Enhancing Team Performance Through Real-time Gamification

Resetting Ambition for Peak Performance: Estée Lauder Hong Kong Partners with Team Building Asia

Founded in 1946, Estée Lauder has become one of the world’s most recognised names in luxury beauty, known for its technological innovation, timeless elegance, and commitment to superior quality. With a portfolio of world-class skincare, makeup, and fragrance brands, the company continues to uphold its legacy of excellence through creativity, craftsmanship, and constant evolution.

In line with its vision to inspire peak performance and renewed ambition, Estée Lauder (Hong Kong) partnered with Team Building Asia, a leader in corporate learning and experiential team building, to design a transformative programme focused on the theme “Resetting Our Ambition.”

Recognising the need for a truly digital and future-focused solution, Team Building Asia developed a bespoke engagement experience that blended innovation with collaboration. The programme encouraged participants to reconnect with purpose, embrace agility, and strengthen cross-functional teamwork in a fast-evolving beauty and retail landscape.

Through dynamic, tech-driven activities, Estée Lauder teams were empowered to rethink performance, elevate communication, and align individual goals with the company’s pursuit of excellence. The result was a meaningful reset — one that reignited drive, inspired leadership, and positioned the organisation for continued success at the highest level of performance.

Multi-Faceted Outcomes Require a Complex & Creative Programme

Following a full needs assessment, Team Building Asia worked with Estee Lauder to develop a programme that incorporated each of the elements in to one team building programme.

It was proposed that the quest to summit Mount Everest could present an experience to meet these needs and that a digital simulation of climbing this mountain could be produced to make it seem real.

Real-Time Play for Effective & Lasting Results

Team Building Asia developed the programme through extensive research into the complexities of leading a Mount Everest expedition. Interviews with successful Everest summiteers revealed that equipment, movement, the weather and risk taking were key elements to a successful summit and should feature prominently in the digital simulation.

These elements were translated into a live digital format using iOS, delivering a board-game interface on iPads for participants and web-based technology to create a main team display for the weather and changes on the mountain.

The game was built into a physical server connected to a Wi-Fi router, for fast and reliable connection. Throughout the programme, scores and progress were shown on the master screen display, to help teams make agile decisions about the way forward.

Collaboration & Agility – Keys to Success

On the day of the event, the 20 teams were introduced to the challenges of climbing Mount Everest including guides, tents, equipment and oxygen. Teams then started the 20-day simulation using the purpose-built iOS application. Participating in real-time, attendees were challenged to work collaboratively to achieve results, whilst adapting effectively to changing conditions.

At the midway point, to further enhance collaboration, all participants worked together to get maximum scores as an organisation.

Every element of the programme reinforced of the organisation’s values, including the incentive of raising real funds for children in Nepal.

Successful Outcomes for Enhanced Team Performance

Core objectives were achieved to ensure the programme was a success. With a focus on scoring, the attendees were driven to achieve results, whilst helping each other and changing from a team to an organisation focus encouraged their commitment and ease of transformation throughout the day. With risk taking, speed and agility core aspects to achieving success, attendees also needed to be action oriented and to demonstrate their challenger spirit.

The final solution was truly digital. All elements of the game-play were displayed in real-time with iPads and web-based technology, seamlessly connected by a proprietary server and Wi-Fi router.