Success Stories

How Philip Morris Conducted

Growth Marathon
Success Story
5 minutes read

Клиент

Philip Morris Kazakhstan is a modern tobacco company with a team of over 700 employees. Philip Morris cares about the well-being of its employees and constantly invests in the professional development of its workers. Philip Morris not only successfully operates in the market, but also purposefully invests in human capital, creating a corporate culture based on care for well-being and continuous professional growth.

Tasks

We faced a complex challenge: not just to carry out a series of activities, but to create a holistic system aimed at strengthening corporate health and team cohesion.
Within the project, we focused on three key areas:
  • Enhancing corporate well-being. Implement systemic initiatives to support the physical and mental health of employees, fostering a culture of self-care.
  • Developing corporate culture. Strengthen horizontal and vertical connections within the team, promoting a trusting and supportive atmosphere.
  • Increasing engagement and loyalty. Raise the level of emotional involvement of employees in the life of the company and strengthen their commitment to reduce staff turnover.

Solution

To address the tasks set, we developed and launched the "Growth Marathon" — a virtual corporate challenge aimed at the comprehensive development of employees. Over three months (from July to September 2025), teams participated sequentially in three thematic marathons: I Grow (personal effectiveness), We Grow (team interaction), and We Grow Others (mentoring and mutual support).
The essence of mechanics
Participants are required to engage in any form of physical activity. Results were automatically converted into virtual currency (“charges”) in a branded mobile application. These “charges” contributed to the overall progress of the team, creating a synergy effect and a collective movement towards the goal. This gamified approach allowed to unite a distributed team, clearly demonstrating that everyone’s contribution is important for overall success.
Five key components of the programme
The "Growth Marathon" is based on a comprehensive model that encompasses all aspects of well-being and engagement:
  • Physical health
    Regular activity through participation in a virtual marathon with personal and team progress trackers.
  • Mental well-being
    Creating a supportive environment for developing mindfulness, managing stress, and forming healthy habits.
  • Team interaction
    Gamification of the process: team challenges, leaderboards, and corporate chats for communication and mutual motivation.
  • Motivational system
    A multi-level recognition system: virtual points, a “rewards store” allowing points to be exchanged for prizes, and offline ceremonies to reward leaders.
  • Loyalty development
    Strengthening the emotional connection with the company through a positive user experience in the branded application and a sense of belonging to a common cause.

Implementation. The digital platform as a foundation for growth

The Stayf digital platform enabled a comprehensive approach to the task and ensured maximum employee engagement. The first step was to invite participants to register in the branded app and familiarize themselves with the terms of participation in the marathon and the opportunities offered by Stayf.
After registering in the branded corporate app, each participant gained access to a range of features:
  • Team and personal challenges for flexible engagement in activities.
  • A knowledge base and training courses on the topics of healthy lifestyle and personal effectiveness.
  • Personal progress trackers and team rankings for clear visualization of achievements.
We provided the project client with tools for collecting transparent data and feedback. This allowed for real-time analysis of employee engagement.
  • Transparent real-time analytics: Monitoring engagement and activity by departments and the company as a whole.
  • ROI confirmation: Clear metrics for assessing the effectiveness of the programme and its impact on corporate culture.
  • Flexibility and customisation: The ability to adapt design and functionality to the unique values of the company's brand.

Professional support

At every stage—from launch to final evaluation—the project was overseen by a Personal Manager, ensuring smooth operations and prompt resolution of all issues.

Results

The "Growth Marathon" has proven its effectiveness not only as a tool for increasing physical activity but also as a powerful social lift within the company. It provided employees with:
  • Energy for regular activity;
  • New beneficial habits;
  • A significant sense of belonging to a common cause and their team.
Reach and demand
  • 300 licenses were purchased.
  • 402 licenses have been activated.
This figure shows a usage rate of 134%, indicating an exceptionally high interest from employees in the programme and effective internal communication that encouraged more participation than initially planned.

Key engagement metrics

We recorded a high pass rate even for challenges with complex mechanics, indicating employees' readiness for unconventional tasks.
  • I Grow (focus on self): 151 participants successfully completed the challenge.
  • We Grow (focus on the team): 239 active participants.
  • We Grow Others (focus on helping): 174 participants completed the challenge.
The most popular tasks were those related to physical activity, confirming a high demand for this format.
User behaviour analytics
Application usage data confirmed high engagement and convenience of the format:

87%

the client's needs

65%

Article views

3 times

daily usage frequency

2 min

Average session duration
These metrics demonstrate stable interest and that the application has become an organic part of employees' workday. Short sessions confirm that the format of quick and convenient content consumption is comfortable for users.
Participant profile
Age
the client's nThe core audience (64%) consisted of employees aged 26–35 years — the most active and goal-oriented part of the team.eeds
Gender composition
The project involved 57.9% men and 42.1% women, demonstrating a balanced reach and broad appeal of the initiative to the entire team.
Activity level
On average, 9,500 steps per day, which is 73% higher than the average in Russia (~5,500 steps).
Regularity
Systematic training and completion of challenge conditions.
Effectiveness
Participants successfully completed the competitive tasks, confirming a high level of engagement.

Conclusions

The implementation of the project has led to significant changes in the corporate environment:
  • Strengthening team spirit. Employees have begun to feel more noticed, valued, and have experienced a closer connection with their colleagues.
  • Increased productivity. We have once again confirmed that a healthy and cohesive team is the direct foundation for high productivity and efficiency.
  • Process optimisation. All initiatives for corporate well-being have been consolidated in a single digital environment, simplifying management and reducing operational costs.
  • Strategic management. The Stayf platform has taken on the operational tasks of managing well-being, allowing management to focus on achieving key business metrics.

💡 Practical recommendations

The conclusions drawn allow for a clear plan to be formulated for future initiatives: the main focus is on micro-format. Considering the comfort of short sessions for employees, all new activities and entry points should be adapted for quick understanding and execution. This ensures high engagement and does not overload the workday.

Find out why 96% of our clients
keep coming back

We prefer to show rather than tell