Game-Based Marketing Inspire Customer Loyalty Through Rewards, Challenges, and Contests

by Zichermann, Gabe; Linder, Joselin

• ISBN13: 9780470562239
• ISBN10: 0470562234
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-03-29
• Publisher: Wiley

Summary

Harness the power of games to create extraordinary customer engagement with Game-Based Marketing.Gamification is revolutionizing the web and mobile apps.Innovative startups like Foursquare and Swoopo, growth companies like Gilt and Groupon and established brands like United Airlines and Nike all agree: the most powerful way to create and engage a vibrant community is with game mechanics. By leveraging points, levels, badges, challenges, rewards and leaderboards - these innovators are dramatically lowering their customer acquisition costs, increasing engagement and building sustainable, viral communities.Game-Based Marketing unlocks the design secrets of mega-successful games like Zynga's Farmville, World of Warcraft, Bejeweled and Project Runway to give you the power to create winning game-like experiences on your site/apps. Avoid obvious pitfalls and learn from the masters with key insights, such as: Why good leaderboards shouldn't feature the Top 10 players. Most games are played as an excuse to socialize, not to achieve. Status is worth 10x more than cash to most consumers. Badges are not enough: but they are important. You don't need to offer real-world prizing to run a blockbuster sweepstakes.And learn even more: How to architect a point system that works Designing the funware loop: the basics of points, badges, levels, leaderboards and challenges Maximizing the value and impact of badges Future-proofing your design Challenging users without distractionBased on the groundbreaking work of game expert and successful entrepreneur Gabe Zichermann, Game-Based Marketing brings together the game mechanics expertise of a decade's worth of research. Driven equally by big companies, startups, 40-year-old men and tween girls, the world is becoming increasingly more fun.Are you ready to play?

Author Biography

Gabe Zichermann is the father of Funware theory and CEO of beamME—the world's most popular mobile networking platform for professionals. He is a twelve-year game-industry veteran, having worked for CMP Media as the director of marketing for the Game Developers Conference, Gamasutra, and Game Developer magazine, as well as helping to launch and guide Trymedia Systems from start to sale as the first successful online game DRM and distribution company. A resident of New York City, Gabe blogs about games and society at funwareblog.com.

Joselin Linder is a pop culture writer, filmmaker, and entrepreneur. She currently lives in Brooklyn.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. xiii
Foreword	p. xv
Introduction	p. 1
The Argument for Loyalty	p. 9
"Stickiness" Is Loyalty	p. 13
Playing with Loyalty	p. 14
The Future of Loyalty—Frequent Flyer Games	p. 16
Communities of Influence: Flyertalk	p. 18
Funware: Putting Fun into Everything	p. 19
Chase "Goes Dutch"	p. 20
The Value of Prizes	p. 23
Game Mechanics	p. 25
Don't Hate the Player, Hate the Game	p. 28
Passive Play	p. 31
The Incidental Games We Play	p. 33
Latte Leaders: Status and Levels	p. 34
Black Cards and Red Carpets	p. 36
Keeping Score	p. 38
The Subway Scrum: Rules of Play	p. 39
The Bar Brawl: Demonstrable Status	p. 41
The Components of Funware	p. 43
Social Networks and Leaderboards	p. 45
Social Network Clutter	p. 47
Marketing with Social Networks	p. 48
Orkut: A Case Study in Leaderboard Effectiveness	p. 48
Funware at Work: Facebook Friend Games	p. 50
No News Isn't Good News	p. 51
Leaderboards in Business	p. 52
The Jigsaw Example	p. 53
Correctly Using Leaderboards	p. 55
Points Proxy: Masking and Directing Behaviors	p. 57
Wal-Mart and the Theory of Relativism	p. 59
Leaderboard Levels	p. 61
Leaderboards: The Top 10	p. 62
Funware Mechanics: Points and Beyond	p. 65
Making Points the Point	p. 68
Point Mechanics and Branding	p. 69
Virtual Economics	p. 70
Virtual Currency	p. 71
Real-World Value versus Virtual Value	p. 72
Creating an Easy and Effective Virtual Economy	p. 73
Badging Players	p. 74
Newbie Badges	p. 77
Building Levels	p. 77
America's Army	p. 80
Defining and Meeting Goals	p. 81
Bringing Players into the Game	p. 85
Tracking Behavior	p. 87
Meaningful Status Displays	p. 88
Prizes and Games of Chance	p. 91
The Ansari X PRIZE: The Power of Games to Change the World	p. 93
Can't Buy Me Love: Choosing Prizes	p. 95
Games of Chance	p. 97
Games of Chance and the Law	p. 98
McDonald's Monopoly Game: A Case Study	p. 99
The Value of a Prize	p. 102
Long-Term Motivation and Customer Loyalty	p. 104
Gaming the System	p. 105
Amazon Reviews: Community Policing at Its Finest	p. 106
Using Sweepstakes to Fight Gaming	p. 107
Virtual Points and Prizes	p. 108
The Ultimate Funware: Frequent Flyer Programs	p. 111
Frequent Flyer Programs Take Off	p. 114
What Business Are Airlines In?	p. 114
Designing the Frequent Flyer Massive Multiplayer Online Game	p. 117
The Power of Points	p. 119
Getting There without Points	p. 122
Real-World Redemptions: Do They Matter?	p. 122
The Solution Is Virtual Goods	p. 123
But Does Redemption Matter?	p. 125
Levels and Badges in FFPs	p. 126
Throwing Your Weight Around	p. 127
Benefits of Status	p. 129
The Level Error of FFPs	p. 132
Going Above and Beyond: The Boss Level	p. 133
Challenges and Contests	p. 135
United's Team Challenge	p. 137
Making It Work for You	p. 138
Know Thy Player	p. 141
Bartle's Player Types	p. 144
Achievers (♦)	p. 145
Socializers (♥)	p. 146
Explorers (♠)	p. 147
Killers (♣)	p. 147
The Naïve Player	p. 148
Competitiveness: The Most Important Motivation?	p. 150
Closing the Gender Gap	p. 153
Nike+: Early Adopter Advantage	p. 154
Fahrvergnügen's Failure	p. 156
The Wrap-Up	p. 158
The Future of Gamers: Generation G	p. 161
A Generation Gap	p. 163
What Makes Generation G Special?	p. 164
The Trends	p. 165
Smith & Tinker	p. 166
The Gulf Is Real	p. 171
The Effect of Games: Tetris, Team Building, and Tug of War	p. 173
The Character of a Generation of Gamers	p. 174
Conclusion: Successfully Marketing to Generation G	p. 177
Motivating Sales with Funware: Getting Employees into the Game	p. 181
Front Line and Top of Mind	p. 183
Bitten by the Achievement Bug	p. 185
Mary Kay: Generating Loyalty	p. 187
Trust and Motivational Funware	p. 188
Sales Teams and Customer Trust: Pep Boys	p. 190
Making the Corporate Personal through Games	p. 191
Funware at Work: Wells Fargo's Stagecoach Island	p. 192
Playing Together	p. 194
Everyone Wins: Games in Your Business	p. 197
Product Power	p. 199
Advergames and In-Game Advertising	p. 200
Pursuing, Engaging, and Rewarding Customers: The Business of Lifestyles	p. 202
Arming Your Business	p. 202
First Steps Are the Hardest	p. 203
Do It for the Children	p. 204
Funware on the Rise	p. 205
References	p. 207
Index	p. 211
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