Raf Keusterman on Gamification

Social Games & Gamification

RAF KEUSTERMANSIndependent ConsultantGlobal Marketing DirectorPlayfish (EA) 2009-2010Marketing Director EMEA Pogo.com (EA) 2008-2009Head of Marketing Western Europe Unibet.com 2005-2008Project Manager & StrategicPlanneratBBDO, Grey and DuvalGuillaume (Publicis Groupe) 1998-2001 / 2002-2005Co-Founder start-up (Cyganet - online communitytools & services) 2001-2002raf.keustermans@gmail.com@raf_keustermans

Games & GamificationTimeline
Gamification
SocialGames
PONG
1972
2005
1994
2012
2007
2010
1980’s
Brands (re)discoverGames
« Golden Age of Arcade
Games »
XBOX 360
PS3

Before 2008:
Games = Niche
Big, But ClosedIndustry
Brands & Non-Gamers Not Welcome

Number of gamersexploded:
2000: 250M
2011: 1B+
New fast-growing ‘open’ platforms (Fb, iOS)
Metrics-led design, new generation of gamedevs
Broadband penetration
Free!

Hyped, inflated, but
REAL REVENUE

WhyShould You Care?
150B minutes spent EVERY MONTH on social games
That’s an average of 10 minutes for everyone on the planet!
Or 3,4M years are spend/wasted on social gameseveryyear.
Wow!
Next-Generation Marketing
Gamification, Social media, Earned Media, Conversational, Metrics-Led Design, Micro-Segmentation

Social games = (much) bigger than primetime TV shows

A diverse audience
7 to 77
F > M
30+
‘Non-Gamers’

Brands Are Welcome!

HugeGrowth+ High (Perceived) Engagement + Big $$ + New Generation of Game Developers = Brands and Non-Gamecompanies are gettinginterestedin Games.

Gamification!
Gamification is the use of game mechanics for non-game applications.
Game mechanics:
Level structure
Reward (feedback) systems: points, badges, …
Competitiveelements (leaderboards, tournament)
Appointmentmechanics
Virtual currency

Gamification: two main schools of thought
« Certain gamemechanicscanwork as a STANDALONE solution outside a gameenvironment.
E.g. using ‘levels’ canbe a great solution to structure content or complexprocesses.
Usinggamemechanicsdoesn’tmeansomethingneeds to look or feellike a game.»
« Gamesonlyworkbecause all the differentelements TOGETHER makeit an engagingexperience; narrative, character & level design, art style, sound, gameplay and gamemechanics.
You can’tjusttake one of thoseelementout of it and hopeit has the same impact on engagement. »

Criticism:
‘Pointsification’
Fluffymetrics (‘engagement’)
Re-inventingloyaltysystems
Uglyword
Most gamificationprojects are glorifiedloyalty programs.
Strange, most (social) gamessucksatretainingusers:
60-70% neverreturnsafter first game session
Only 15-20% still active 30 daysafterinstalling the game

But… somegamemechanicscanworkoutsidegames!
Use Levels to structure content, processes
Make a registration process (or taxform) easier & more fun
Break down stuff in little, chewable bits
Feedback loops (direct/indirect) increasevelocity of user feedback
Understand drop-out points, funnelleaks
Fail fast & cheap. Learn. Iterate.
‘Status’ isextremelypowerful.

And Even Badges Can Work!
Nothing New
Relevant if thereis a context/meaning

Raf Keustermans
raf.keustermans@gmail.com
twitter.com/raf_keustermans

Raf Keusterman on Gamification

by Claire Thompson on May 14, 2011

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Raf Keusterman on Gamification — Presentation Transcript