Two-thirds of marketers do not fully understand what ‘gamification’ means, according to research, despite 78% believing that customers are more likely to respond to marketing with a gaming element.
The survey of over 100 marketers by marketing company Upstream aimed to uncover what marketers understood about the term “gamification” and find out the extent to which the strategy is employed by marketers in the UK.
Upstream said that while the majority didn’t understand the term, which had become a popular “buzzword”, especially in areas such as social media and mobile technology, many already had experience of applying gaming elements to their marketing campaigns.
Guy Krief, senior VP of innovation at Upstream (pictured), said, “With customers being bombarded with promotional messages from brands on a daily basis, we need to help marketers make intelligent use of real-time gamification – moving it from the latest buzzword to the reality of influencing consumer behaviour.”
An example given by Krief was McDonald’s Monopoly promotion, which launched in 1987 but has since adopted new marketing channels to enhance the customer experience. The company revealed in April that its promotion this year got 2m plays in just two days, boosted by social media and mobile (nma.co.uk 18 April 2011).
Once the term was explained, the research revealed 64% considered the approach to have the potential to improve relationships with customers.
The research also asked what the best incentive is to reward consumers for engaging with their brand in game-like marketing campaigns. 34% said free products, 25% said cash, 24% said a high-value single prize and 17% said points.
