Business
How Corporate Gamification Reveals True Team Dynamics
Jeannette Galbinski of Escape 60 explains their B2B expansion and the behavioral impact of immersive team dynamics.
Jeannette Galbinski details how Escape 60 adapted immersive games for recruitment, corporate conventions, and leadership assessments. The methodology uncovers genuine team behaviors and replaces traditional training formats.
In a conversation with Bruno Gimenes on Marketing - The Podcast, Jeannette Galbinski, Chief Marketing Officer at Escape 60, discussed the use of gamification in corporate environments and how teams operate under pressure. The full episode also explores the brand's trajectory and the broader entertainment market.
In the video above, Galbinski explains how observing groups in immersive rooms uncovers behavioral patterns that conventional corporate training fails to capture.
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From board game experiments to corporate focus
Escape 60's entry into the B2B market stemmed from an earlier venture within Galbinski's management consulting firm, which has operated for 32 years. The consultancy had incubated Games for Business, a venture focused on developing corporate board games sold in bookstores and on Amazon. While the retail project did not take off, it proved instrumental in pinpointing corporate demand for practical, hands-on activities.
Galbinski explains that Escape 60 originally launched in 2014 targeting retail consumers, but quickly shifted toward corporate clients as corporate interest surged: "We missed the retail mark, but that experience was crucial in helping us see Escape 60's immense potential in the corporate sector."
Applications from product launches to conventions
Companies began leveraging Escape 60's framework for both brand activations and hiring and training programs. Motorola, for instance, used the rooms to launch a new smartphone, tailoring the narrative so participants could experience the device's key differentiators firsthand. "We redesigned the room, the gameplay, and the storytelling so that anyone who went through it walked away understanding everything that made that phone unique," Galbinski says.
Other brands brought these experiences outside traditional escape rooms. Nestlé adapted a dedicated space for recruitment and hiring processes. The format has also been scaled for sales conventions with 1,000, 2,000, and up to 5,000 simultaneous participants—such as nationwide training sessions held for Vivo and an in-flight route launch for LATAM between São Paulo and Los Angeles.
Behavioral diagnostics and mirroring daily work routines
Beyond conventions and activations, the escape rooms are used for leadership diagnostics and team building. The process relies on a structured methodology, on-site psychologists, and video monitoring to assess how professionals behave under tight deadlines. According to Galbinski, the patterns observed during the game accurately mirror day-to-day workplace dynamics.
Reflecting on an experience with her own consulting firm's sales team, Galbinski notes that the team struggled with time management and only checked the clock with five minutes remaining. "What happens is that real life mirrors itself inside the room," she explains. In another instance involving regional directors accustomed to conflict-driven management and individual targets, participants went as far as hiding clues in their pockets to hinder their peers, exposing deep-seated collaboration issues.
Reinforcing culture and corporate messaging
For Galbinski, gamified formats replace traditional lectures and slide presentations when communicating core values, mission statements, or rebranding initiatives. Immersion drives content retention without the fatigue associated with classroom-style training.
"People internalize the message without even realizing it. That's the beauty of it," Galbinski notes, emphasizing that key takeaways stay in teams' repertoires long after the experience ends.
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