Gamification
Gamification is the application of typical elements of game playing (e.g., point scoring, competition with others, rules of play) to other areas of activity, typically as an online marketing technique to encourage engagement with a product or service. Another definition is gamification is the concept of applying game-design thinking to non-game applications to make them more fun and engaging.
Gamification is playing a huge part in marketing and business in general. Although, many consider gamification as a fad, I think a properly implemented gamification system can have a successful outcome. I will discuss how a successful gamification system can extend relationships, engagement, drive employees and customer loyalty.
Gamification attributes fun, fast feedback, play, transparency, competition, collaboration, and design.
The first factor that determines a successful gamification strategy is intrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is a drive that comes from within, inside an individual and not from external (extrinsic) sources.
Andrzej Marczewski’s RAMP theory illustrates that there are four key motivational drives which should be used to implement a successful gamified system.
- Relatedness: social status, connections, belonging.
- Autonomy: creativity, choice, freedom, responsibility.
- Mastery: learning, personal development, levels.
- Purpose: altruism, meaning, a reason why
Relatedness is the “glue” in making gamification successful. A lot of people have the desire to interact and be connected with others; there is a sense of belonging and being connected.
Gamification examples:
Deloitte, one of the world’s largest consulting firms in the world used Badgeville gamification and behavior management platforms to connect their consultants across the globe. The purpose was for all consultants around the world to share knowledge and expertise. With help from Yammer (social media platform) and the Geo-location system Who, What, Where and Badgeville mobile SDK, they created a mobile application that rewarded their consultants for “checking in”. According to Deloitte, they have seen an increase in knowledge sharing and better collaboration between the company and employees.
Deloitte created a leadership academy, an executive program that enables their executives to through training. To gamify, they used missions, rewards, ranks, status and more. They saw an increase in user retention, active user engagement, and adoption.
Coca-Cola is one company that has been very innovative with their marketing campaigns by using gamification. In South Korea, Coca-Cola used a vending machine challenge at a mall for visitors to dance for a chance to win a free coke. A different challenge was created in Europe, which challenged commuters to be James Bond to promote the release of Skyfall.
Nike is another company that is using gamification to engage with their customers. Nike started NikeiD shoes, it allows customers to customize their own shoe with their favorite colors, materials, sizing, and any other personalization a customer may wish.
Air Miles gamify travel by encouraging customers to collect miles that in return they can exchange for goods and services. To build up more points, customers buy extra flights. Through this model, it enables airlines to increase ticket sales since customers buy extra flights to build up points.
These examples showcase that a properly implemented gamification system can increase engagement, drive employees and customer loyalty.
Why Real-Time Marketing is Real
Real-time marketing refers to the speed in which the content hits the market.
Brands can use real-time marketing to monitor their digital environment, respond in real-time, build a relationship, increase and promote participation. Marketers are still trying to figure out how to master this strategy. Real-time marketing requires originality.
It takes grit and creativity for brands to successfully implement real-time marketing into their marketing tactics. It takes creativity to make a clever tweet but it brings a whole new level of creativity for brands to create mini-campaigns to leverage breaking news about their brands in a timely manner.
Oreo, a popular cookie brand, is one brand that introduced and dominated the concept of real-time marketing in the digital world. Oreo cookie released a simple special tweet/image that capitalized on an expected power outage second of half of the Super Bowl in February. Oreo cookie took two minutes after power failure to come up with this concept, the image led to a massive brand awareness boost to the brand. The image was retweeted more than 15,000 times, accrued 19,610 Facebook likes within the first hour.
Oreo’s marketing campaigns always spoke to the target audience. Oreo’s marketing team is definitely taking the digital world by storm; in the 2011 Guinness Book of World Records awarded them with the record of most “likes” on a Facebook post within 24 hours. Today, they have doubled their Facebook likes from 16 million to 32 million. Oreo cookie has one of the most creative and successful real-time marketing campaigns.
Janda Lukin, Brand Director said, “we will continue to look for ways to grow and expand in [the digital] area – always keeping the filter of looking at the world through the eyes of Oreo.
Oreo’s real-time digital marketing efforts have thus far paid off. By observing Oreo’s cookie marketing tactics, one can begin to understand what real-time marketing is and how it can be used with a good humor. Oreo 101-year old cookie has the best digital marketing campaign to date, and they have set a whole new standard for marketing in the digital age.
Carlton Draught – Big Ad Commercial
Carlton Draught, the Australian beer. The Big Ad is a larger than life commercial.
This ad was a genius idea by George Patterson and Partners (Young & Rubicam) of Melbourne, Australia. Big Ad parodies the visual style of battle sequences used in notables movies like Lord of the Rings, the story is about two battle teams. In the end one group looked like a man and the other as a pot of Carlton Draught beer. The ad was catchy, interesting, musical, very dramatic with a touch of humor in it.
This was considered an expensive ad, but it entertained people, and the ad took 7 months to launch. The agency used viral marketing techniques to promote the ad before it was broadcast on television. A half a million people watched the ad on the web. Within 24 hours after release, the “Big Ad” had been downloaded 162,000 times; two weeks later, it had been seen by over one million viewers in 132 countries making it the biggest viral Australian beer launch in history.
The “Big Ad” has since received over 30 awards globally. But it was reported that given its popularity, it didn’t increase the shareholder value to match the hype and popularity.
Enjoy “The Big Ad”
Infographic: Over 7.5 million Africans on LinkedIn; South Africa, Nigeria and Egypt account for over 60% of users
Africa is the world’s second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. Social media in general is taking Africa by storm . Over 7.5 million Africans use LinkedIn, over 20% are entry-level, and the majority of the users are ages 18-34, most of them are male. LinkedIn is quickly gaining popularity among working class professionals in Africa though it is still far less popular compare to Facebook and Twitter. Other countries with the fastest growing number of users include Kenya, Ghana, Uganda, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Algeria, Morocco, and Cameroon as seen in the images below.
The Marketing Explorer 