BUILDING BRANDING INTO SOCIAL ENTERTAINMENT
The secret to gamification has now been long debated. Brands have sought to prove its worth and point to a tangible ROI in justifying their forays into adding a gaming element to either internal or external communications.
Recent developments point to strategies that help brands directly benefit from their gamification elements. Ovum, a global analyst firm, says gamification works best when incentives are tied to a status-based value system and allows for user feedback. IAB research suggests that gamification can be employed as an R&D tool as well in its ability to track consumer behaviour.
“Gamification can help enhance customer engagement and manage employee behaviors and productivity levels, but there must be clear understanding of how such an initiative will directly benefit the business,” Adam Holtby, a software and IT analyst at Ovum, says. “However, to better support business goals, the mapping of the value of desired outcomes will be developed as part of the planning stage.”
In much the same way that product placement has been integrated into television and film, a new initiative integrates brands into social gaming. We R Interactive, a social entertainment company, uses gameplay and storytelling to integrate branding into social entertainment. Its music and sports games include branding from partners Nike, Gillette, EMI Music and features high-profile musicians and sportspeople to drive product awareness and brand engagement.
Nike, for one, has experienced 6.5 million visits to the Nike website through the I AM PLAYR game based on We R Interactive’s placement of the brand. Key to achieving such results is an understanding of the audience of the game. In order to succeed at driving engagement, however, brands must be integrated that are relevant to the audience, localised geographically and contain an affinity for the game’s content.
To read more about gamification, see the following links:
http://www.communicatemagazine.co.uk/news/4383-brand-loyalty-relies-on-more-than-theme-park-rides
http://www.communicatemagazine.co.uk/news/4281-media-agency-develops-gamified-operating-system
http://www.communicatemagazine.co.uk/news/3885-ben-and-jerry-dip-a-spoon-into-gamification
