Where are you with gamification? Just getting going, researching your options, or still wondering how it works and what it can do for your business?
Wherever you are – keep going. The global gamification market, valued at USD 960.5m in 2014, is predicted to reach USD 22.9m by 2022. Apparently undeterred by early-adopter failures, more business leaders are seeing the possibilities and potential positive impacts of gamification.
How could gamification work in your business? Be inspired by these success stories.
Boost loyalty program membership
The hospitality chain Marriott International used gamification to encourage front desk staff to actively promote guest loyalty program membership. Using a private digital platform, staff in network hotels formed teams and competed against each other. Challenges were designed to drive specific goals and changed regularly to keep the game fresh. Real-time leaderboard results encouraged peer-to-peer recognition and the best teams were awarded prizes. The business result was meaningful, with over 400 hotels across four regions exceeding enrollment targets by 10%.
Build a brand community
The SAP Community Network (SCN) is an example of gamification at its best. As the official user community of multinational software giant SAP SE, members include users, developers, students, employees and partners, all sharing experiences with SAP products and growing a substantial knowledge base. Community members earn points for blogging, commenting, making wiki contributions and submitting whitepapers. Points are aggregated according to the area of participation and posted on a lifetime leaderboard for all to see. With 2 million unique visitors per month, that’s powerful peer recognition! The community has had its ups and downs since inception in 2003 as an exclusively developer network, but the story remains a sterling example of the motivational power of gamification.
Enhance productivity
Todoist is a productivity app that helps people track goals, projects and personal tasks. Complete a task – earn karma points. Miss a deadline – lose karma points. Which would you prefer? As users earn points they progress from ‘Beginner’ stage to ‘Enlightened’ stage, which in this case doesn’t exclude a good dose of hubris, as karma scores can be shared and compared on social media. Karma points are a great example of how a gamification mechanic should work; they’re personally meaningful and beautifully integrated into the creative narrative of the solution. And a pretty easy way to build good karma! With over 40 000 teams on the client roster, the world is about to become a better place.
Recruit and retain
Human Resources is a rich starting point for gamification. Deloitte, New Zealand created an interactive video, What would you do?, that gives recruits a view of the company’s corporate culture and explains their service lines. Viewers become the featured ‘new employee’ in the video, progressing through a day-in-the-life narrative requiring many of the decisions and choices encountered in real life at Deloitte. By the end of the video, the candidate’s ‘score’ gave HR deeper insights on the individual than the standard CV, psychometric tests and structured interviews. Gamification has given new life to HR.
More of the best
Gamification guru Yu Kai Chu kindly offers a comprehensive list of some of the most exciting and effective gamification solutions across a range of industries. Check it out and be inspired.
