In our fifth Biglight Briefing on 2nd December we were joined by Richard Robinson, General Manager at LeadFamly, the leading marketing gamification technology platform, to understand how game-based experiences help brands create deeper, more enduring customer engagement – and look at powerful, real world applications in retail customer experience innovation.
“Flow is the mental state a person experiences when they are completely focused on an activity like a game.”
In a fascinating session, Richard explored the behavioural science behind gamification - the psychologies and innate human behaviours that make game-based mechanics so effective at driving engagement and influencing decisions at every stage of the customer journey.
He explained:
- How brands are already using behavioural economics, or Nudge Theory techniques like anchoring, loss aversion and social proof to influence buying behaviour - but how these conversion-focused, ‘push’ techniques can harm overall brand perception.
- How game-mechanics draw on Flow Theory - which explains the deeply engaged mental state (or Flow) experienced by people engaged in game play - to create immersive digital experiences at every stage of the customer lifecycle - from awareness to loyalty.
- The five key game-mechanics used in marketing gamification, how and why they work to draw consumers in, and the challenge/reward dynamic that is so effective in influencing behaviour - for instance consumers are 40% more likely to redeem a discount voucher won through a game mechanic.
Gamification in Action
Richard also walked us through real world world examples that demonstrate the power of gamification in retail:
- How a furniture brand’s quiz mechanic brought the in-store experience online, doubled email permissions and achieved a 50% campaign to catalogue click through rate.
- How a beauty brand used a ‘drop game’ to attract 23,000 visitors with an average engagement time of more than a minute, drive 1850 voucher redemptions, and achieve £10,000 in directly attributable sales - all in just two weeks.
- How a fashion brand used a month-long scratch card mechanic to deliver 77,000 new email signups, attract 7,700 new loyalty scheme members, and secure £350,000 in additional sales.
If you couldn’t make the session, you don’t have to miss out on these insights and more. You can watch the whole session here – and we hope you find it as interesting and enjoyable as we did.
A big thank you to Richard for taking part and to our partners Tech Circus for their support.