The Role of Gamification in Experiential Marketing

The human mind can process 11 million bits of information every second, but unfortunately, we have an average attention span of 8.25 seconds, 0.75 seconds less than a goldfish.

In the monotony of today’s world and the ever-churning wheel of content, keeping your hard-earned users engaged has become a Herculean task of its own. The ability to influence, capture and harness user attention to predict their behaviour is a dream many brands chase till they meet their capitalist demise.?

Surprisingly, over the years, there has been a rise in social interactions pointing us to the direction of the current activities that take up the user's mind, such as increasing screen time, mobile usage and app downloads. It is safe to assume that smartphones are still shaping the world as we know it. The rise of mobile games and their increased usage, makes one wonder if something about these activities makes them more exciting than the norm.?

We can all relate to the rush of excitement, the anticipation of a win and the challenge that brings out the child in us all, connecting us to greater happiness. One where the user can feel comfortable building an emotional connection with the brand. This brings us to the latest trend- Gamification.

What is Gamification?

Gamification refers to the application of game-design elements and principles in non-game contexts to engage and motivate people to achieve their goals. By using this approach in marketing campaigns, brands can engage customers on a deeper level by making their interactions with them more enjoyable and rewarding.?

By turning traditional marketing activities into a game-like experience, brands can increase customer participation, foster loyalty, and create lasting emotional connections.?

Gamification theories rely heavily on the Incentive theory: Motivation through rewards. Positive reinforcement for work done, even virtual, can still elicit an intense reaction from users as much as real-life rewards.? In this case, the motivation isn’t intrinsically fueled but is derived from the anticipation of rewards. A very potent and effective motivator nonetheless.

Gamification-aided marketing campaigns can take many forms; some include the use of gamified loyalty programs, interactive quizzes, incentivized games and adverts,?

Several fundamental elements of a gamified experience can include:

• Challenges and Quests: Activities or missions that consumers can undertake to achieve specific goals.
• Points & rewards. At events, guests can collect points by winning a game or each time they purchase something. The points can be exchanged for a discount or gifts. This is common practice among arcades. They allow visitors to win tickets as they play games. The higher the score the more tickets earned. The visitor can exchange the tickets won for prizes and rewards at the redemption center.?
• Badges:? Set apart loyal and returning customers with wearable and shareable badges. This allows customers to display their newly earned badges or share them with their friends, this will increase their overall satisfaction and draw them closer to your brand. The shareability of this feature will act as a way to acquire new users.?
• Virtual currency: A community currency will give users a sense of being a part of a collective or community. Offer this currency to users as a reward for spending their money on your products. The currency can in turn be used within the business to get other products ensuring returning customers.?
• Leaderboards: Invoke the competitive nature of your users with a displayed leaderboard. Host games or challenges and broadcast the highest scorer or most active across the platform or event. This will positively encourage competition and boost user participation in future games and events.
• Countdowns. Giving guests and customers a limited time to perform tasks forces them to pay closer attention to the activity they are undertaking and the brand. The key is to keep the task enjoyable and rewarding.
• Progress tracking. An interactive and real-time progress bar or chart can increase repeated usage of a product. Giving users a visual representation of their progress or usage count can tie to a user's sense of achievement and accomplishment, all of which are necessary motivators.?
• Avatars: This offers a personalized experience of a product to the user. Allowing users 3D or 2D visual representations of themselves to act as their character during activities within the game or gamification environment, can increase the immersive experience

Benefits of Gamification

There is a reason why gamified experience works, it’s fun, interactive, challenging, and best of all, relaxing. Users can easily slip into a pattern of use/understanding without the stress of consuming bulky content.?

Experiential marketing is all about making a lasting impression. Gamification incentivizes participation and can make the brand’s marketing effort resonate with the user on a deeper level easier.?

There are countless merits of employing a gamified approach during your next event or activation;

1. Increased Engagement: Interactive elements capture consumer attention more easily by piquing their curiosity and this encourages active participation.
2. Enhanced Loyalty: Reward systems and personalized experiences foster stronger emotional connections between brands and their users, and breed brand loyalty.
3. Better Data Collection: Gamified experiences can provide valuable insights into consumer behaviour and preferences without hassle to the consumer.
4. Viral Potential: Gamified experiences have a high shareability factor due to the psychological effects leading to increased word-of-mouth and social media exposure.
5. Memorable Experiences: Creating fun and memorable interactions helps consumers associate positive feelings with the brand. A consumer is not likely to forget a brand that gave them a novel experience.

There are several examples of impactful gamified marketing campaigns in today’s market. At Connect Marketing Services, we have since implemented gamification in our campaigns. One such example would be the Mastercard x Spar x Connect Marketing Services shopper experience. We utilised VR gamification technology, to give the shoppers a unique experience during the UEFA Championship games. The four-week event which took place across multiple Spar stores in Nigeria, allowed shoppers to play the games using VR headsets in-store. With each game won, the shopper was brought closer to winning a paid trip to watch the final match.

The uniqueness of this experience lies in the fact that the consumer got two distinct experiences - the game, an exciting and engaging activity to elevate the boredom of a mundane shopping trip, and - the prize, a chance to watch your favourite team play in the electrifying stadium LIVE. This campaign was a crowd favourite no doubt and increased Spar’s and Mastercard’s brand affinity with the Nigerian market.?

Conclusion

Ultimately, positive experiences are the key to altering user behaviour. Every person has their own set of emotions, aspirations, uncertainties, and rationales that influence their willingness. Many customers value enjoyable experiences, sometimes more than the product itself.?

Brands have always used gamified elements in marketing, from scratch and win games to hunts but with new technologies come improvements to existing systems. For your brand to last the test of time, you have to evolve with customer expectations. With the rise in AI, VR and more immersive tech allowing brands to create whole worlds in a box, it has never been easier to create jaw-dropping, new-age campaigns that will keep your consumers hooked to your brand.