gamification as a campaign tool - basebuilder · if used correctly, gamification creates commercial...

GOALS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SUMMARY • INTRODUCTION • GAMES AND THE BRAIN • OK. LET’S

TALK BUSINESS… • EXAMPLES • CONCLUSION • ABOUT BASEBUILDER

GAMIFICATIONAS A CAMPAIGN TOOL

How to make smart use of gaming techniques to activate your target

group?

BASEBUILDER

SUMMARYGam if icat ion is the use of fun and interest ing game elements in an environment that is not necessar i ly re lated to games, such as apps, s i tes , social media, and campai gns, in o rder to inf luence human behav iour in a posit ive way. The start ing point? Hum an motives. By tapping into the intr insic motivat ion of your target group, you can make i t fun for people to take part in your in it iat ive or campaign. Once in the f low of t he campaign, gamif icat ion enables you to grab the ful l attent ion of your target grou p and that , of course, of fers plenty of opportunit ies to get your message across – i n a posit ive and playful way.

To successful ly integrate the r ight game elements into your cross -media or s ingle -media cam paign, you work through a number of logical steps that are designed to help yo u make the r ight choices. Don’t be afraid to turn to the professionals ; the re are mo re disc ipl ines involved than you might in it ia l ly think .

Impo rtant : keep i t super s imple. The more complicated the game elements, the lowe r the co nvers ion and the greater the chance of technical bl ips.

INTRODUCTIONP laying games is , of course, as old as the hi l ls . We al l p lay games, a l l over the wo rl d . But m aking smart use of game elements to encourage target groups to perform a ce rtai n act io n is a whole di f ferent bal l game. More and more companies are using gamif i cat i o n in a l l k inds of areas. Sometimes these are smal l e lements ( for example, the ‘p ro f i l e strength bar ’ on L inkedIn, or the Picnic product quiz on Instagram). Sometime s the y are essent ial parts of a company ( for example, the design-your-own Nike By You A i r Max trainers) . For gamif icat ion to actual ly contr ibute towards your company or cam pai gn object ives, i t i s v i tal that you have the necessar y knowledge and expert ise. ‘Just maki ng a gam e’ is not only a waste of mone y but can e ven have a negat ive impact on your brand .

T his paper provides an ins ight into the basics of gamif icat ion and explains how yo u can l ink the psycholog y behind gaming to your act ivat ion campaign. A must read for a nyo ne who want to use or opt imize gamif icat ion to act ivate (potent ial ) customers.

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Essentially, the goal of any commercial company is to encourage people to perform a certain action. To use gamification successfully, you not only need to think about your own goals, but also about the human motivation to want to participate in a game. In fact, gamification is simply about using knowledge of the human brain.

Focus on the intrinsic motivation of the target group and you have a solid foundation for using gamification.

1. INTRINSIC MOTIVATION

GAMES AND THE BRAIN

LET’S GO BACK TO BASICS. . . WHAT IS GAMIFICATION?

Gamification is the smart use of fun and interesting game elements in an environment that is not necessarily related to games, such as apps, sites, social media, and campaigns, in order to influence human behaviour in a positive way.

And it all starts with human motives.

Why is gamification such a powerful tool?


When we play a game, we are completely focused on our performance, on having fun, or on winning. This focus is a valuable mental flow where you ‘draw in’, as it were, your target group using gamification. You’ve got their full attention! This is the perfect opportunity to communicate a message, to increase loyalty and commitment and to invite people to perform a certain action.

Because games are primarily just for fun, participants perceive your message as being less commercial. Of course, even in a game setting, you still have to tailor your message and introduce it to the campaign flow at the right time.

2. MENTAL FLOW

3. THE ‘NON-COMMERCIAL FEELING’

So, what are these motives? Game scientist Yu-Kai Chou has identified eight of them:

(Source: https://yukaichou.com)

MOTIVES

1. E PIC MEANING & CALLING: wanting to be ‘ lucky’ or have an advantage over others (for

example, scratch cards and winning codes).

2 . E M POWERMENT OF CREATIVITY & FEEDBACK: wanting to see the results of your

creat iv i ty and wanting to improve yoursel f.

3 . DEVELOPMENT & ACCOMPLISHMENT: wanting to see progression and re ward.

4. OWNERSHIP & POSSESSION: not wanting to surrender what you have bui l t up ( for

example, loyalty programmes and re ward schemes) .

5 . SOCIAL INFLUENCE & REL ATEDNESS: wanting to be part of things, wanting to be the

best ( for example, performance -based games) .

6 . SCARCITY & IMPATIENCE: wanting what you can’t have, wanting to seize opportunit ies .

7 . UNPREDICTABILITY & CURIOSITY: wanting to discover – ‘what’s the next step?’

8. LOSS & AVOIDANCE: wanting to avoid unpleasant s i tuat ions, such as miss ing out on an

opportunity


TIP: FOCUS IN ON YOUR CALL TO ACTION

Take another look at Yu-Kai Chou’s list and choose which motive you want to use in your call to action. Which motive suits your target group? And what message do you want to convey with your brand?

How can you make people go to the place you want them to be? Where are these people now? And what are they doing there?

Decide which traff ic source you want to tap into. For example: for off line shopping traff ic, include a call to action on the receipt; for online shopping traff ic, add printed materials to parcels, e-mail files, web traff ic, etc. Get advice from professionals about this.

STEP #2: CHOOSE A MEDIA STRATEGY

Gamification is a means to an end, not the goal itself. What do you want to achieve with the campaign? Register participant data? Do research? Encourage purchases? Increase loyalty among existing customers? Attract new customers? Promote new products?

An activation campaign can serve several purposes, but be selective. Make sure you have measurable goals and don’t make things unnecessarily complicated: make sure that everyone involved knows what you want to achieve with the campaign and why you want to achieve it.

How can you link these human motives to the registration and activation of your potential or current customers? How do you build a successful campaign?

STEP #1: SET YOUR GOAL

Ok. Let's talk business...


TIP: KEEP IT SUPER SIMPLE!

Gamification and gaming are two diff erent disciplines. Gamification is the smart use of elements from games to encourage people to behave in a certain way.

1. Simple gameThe simpler the objective of the game, the more people will get involved. Make sure that the game is not too intellectually demanding and is appropriate for the target group.

2. Simple technologyGenerally speaking, a complicated game concept doesn’t do much for performance or functionality. You want the campaign to work well on diff erent devices and in diff erent browsers.

STEP #3: DECIDE WHICH DATA YOU ARE GOING TO COLLECT

Decide what you want to get out of the contact moment with your target group. In addition to e-mail addresses (via double opt-in) and personal data,you could also collect:

STEP #4: CHOOSE THE RIGHT GAME ELEMENTS

Which game elements fit in well with the previous steps? Take a good look at your campaign goal, the possibilities within your traff ic source, and the data you want to collect. For example, if the goal is to increase awareness for specific products, you can use a game concept that is based on those products, such as ‘spot the diff erence’. This simple game tool increases the ‘fun factor’ of your campaign and also gives you the chance to showcase your products.

TIP: MAKE CHOICES

Don’t collect data that you’re not going to do anything with. If you have too many input fields, you’ll put people off filling in the form – so make choices.

MARKET INFORMATION FEEDBACK REVIEWS


STEP #6: ENSURE A GOOD FOLLOW-UP

EXAMPLES

Once the participants have gone through the campaign flow, you will have the data you want. Make sure you follow up actively and handle the data securely and properly. Data is precious and if you treat it the right way, you have the golden ticket!

Gamification isn’t just an eff ective way to generate a higher number of participants by appealing to an intrinsic motivation, it’s also a way to achieve commercial goals. The examples below illustrate how gamification can be used to:

• Generate data• Showcase products, brands, or collections• Stimulate online sales• Stimulate off line sales• Increase the shopping frequency

STEP #5: GETTING STARTED WITH THE CAMPAIGN

The campaign should preferably be developed by a company that is specialized in this area. Many elements are involved in the development of a cross-media or single-media campaign, such as functionality (cross browser, cross device), (privacy) legislation, printing, data processing and management, design, copy, and e-mail deliverability. Just to name a few...


MOTIVES:› Epic Meaning & Calling,› Scarcity & Impatience,› Unpredictability & Curiosity,› Loss & Avoidance

WHEEL OF FORTUNE

MOTIVES:› Epic Meaning & Calling,› Ownership & Possession,› Scarcity & Impatience,› Unpredictability & Curiosity

DIGITAL SCRATCH

MOTIVES:› Epic Meaning & Calling,› Ownership & Possession,› Scarcity & Impatience,› Unpredictability & Curiosity

GIFTBOX

CONCLUSIONIf used correctly, gamification creates commercial opportunities like no other marketing tool can. By playing on the intrinsic motivation of your target group, you will be able to grab their full attention in a positive way. It's a valuable and proven method to encourage people to perform a certain action in a fun, accessible and sustainable way.

NOTES


WOULD YOU LIKE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT GAMIFICATION AND HOW YOU CAN USE IT TO ACHIEVE YOUR MARKETING GOALS? THEN GET IN TOUCH!

JOEP VAN DEN HEUVEL [email protected] | English | German

BART [email protected] | English

ABOUT BASEBUILDE R

“BASEBUILDER HELPS RETAILERS,

E-TAILE RS AND FMCG COMPANIES

TO REGISTER AND ACTIVATE THEIR

POTENTIAL AND CURRENT CUSTOMERS

THROUGH CROSS -MEDIA CAMPAIGNS.”

gamification as a campaign tool - basebuilder · if used correctly, gamification creates commercial...

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