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Gamification

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Using gaming behaviour to engage consumers in our social world

by Ryan Wolman

Gaming behaviour is inherent in all of us. We’re hard-wired to seek out rewards and alter our behaviour to escalate these rewards. We define ourselves through challenges, successes and failures. We compete in all aspects of our lives: who gets the promotion, who we can get into bed, who has the smartest kid in Grade 3. It’s part of why video games have become so astoundingly popular, driving a multibillion-dollar global industry.

So how can we harness the fun and engagement of game behaviour and apply them to other things? This idea is a relatively new one. Those working in the social space have been aware of the principle, but only recently has it been defined as a practice.

“Gamification” is the practice of using game philosophies and mechanics – competition, comparison and reward – to entice users to participate on a deeper level in something outside of a traditional “game.” This could be a social application, an ad campaign, a political movement or any real world social situations. For online thinkers, this means building in game-like structures to train users without the old-school marketing incentives of contests or offers. After all, novelty is currency online. Amusement is its own reward.

Think back to the dawn of Facebook. After signing up, our first impulse was to check the “score” and see who had the most friends. We were instantly drawn into the most literal popularity contest ever.

Of course, that was that was just Level 1-1. Facebook continued to add more “levels,” layers of functionality and tools to get us more involved. How many pokes did I get? How many comments on my vacation pics? How many people liked my status or tagged me? Facebook has game mechanics woven into every part of it.

Gamification is about using this natural behaviour to increase a user’s engagement with a particular application. This could be a marketing campaign with an ingrained sense of both competition and cooperation, such as the Nike Plus running community. It could be a loyalty program, such as Air Miles, in which collection becomes a pursuit of its own. It could even be a product launch, such as the Nissan Leaf, that builds enviro-advocacy into the social campaign.

Gamification is often used to kick-start the popularity of an application, even when it’s not the core function. Foursquare is a perfect example. Early adopters were hooked by badges and mayorships, and a competitive spirit kept them checking in, not just daily, but hourly. This was essential to building the critical mass for social success. Level 1 was a smash hit, but what happens next? To keep its users engaged and involved, Foursquare now needs to take itself beyond the game and build something more content-driven, or risk losing players.

Taking gamification out of the gaming context and seeing it as a psychological imperative above social marketing will allow us to create deeper, richer and more enjoyable ways for us to connect with our consumers.

After all, in the social world, nothing is free. Boredom equals demand and excitement is a commodity. If you want people to engage with your brand, to create content, to become advocates and contributors, think less David Ogilvy and more Mary Poppins. Find the spoonful of sugar and they’ll be lining up for the medicine in no time.

Ryan Wolman is the creative director of henderson bas kohn in Toronto and a frequent contributor to Applied Arts

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