Loyalty programs need video games. I am not recommending that we create an online World of RedeemablePointsCraft, but I am talking about injecting loyalty programs with a major dose of fun by using video game elements.

Customer loyalty programs haven’t changed much since Betty Crocker pioneered the concept. Consumers are well-versed in the loyalty cycle: spend money, earn points, redeem points, rinse and repeat. In a world where everyone fights for consumers’ attention and everything is interactive, loyalty programs are predictable.

Well-designed programs have positive impact on retaining and growing customers, but is true brand engagement driven by loyalty program experiences? Typically, no. Very few programs give consumers compelling reasons to increase their participation beyond the grind of earn and burn.

We can apply concepts that video game designers figured out years ago to engage people. You probably have a few of them in your program without even knowing. Influential game designer Amy Jo Kim defines a game as “a structured experience with rules and goals that is fun.” Apply that to your program and you will do more than making loyalty fun again; you drive deeper customer engagement through the power of game play.

Gamer Nation
To talk about video games, you need to leave any preconceptions at the door. Gamers are more than young males. In 2008, the Pew Research Center found that more than half of all U.S. adults, from Baby Boomers to Generation Y, identify themselves as active gamers. They play games as a social activity, including those on the Web, mobile phones, and consoles like Wii and Xbox.

A growing number of consumers are engaging in video games as a regular part of their lives, but why? It’s no coincidence that their popularity took off when they became more elaborate, immersible, and, most of all, social. Buried beneath their cool graphics is something much more fundamental, and game designers are extremely effective at tapping into primal psychological needs.

Humans like competition, and everyone wants to raise their social and peer status. People enjoy playing games (and learning through play), while rewards intrigue and motivate. We desire to master skills, and we set goals to achieve that mastery. When we find these elements in an experience, we “play” harder, longer, and with more enthusiasm, becoming more engaged. To be attracted to games is, fundamentally, to be human.

Loyalty programs can meet these needs, too, through the creation of meta-games, which are essentially games layered on top of our current loyalty strategies. Three steps can help you reframe your program and see it in a completely new way:

1. See yourself as a game designer. Remember, a game is just a fun experience with rules and goals. Don’t over think “game designer.” Just focus on what makes your program worth “playing.”

2. Focus on the players. They are more than just the target audience. See your customers as players and you will immediately change how you think about the experience you are creating for them. What things in your program make people want to play, learn, and achieve?

3. Master the rules and features used to produce fun, compelling, and addictive game play. Designers call these rules and features “game mechanics.” The mechanics let players know how to play the game and keep them coming back. What game mechanics can you add to your program to make people feel engaged and fulfilled?

Game Mechanics
There are hundreds of game mechanics, but here are a few you can use now:

Points: Give virtual currency that’s earned in exchange for actions and achievement. Many loyalty programs already use (and perhaps overuse) some type of points-earning system. It’s time to think of points as game “scores.” Create experience points (rewards for completing actions) and social points (given for contributing to the brand community) to go with the redeemable points.

Leaderboards: Provide the platform for players to measure their status. When players can see other players’ progress, the drive for competition and status increases. Players who earn high rankings will feel more inclined to try and keep them.

Collecting: By grouping behaviors into sets, and rewarding players for completing an entire set, you tap into the human attraction for collecting. Add a challenging behavior to a set of easier behaviors and there is great likelihood that it will be completed.

When you know the mechanics that help make something fun, it’s easy to see how games can have positive impact on customer interaction. As loyalty marketers, it’s time we stop letting everyone else have all the fun. We can make loyalty programs more successful by making them social, interactive, and engaging. It’s time for the industry to level up.


Sidebar

Visit a Place, Earn Points & Status
Unveiled a year ago, Foursquare is the latest social media phenomenon to bring game mechanics to the masses. The game’s premise is straightforward: Tell your friends where you are, then collect, share, and retrieve advice about the location. Think of it as a real-time city guide authored by your social network.

Foursquare is emerging as a marketing tool. Say you visit (or “check in” in Foursquare lingo) a restaurant. The Foursquare Web site (www.foursquare.com) or mobile app lets you see which of your friends have visited and how recently. A friend tweets a dish recommendation. You order. Brilliant restaurant marketing!

Foursquare “gamifies” the visiting of places. When you check in, you earn points, badges for visit patterns, and leaderboard rankings for your favorite attractions, shops, and neighborhoods. Visit often and you’ll get named mayor of that location.

Foursquare works by tapping into our natural affinity for social status. Social status cues are processed in the same area of the brain as monetary ones. Social status doesn’t just make us feel good, it is experienced as an actual reward.

I was recently ousted as mayor of my favorite restaurant with the message, “Don’t worry, you can get it back!” I had an immediate visceral reaction. I have to get my status back. Now I’m hungry, in more ways than one, to check in to my favorite restaurant. Call me Mayor Barry.

Barry Kirk is Maritz Loyalty Marketing’s director of strategic consulting, assisting clients with customer engagement, retention, and loyalty objectives. A self-described “geek marketer,” he brings his passions for marketing and technology to integrated communications strategies that employ social media. This page is protected by Copyright laws. Do Not Copy