Ok that’s a bit of an overstatement however according to Seth Priebatsch, the founder of now Google backed location based service (LBS) SCVNGR and Silicon Valley sweetheart, we are through creating a ‘social layer’ facilitated by Facebook’s Open Graph but rapidly constructing a ‘game layer’ facilitated by rapidly emerging LBS’s such as Foursquare and Gowalla. As far as consumer engagement funnels are concerned, the social and gaming layer will work harmoniously together complementing each other. Whilst the former (social) connects us to each other, the latter (game) influences us to actually transact in the real world, utilizing gaming mechanics and a rewards based system such as virtual gifts. In Fig.1 below we see how social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and the usual suspects take us only so far down the funnel, its only when a gaming mechanic kicks in, that a physical action occurs and that’s powerful for anyone in the business of influence or behavioral change.
SCNGR’S founder keynoted at this year’s SXSW Interactive festival in Austin, Texas attended by over 40,000 nerds, VC’s, Silicon Valley startups, digital media folk and Valtech Denmark’s own ninja Jonathan Astor all geeking out together on the very latest thinking on all things interactive. SCVNGR is a (LBS) like Foursquare/Gowalla but on steroids, not only can you check-in to venues but participants can also leave challenges behind for peers to complete and pick up points and badges. Seth demonstrated quite ably how check-ins at physical venues can generate commercial success however this is ameliorated once you add further challenges to the equation and that’s the whole point of SCVNGR, its more than just a check-in concept and there’s more to the game hence its stickier and then some. Others to have graced SXSW Interactive in years gone by have been the likes of Jobs, Gates, Zuckerberg, the Foursquare founders to name a few. SXSW is a big deal that’s what i’m trying to say.
I digress. As being social is such an inherent human behavioral pre-disposition, so is gaming . We’re born to be social, we’re also wired to game from birth. Seth proceeded to demonstrate that a game layer applied to education, customer acquisition, loyalty and even global warming will be instrumental in overcoming obstacles faced in attempts to make them more effective. Take schools, currently based on an antiquated grading score or a ‘broken game’, as he puts it, where you can lose too easily and based on a negative points system where you pass or fail breeding winners and losers – and that ain’t right. No child should be made to feel like a failure. Introduce a positive game layer, where you gain badges for achievement or an improved avatar as you proceed to the next level, breeds just winners as you can’t lose, its simply about the time it takes to get from one level to the next. This turns a negative game into a positive one and eradicates failure and furthermore may well engage kids to a higher degree by applying the cultural practices of their digital lives into the less engaging and more staid ‘classroom’ experience. School is a game just a poorly designed one. How many other institutions or corporations are in the ‘broken game’ category that this applies to?
The game layer can also be applied to customer acquisition as a rewards based system and level progression dynamic can keep customers’ loyal and returning to a brand’s digital/physical spaces time and time again, similar to Amex’s card system where you can graduate from colour to colour or the airmiles system. The key drivers to an effective game are ‘communal gameplay’, that’s the social aspect – ‘a free offer’, that’s the reward and a ‘countdown’, so offers are time limited to encourage immediate uptake. These are the exact ‘game’ drivers to $15 billion dollar valued Groupon’s crowdsourced platform’s success, as dissected by Seth. Other mechanics would be providing stakeholders with status. Check out Microsoft’s Most Valued Partner Programme that rewards their most engaged advocates with a title or exclusive badge or Starbuck’s that automatically enters its Foursquare mayors into the ‘Starbucks Society’. Not only does this drive loyalty but also positive word of mouth – who isn’t going to tweet or post about this?
Our 21 year old check-in champ would have you believe that the game layer can also solve global warming, he gives no evidence of this however it reminded me of a story I heard a while back about an electricity supplier who used a game of sorts to help reduce its customers consumption. Customers were advised on their bill not only of their total consumption for the period, but also that of their neighbours. They were presented with a leaderboard with those at the top being the ones who consumed the least power. On receiving their next bill those performing poorly initially now started turning off their lights as they should do, and consumed less power . However initial leaders started performing worse and dropped down the leaderboard. The lesson here is that a gaming mechanic works but needs to be complemented by a rewards system, or better still immediate gratification in order to incentivize folks to keep performing or transacting for a sustained period of time, not just once or twice. This is an awesome example of the social and gaming layer working in synch and that’s what the digital savant is telling us. The social being connecting people together and driving community around electricity usage levels, the leaderboard and rewards system being the game layer. One without the other may weaken the ability to influence at the most critical points of the engagement funnel. Bring on the game layer and things get done, not only passed around, posted, tweeted, retweeted, that in their own rights essential, however in isolation less potent.
Seth got my mind wondering into its creative faculty. Imagine if you apply this logic to pharma or healthcare, one of many of Valtech’s specialisms. A newly diagnosed diabetes patient starts treatment paying 100% of their medical care themselves. However as he/she starts building points and badges checking in to gyms, eating well, injecting and testing properly, their costs spiral downwards, potentially to zero. Therefore you get rewarded for taking care of yourself and penalized for not following doctors orders. Somebody stop me please.. how about other client sectors?. I’m sold it makes sense. Life could well prove to be one big check-in .Wanna play?
