification
- Visual storytelling with galleries, event photos, and updates
Final Event & Awards Ceremony
- Hosted at Estonia’s largest investment event
- Just under 2,000 attendees
- The ceremony became a major offline brand moment
- Generated extensive visual and editorial follow-up content
At the investor festival in July 2025. Credit: Simo Sepp
Prize structure
Grand prize: € 10,000, a luxurious Mercedes-Benz GLB for a year including free insurance and maintenance, and an unforgettable opportunity to visit NASDAQ MarketSite at Times Square in New York, including free flights and accommodation.
Second place: Business class round-trip flights for two to a selected airBaltic destination departing from Tallinn.
Third place: A free one-year subscription to Äripäev PRO, a free one-year membership to Investor Toomas Investment Club, and Swedbank Robur fund units worth € 500.
Weekly rewards:
- Weekly prizes such as investment books
- Rewards for league leaders and short-term performance
- Raffle among all participants for Swedbank Robur fund units worth € 500.
This balance of aspirational grand prizes and frequent smaller rewards ensured that players remain engaged throughout the game.
Results
The result was a five-month investment game that combined an educational and hands-on investing experience, influencers, leagues, premium prizes, and real-world events.
Participation & engagement factors
- 11,056 players, amongst them 4,000+ new leads
- Over 400 leagues created
- Strong repeat engagement throughout the game lifecycle
- Significant result for a brand operating since 1989 in a mature market
Player feedback & learning impact
After the game concluded, Äripäev surveyed participants to measure sentiment and learning outcomes.
“We had more than a thousand participants giving us feedback, saying that it increased their confidence to invest in real life.” This learning-by-doing approach further reinforces youth engagement and promotes a responsible investing culture.
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