Utilising Game Mechanics: Doing Verses Showing
Many people are currently talking about game mechanics, and the gamification (yuk) of culture. What is it? In a nutshell humans have a desire to play. By playing we test boundaries, we exercise cognitive flexibility, we use our imagination, and we push the limits, all in a safe environment. Therefore we are hard wired to enjoy this activity. A game is a ‘play with rules’, it’s providing structure around the play. The structure can make the play even more fun, and it certainly makes it more practical – people can join in.
Gamification, as I see it is a) taking the rules of gaming, b) marrying it with the innate desire to play, and c) applying it to settings where you want to change a behaviour. This is what is so interesting for advertisers as it closes the gap between what people want to do (play) and what we want them to do (buy).
The techniques have always been used in a cumbersome way (i.e. ‘one in every six chocolate bar wins a prize’, or ‘Happy Hour 5 -6pm’) however, by carefully looking at, pulling apart and reapplying gaming mechanics then whole industries of commerce will be reinvented, and passive one way advertising will be made redundant. Currently the US gaming industry, at $25 billion is bigger than the music and film industries put together. It’s only a matter of time before advertisers understand why.
However, getting people involved in something, even a game that’s fun to play, is difficult and requires genuine human understanding.
The above ad for Melbourne is an interesting one as the promise is there ‘Play Melbourne’, it’s a great platform of which to create many playful interactions.
…and here is a nice post-script, the gamification of news services from Google. You get badges when you digest their news services. WTF. Perceived value has a lot to answer for.
Fritz Bachen is a Consumer Psychologist and Founding Partner at Naked Communications. Fritz can be seen, read or heard at; The Gruen Transfer, ABC Radio (Sunday nights), Adnews columnist, as well as The Australian, Cleo, Mumbrella, Shop Till You Drop and so on. He speaks at numerous conferences on marketing, ideas, contemporary culture, and consumer behaviour. Fritz has degress in clinical psychology and commerce (marketing). A registered psychologist and has worked in private practice, forensic settings, advertising (Saatchi & Saatchi) and marketing consultancy (Added Value). He was also state under 12 chess champion on WA, and has a board game called The Analyst selling well in the Benelux countries.
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