Lyconet Zoom: Repetition instead of revolution?

Lyconet once again invited participants to a widely advertised Zoom call. In the run-up to the event, there was talk of a ‘groundbreaking event,’ groundbreaking news and significant progress.

Expectations were high. But those who followed the event closely were met with more of the same: ambitious promises, familiar platitudes and little substance.

For years, Lyconet has presented itself as one of the ‘strongest business models’ in the world. However, from the perspective of many critical observers, visible and independently verifiable successes remain largely absent. Instead, slogans such as ‘Some days are hard, but those who persevere will be successful’ dominate. Such statements can serve to emotionally bind marketers to the system and prevent them from giving up. Those who persevere continue to pay, thus delaying or avoiding claims for repayment.

Recurring patterns and familiar names

The ‘Pay and Go’ project was presented again in the call on 24 June 2025. Lyconet had already announced in summer 2024 that it wanted to roll this out across Europe. It was also prominently advertised at the elite seminar in September 2024. However, it was never implemented. Now the project has been presented again as an innovation.

According to Rainer Schuster, ‘development has just begun.’ No mention was made of why earlier announcements were not implemented. Nor were any licensing issues that played a role in the past mentioned. Schuster nevertheless described the innovations as a ‘revolution.’ In addition to ‘Pay and Go,’ higher cashback, technical improvements and social media campaigns were also announced.

The latter in particular were touted as a milestone: in Germany, a test run achieved over 10 million impressions, 200,000 clicks and 16,000 new registrations. However, there is no independent confirmation of these figures.

It is surprising that social media is only now being promoted as a central marketing channel: such campaigns have long been standard practice in many companies. Lyconet, on the other hand, is presenting this development as a strategic realignment.

Strategic focus on Sweden – a remarkable step

According to information provided in the Zoom call, Lyconet currently intends to focus its market efforts on Austria and Sweden. The decision to focus on Sweden of all countries is surprising, especially in view of the company’s history.

Back in 2014, the Swedish Gambling Authority launched an investigation into Lyoness, Lyconet’s parent company. The suspicion was that it was operating an illegal pyramid scheme. Although the proceedings were later dropped by the public prosecutor’s office due to a lack of clearly identifiable responsible parties, this was not because the allegations had been cleared up. The gambling authority did not accept this decision and lodged an appeal. The case remains legally unresolved.

Against this backdrop, the current focus on Sweden seems to require at least some explanation. Whether Lyconet is actually operating on legally secure ground there today or is simply waiting for time to pass remains open.

Linguistic repetitions and standardised narrative patterns

As in many previous events, numerous familiar phrases were used this time around: ‘Now it’s really taking off,’ ‘We’re taking our business to a new level,’ ‘We’re creating something great.’ Parts of the presentation seemed to have been taken from previous calls. The impression is that a fixed narrative is being used here, which is regularly rehashed without any significant changes.

At the end, the national balance programme was promoted once again, with a focus on Austria and Sweden. The message: those who get on board now will benefit. Everyone can secure ‘a big piece of the pie’. Critics see this as an attempt to win new supporters for a system that has hardly evolved at its core.

Conclusion

The Zoom call on 24 June 2025 seemed less like a new beginning and more like a look back: familiar projects were relaunched and familiar phrases repeated. For long-time observers of the company, it was a familiar picture. For new participants, however, the promises may sound attractive once again. This seems to be exactly what Lyconet is counting on.

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