Why Gamification is the Holy Grail of Business Engagement

June 10, 2011 By Leave a Comment

In an earlier article for Research Access, I discussed the process by which business ideas go from conceptual to institutional. The evolution from small idea to virtual ubiquity has at times taken decades; today, it can take as little as three years.

One such idea, still nascent, is Gamification.

Put simply, Gamification is about the holy grail of all business-engagement. As businesses seek to engage and excite customers and consumers, they flock to “medium-based” solutions versus “design-based” solutions all too often. So instead of finding a powerful interaction-metaphor to enhance engagement, many businesses have simply “gone digital” with nary a thought of what is at the core of engagement.

Put even more simply, Gamification is about making a game of EVERY single interaction and process internal AND external to any business.

My challenge to readers of Research Access:

1. Identify 4 processes that are causing trouble in your businesses
2. Ascertain whether the trouble stems from “lack of engagement”
3. Gamify these 4 processes
4. Re-measure. Are they still trouble spots?

I’m betting big on Gamification. I hope you’ll join me.

Filed Under: Gamification, Innovation Tagged With: , , ,

Engagement through Gamification

June 3, 2011 By Leave a Comment

I wanted to draw your attention to a great slide deck on the subject of audience engagement by means of gamification and game mechanics. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to find associated video of the presentation being delivered, but the slides are good enough to share on their own anyway.

In the deck, the author – Chris McClelland of Epic Labs – walks through the benefits of game mechanics when it comes to audience engagement (reward, status, respect, self expression, etc.), along with techniques that can be used to unlock those benefits.

I’ve embedded the slides below. (E-mail and RSS subscribers may need to click through to the full post to see them.)

Engagement through Gamification  


Filed Under: Featured, Gamification Tagged With: , , ,

Gamification is Game-Changing

May 16, 2011 By 3 Comments

Every large economic opportunity comes accompanied with a core theme, a mantra around which people can rally. These themes then generate a vernacular that takes on a life of its own and serves to fire the engines of inspiration in generations of entrepreneurs, investors, and practitioners. Recent examples of such themes are: Web 2.0, Cloud Computing, Location-Based Services, Marketing Services, Software-As-Service, E-commerce—and scores of others.

There’s a new theme that might eclipse all of these – Gameization (also called gamification). It has the potential to be a fundamental trend because it cuts across businesses and because it is as much about process as it is about products. Ignore it at your own peril.

So what is this concept and why is it so big?

To understand this, I urge you to think about Games at their most basic level—and then read on:
[Read more...]

Filed Under: Featured, Gamification, Social Media Tagged With: , , , , ,

Back to Basics: What is PR?

October 27, 2010 By 3 Comments

public relations –noun

1. the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc.

2. the art, technique, or profession of promoting such goodwill.

PR has always been around in one form or another. From time immemorial, PR has been a successful strategy used by Emperors and Kings, Dictators and Evangelists and Savvy politicians.

Yet I am constantly amazed at how many people misunderstand the art of and the value of Public Relations. Public relations strategies and tactics are used to positively influence perception of everything from technology and oil spills to consumer brands, television shows, politicians and philanthropic causes.

So what is PR today?  It is definitely different than it was over 100 years ago, when the term “Public Relations” was coined. How can PR work in conjunction with market research to help turn critical insights into impactful messages? To better understand, let’s start with a look at the origins of the profession.
[Read more...]

Filed Under: Marketing, Planning Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Women Take Charge of the Internet

August 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Across the globe, women are spending more time on and engaging in online social communities more deeply than men. comScore released a study called “Women on the Web: How Women are Shaping the Internet” and it reports the online habits of both genders from around the world. Even though women only comprise 47.9% of the unique visitors to social sites (as opposed to 52.1% of men), they consume 57% of the content and spend 5.5 hours per month on social sites, as compared to the 4 hours per month spent by men.

The study goes on to reveal that not only do women spend more time touring online social communities, they also spend more time shopping online, more time watching videos on YouTube, and more time overall on the internet than men do. Men, however, take the lead on engaging with the web from their SmartPhones and watching videos online.

So what do we do with this information? Does it change how we approach men and women differently when trying to engage them online? Does your approach to men vs. women change when engaging your audience via social media? We’d love to hear your stories. Please share your comments below!

Filed Under: Market Research, Marketing Tagged With: , , ,