Gamification is a trend of using game mechanics for non-game applications to encourage desired behaviors. Interest in gamification is growing based on increased search interest and news mentions. While some businesses have seen success increasing loyalty and engagement through gamification, the field is still new with many open questions around long term effectiveness and how to properly implement gamification strategies.

1. Gamification: trends
Manchester Metropolitan University
MSc Digital Marketing Communications
Holly Bearne, Chris Philpott, Ivelina
Ivanova and Ged Carroll

2. What is gamification?

4. “Gamification” describes the broad trend of
using play mechanics for non-game
applications in order to encourage people to
adopt applications or engage in desired
behaviours. The technique can encourage
people to perform chores that they ordinary
consider boring, such as completing surveys,
employee performance, training, remembering
to take medicine , shopping or social change. –
Davis Wright Tremaine LLC – An
Introduction to Gamification April 2011

5. How?*
• Status
• Access
• Power
• Stuff
Gabe Zichermann author of Gamification by Design: Implementing Game
Mechanics in Web and Mobile Apps

7. Trends

8. Search interest
Google Insights for Search

9. Measure of discussion in news
sources
Sysomos MAP: global mentions (taken May 11, 2012)

10. Gamification interest
We looked at Amazon’s catalogue as a proxy for market interest
in gamification:
• Overall interest in gamification*
– 16 new books on Amazon.com in last 90 days
– 5 new books in last 30 days
– Out of 51 books available for sale
• Marketing related interest*
– 5 new books on Amazon.com in last 90 days
– 1 new book in last 30 days
– Out of 12 books available for sale
• By comparison digital marketing*
– 1,992 new books in last 90 days
– 567 new boosk in last 30 days
– Out of 366,123 books available for sale
*Amazon.com search accessed May 11, 2012

11. In business
• By 2015, More Than 50 Percent of Organizations That
Manage Innovation Processes Will Gamify Those
Processes – Gartner Research – Gartner Enterprise
Summit 2011
• Gamification of apps is the ultimate way to engage a
new generation of audiences – Bing Gordon, partner
KPCB (Top Mobile Internet Trends, Meeker &
Murphy, KPCB
• In 2012, moves beyond entertainment to business
performance, using intrinsic design, intrinsic
motivation and the sense of accomplishment that
comes from completing activities with clear and
personal value Deloitte – Tech Trends 2012

12. Measuring success
M2 Research – Gamification in 2012

13. Social networks helps fuel
gamification
• 436 million users on Facebook gaming –
M2 Research
– Badgeville based on Facebook
– Foursquare shares to Twitter and Facebook
– Powerplantville shares to Facebook

14. Successes
• Savannah Morning News – 3 times loyalty
increase score for gamified audiences
(Business2Community.com)
• Allkpop.com – a hallyu culture site with 4
million unique users (SEOMoz)
– Using Badgeville: they experienced a 104%
increase in shares, 36% rise in comments and
24% more pages viewed

15. What we don’t know
• New area so a lot of gaps in knowledge, most
information is anecdotal
– When it started different sources talk about 2007 or
2008
– Not a lot of case studies available
– Programme failure rates – no real data yet that we
could find
– Is social gaming gamification?
– What about persuasion marketing?
– Examples are of brand engagement, but what about
conversion?
– Will it become gamed out?

16. In conclusion
• New area
– First conference in 2011
– Not mentioned once in Econsultancy Smart Pack on
Social Gaming published in January 2011
• Confusion over what gamification was and how to
implement it
• Is it purely a digital thing? No
• Motivation / engagement could be in the game and
not the product, wrong motivational direction –
good game mechanic design / selection critical
• Social networks helpful in spreading kudos:
Facebook, Twitter