Matogen Applied Insights (MAI) analysed the results of a telecoms client’s gamification marketing exercise.
Marketing using play
Play is an innate component of the human experience and from an early age children acquire cognitive and social skills through playing games. The same innate psychological triggers that make games enjoyable have been shown to trigger consumer engagement and retention in the field of marketing.
“Gamification marketing” is defined as harnessing gaming elements in a non-gaming context as part of marketing campaigns to increase the level of participation and influence consumer behaviour.
Rewards programmes are a traditional, tried-and-tested type of gamified marketing that is a widely used tool that rewards brand loyalty. Customers earn points by spending more on a particular brand and perks and rewards are allocated based on a tiered system.
In online language learning, gamification is used to set incremental goals to motivate people in the arduous journey of acquiring a new language. Controversially, online gamified simulations have been used to gauge interest in, and encourage, enlistment in the US military.
Marketers within the sport and exercise realms have included gamification to unleash consumers’ innate competitiveness while promoting their products and FMCG companies often used contests with entry contingent upon goods purchases.
Spin & Win Analysis
A client in the telecoms sector is very active in a consumer sector that is noteworthy for its price-sensitivity, i.e the extent to which the product price affects consumers’ purchasing behaviour. The company had previously embarked on a gamified marketing campaign to foster brand loyalty in this volatile space.
Matogen Applied Insights (MAI) was contracted to analyse data on three gamified marketing campaigns to establish whether they were successful.
Data was analysed for almost 2 million subscribers that played the game during the three campaigns; scrutinising trends and comparisons to subscribers that did not participate in the game. Significant trends and insights were uncovered relating to recharge frequency, additional revenue generated and active days data.
The MAI team was able to pinpoint and quantify the differences between game-playing and non game-playing cohorts, assisting the client in planning future strategic marketing efforts.
