There are certain key elements to be aware of when setting up a service or product for gamification. Firstly, the process by which a company consciously increases consumer loyalty, interaction, and overall interest amongst its audience in purchasing a service or product through the use of ‘game play’ techniques. Over time, this has become a preferred method for innovative advertising campaigns and marketing efforts with internet-based setting; companies can now use gamification on their commercial websites to drive sales and keep customers engaged for repeat purchases. The most successful implementations of gamification are by those companies that understand the fundamental concepts involved.
Essentially gamification is a study of the human psyche. In its essence, those, who intend for gamification to translate worldwide, aim to understand the relationship between the game mechanic and individual preferences of the gamer. To elaborate, each of us have different traits and motivations, so while some of us may be driven by achieving objectives, in contrast a healthy percentage are purely motivated by the socializing element. In an ideal world, marketing campaigns would be catered towards to all varied groups. As Sigmund Freud noted, subconscious desires are frequently suppressed and rarely ever given a voice in a rational-thinking, socially-acceptable individual. In most cases, these desires translate into game-based traits such as the overpowering need for winning’, recognition, receiving rewards for accomplishments, and other game-relatable fundamentals. Whilst gamer interaction has previously been a niche , these subconscious desires are relative to human attributes. Or listening to a co-worker express satisfaction at ‘their team,’ in regards to a professional sports team, advancing in the playoffs. It’s a given that everybody wants to ‘win’.
Nobody wants to be labeled with a losing reputation and to go to a sports pragramme with a negative branding makes efforts for gamification harder to find success if there is too much of an emphasis on winning or losing.
What a lot of advertisers do is research the McDonald’s Monopoly Sweepstakes model. With this recurring restaurant-based gamification effort, people have fun trying to win rather than get any significant progress done as far as collecting required winning game pieces. The thrill of victory is almost as powerful a motivation tool as actually winning a reward, but certainly if there were ‘failure’ pieces (instead of the random draw pieces that all may potentially add together as a win with repeated purchases) it could be less popular.
Many successful gamification efforts focus on the customer interaction. The most effective strategy with any advertising campaign involves a customer having a large participatory role with marketing.
Having customers come up to the Pepsi Challenge booth themselves to try the ‘game’ out for themselves was a revolutionary tactic that has gone on to inspire today’s modern gamification efforts. The Pepsi Legacy Book PDF has more information on the Pepsi Challenge, and other successful marketing strategies employed by Pepsi.