Company pass referrals

Company pass referrals

Company pass referrals

Turning office rituals into organic growth loops that saved ₹25L in CAC

Turning office rituals into organic growth loops that saved ₹25L in CAC

Turning office rituals into organic growth loops that saved ₹25L in CAC

TL; DR

To cut down on high CAC from paid ads, we redesigned Grapevine’s referral flow into something delightful: a Company Pass - a shareable, company-branded access card that mimicked real office IDs. Each pass felt exclusive, featured custom hues per company, and used secret-society-style copy to nudge sharing. This became the only referral method for coworker invites and drove 17,000 referrals, saving over ₹25L in acquisition costs.

To cut down on high CAC from paid ads, we redesigned Grapevine’s referral flow into something delightful: a Company Pass - a shareable, company-branded access card that mimicked real office IDs. Each pass felt exclusive, featured custom hues per company, and used secret-society-style copy to nudge sharing. This became the only referral method for coworker invites and drove 17,000 referrals, saving over ₹25L in acquisition costs.

Timeline:

Design & development Jun - July 2024
Launched July 2024

Team:

1 Designer, 2 Engineers (FE, BE)

Context

Grapevine had launched private, company-specific groups to foster candid peer conversations. While early engagement was promising, we needed a scalable way to grow these communities organically - without relying on expensive paid channels. At the time, CAC was ₹190 on Meta ads and ₹100 on LinkedIn ads.

Grapevine had launched private, company-specific groups to foster candid peer conversations. While early engagement was promising, we needed a scalable way to grow these communities organically - without relying on expensive paid channels. At the time, CAC was ₹190 on Meta ads and ₹100 on LinkedIn ads.

Grapevine had launched private, company-specific groups to foster candid peer conversations. While early engagement was promising, we needed a scalable way to grow these communities organically - without relying on expensive paid channels. At the time, CAC was ₹190 on Meta ads and ₹100 on LinkedIn ads.

Goal 🥅

Increase verified coworker sign-ups in private company groups through a refer-a-colleague mechanism that felt native, on-brand, and socially rewarding.

  1. Insight & Concept💡

What if referring someone felt less like sending a link and more like handing over your office access card? Instead of a traditional refer-and-earn widget, I wanted to bring a slice of real-world office culture into Grapevine.

  • Inspiration: Office access cards. These unlock exclusive zones. What if a similar mechanic unlocked Grapevine’s private communities?

  • Solution: The Company Pass - a digital, shareable ID-like card you can send to a coworker, giving them exclusive access to their company group on Grapevine.

  1. Design 🎨

Customization: Each pass carried the brand hue of its respective company (e.g., magenta for Accenture, green for Deloitte). 70+ top companies got custom-designed cards; 100+ others used a neutral grey with logo overlay.

Used Clearbit API for logos.


Tone of voice: Messaging embraced exclusivity and camaraderie. Examples:

  • "Give coworkers an access pass to ____'s community"

  • "Got a friend at work? Bring them to the inner circle"

  • "Bring in coworkers who will add to the collective wisdom"

↪ 3.1- Card design

↪ 3.2 - Feed widget

↪ 3.3 - Sharing an Pass

4. Outcomes & Takeaways 🏁

Even in noisy social apps, news can work if it respects user attention.

  • Rolled out initially to 5% of company groups → then 10% → 50% → 100%

  • Total of 17,000 referrals generated in 6 months

  • Estimated savings: ₹25 lakhs+ in CAC compared to paid acquisition

  • Users become ambassadors when the experience is positive

A referral doesn’t have to feel transactional-wrapping it in a familiar metaphor (office pass) made it playful and purposeful.

  • Customizing the card by company increased emotional ownership and share-worthiness.

  • Leaning into secrecy (“inner circle,” “access”) gave it an invite-only vibe that aligned with the product’s tone.

This project was about anchoring feature design in cultural behaviors-in this case, workplace rituals-and use storytelling to make everyday flows feel memorable.

Even in noisy social apps, news can work if it respects user attention.

  • Tone adaptability is underrated - users felt in control of their mental capacity.

  • Designing for trust > designing for engagement.

  • Plugging into a native habit loop is key.

  • Users become ambassadors when the experience is positive


News card swipes:
Oct 7 - Full Rollout, Oct 21 - 100k, Nov 9 - 200k,
Dec 19 - 850k, Dec 28 - 1 Million


  • Avg daily news opens per active user: 3.1 - validation of native habit loop

  • % of users who adjusted their language preference at least once - 67% - validation of adaptability feature.

  • Invite-only access model with just 3 passes per user spiked new user signups.

  • News swipes became the daily ritual - 22%+ better weekly retention compared to normal users

  • #5 on App store top charts for news category

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