Ask anyone who’s played World of Warcraft or a similar game for a while, and you’ll usually hear the same thing: ”I’m hooked!” WoW has been around for nearly 12 years, and other games online garner similar sized - and just as fanatical - fan bases. How is it that a game - with “imaginary” achievements and bragging rights - can grab someone’s attention, keep it, and even bolster it for long periods of time? Mitch is a gamer and digital strategist from Nashville, TN. In this session, he’ll go over a few of the top games on the market today - World of WarCraft, Final Fantasy XIV, and Destiny - and will look under the hood to see what marketing and psychological methods they use to attract customers. We’ll look at real case studies and observations that we can distill down into actionable points that you can do now to turn your marketing campaigns around. Finally, we’ll look at how those companies interact with their customers - even when they’re not logged on - to keep themselves in mind and in focus.

1. Using Gamification to Enhance your Marketing Campaigns
Mitch Canter • @thatmitchcanter • mitchcanter.com

2. Hello!

3. Mitch Canter
WordPress Designer • Digital Strategist

4. Lucina Alastairi
Healer / Tank • Final Fantasy XIV

6. Why?

7. Bragging Rights. To Socialize. Sweet Loot. For The Challenge. For Fun!

8. Player Counts by Game:
World of Warcraft: 12m Subs
Final Fantasy XIV: 5m Subs
Destiny: 9.5m Users
The Division: 6.4m Users

9. What is Gaming?

10. Gaming is: A contest or world with set rules and principles that people interact with for pleasure.

11. Gamification is: Utilizing set principles and rules to encourage interaction with your brand or business.

12. Why is gamification important?

13. To enhance fan interaction and happiness. (We use gaming principles to stimulate the pleasure centers in the brain)

14. Because FUN and WORK are not mutually exclusive! (Brands have personality. Not everyone’s personality is stuffy and dry!)

15. Principles of Gamification

16. Types of Players

17. Bartle’s Taxonomy

18. The Achiever. Driven by in-game goals. Experience, money, levels, or points.

19. The Socialite. Driven by social and group actions. Enjoys interacting with other players

20. The Explorer. Driven by the thrill of discovery and “new”. Will explore, map, and track to win.

21. The Killer. Driven by player competition and fame. Inflicts pain, anxiety, and distress.

22. Players vs. World // Acting vs Interacting.

23. Types of Interactions

24. Exploration. Visiting Locations • ”Showing Up”. Passive Interactions

25. Participation. Completing Quests • Fulfilling Missions. Active Interactions.

26. Logarithmic Leveling

27. Linear Leveling. All Levels attained at the same rate. Later levels feel “cheap”.

29. Logarithmic. Level gaining is “scaled” to introduce challenge.

31. Shown Progress.

32. Progress Bar. Motivates People to Finish/Complete their Quests

33. Flow

34. What is Flow? State of deep focus on an activity.

35. Clear Goals. High Concentration. Distorted Time Sense. Intrinsically Rewarding. Sense of Personal Control.
Absorption into the activity. Direct / Immediate Feedback. Loss of Self in the interaction. Lack of Awareness of
Bodily Needs. Balance between level and challenge.

36. Quantifiable Outcome

37. Interactions MUST BE COUNTED!

38. 1. Set Key Performance Indicators (KPI).
2. Note KPI metrics BEFORE campaign.
3. Run campaign or simulation
4. Note change in results.
5. Adjust as necessary (important).

39. Practical Examples

40. Leaderboards. Used to track both personal / group progress.

41. Quests. Objectives to Complete.

42. Badges: Token rewards for completing objectives.

43. Trivia: Rewarding knowledge of your brand.

44. Achievements. Titles/awards given for reaching milestones

45. Case Studies

46. DMA Friends. No more paid admission. Badges / Achievements / Points.
Increased Engagement. Increased Donation Amounts

47. FoldIT. Gamification of Science Research. 15-Year AIDS Virus Problem. Solved
in *10 Days*

48. http://www.slideshare.net/IanMcCarthy/is-it-all-a-game-understanding-the-principles-of-gamification-46886423
http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/26-elements-of-a-gamification-marketing-strategy/
Sources

49. Thanks again! Mitch Canter • @thatmitchcanter • mitchcanter.com