Innovative Leaders in Gamification

Gamification is quite the hot topic in marketing of late, with a handful of organizations seeking out unique ways to incorporate such angles into their marketing strategy. With the success and popularity of Zynga’s FarmVille and other such applications, savvy marketers the world over have acknowledged the subtle potential of fusing entertainment with marketing, as a means of stimulating engagement and encouraging consumer participation with the brand. A few examples of best practice are as follows. Vostu, the massively successful Brazilian startup, was able to build a business entirely centered around social network gaming. Vostu was clever in capitalizing on the popularity of games such as FarmVille by bringing similarly addictive games to the Brazilian market; this proved an extremely well-received strategy, with the value of the company being recently estimated at 300 million. A further example of marketing innovation through gamification are Koko digital, a UK based company specializing in formulating advergames and designing other such game-oriented marketing strategies for companies who recognize the value of entertainment marketing in securing participant information, encouraging involvement and amassing huge amounts of traffic to a company’s online channels. Koko is an example of the growing army of digital development houses fulfilling brands’ desire for marketing leadership through innovative gaming: the challenge for these businesses is to decide whether to take the client retention approach or to drive business through their own unique approach. Kiip is another company which has tapped in to the gamification trend by combining social, mobile and gaming facets to develop marketing experiences whereby users are offered specific tangible rewards based on their achievements and experiences in virtual game environments. Several big brands have recognized the inherent value in gaining customer loyalty through this approach. Lest we forget Angry Birds, the mobile game sensation by Rovio which, due to its immense popularity, somehow managed to evolve from mobile game into a full length feature film, to be released, prospectively, in 2014/2015. All in all it goes without saying that in an increasingly digitally oriented business world, gaming oriented marketing strategies are a worthwhile consideration, especially considering the viral potential and immense buzz surrounding all types of social/mobile games in recent years. If you see yourself as someone who is constantly on the lookout for innovative ideas and business propositions, keep abreast of all the newest and most innovative ideas in marketing and business contexts by signing up for Innovators, and joining the Innovation Exchange. And if you’d like to make gamification part of your strategy, why not submit a brief to our professional creatives?