How gamification as a marketing tactic can help brands and marketers engage and tap into a wider audience.

• Storytelling has always been an integral part of branding and marketing. Marketers across the world vouch for the power of good brand storytelling with stories that are emotional, inspirational, and authentic in nature. Ideally, every business and product has a story that can be weaved from the process of its inception and when this story is easy to understand and relatable, the brand becomes more relevant to the consumer. Similar to the storytelling aspect of marketing, gamification is an emerging trend.
• An increasing number of companies are applying this technique to gain a competitive edge and influence their customers.

• An efficient gamification strategy can offer improved recall and retention. Modern customers are tech-savvy and can be easily found on the internet & social media. This changing behavior of customers has helped companies to connect with their consumer base easily in the form of games, especially if developed for a brand or product, and competitions held on social media and portals as prime examples of the marketing strategy.

• The trend of embedding gamification into the marketing process has managed to help brands change the perception of advertising from mundane commercials, hoarding, and front-page covers into an interesting and attractive element, where the audience can not only participate but in some cases, also contribute in real-time. Such campaigns provide the ease of customization according to the business objectives and brands can now track the real-time reach and activities of their campaign, which was unthinkable only a decade ago. This, in turn, also acts as a continuous feedback loop.

• Quizzes, as a form of gaming, have always been attractive and also to some extent addictive. People love to watch the intellectual display of another human being and also love to compete on that level for the excitement and thrill it can offer. In the marketing context, a quiz can be developed and customized as per the need of the marketer. Possible branding opportunities can be taken advantage of, by leveraging appealing headlines, descriptions, and even audio and visuals.

• When the content is engaging to the potential buyers they are much more likely to share their personal information with marketers which makes the process incredibly effective at generating leads, engaging the audience, and much more.

• For example, with portals like Brain Bout, brands have been able to attract more attention from people compared to traditional means. The prizes offered for top contestants raise the bar, thereby creating excitement to understand the products showcased, in order to answer the quiz and be on top of the leader board. This sort of gamification and a reward attached to it creates a medium for stronger grasping of product knowledge and hence, raises the recall value in the minds of the audience.

• Major insurance companies have been using quizzing as a tool to educate people about their insurance products. Realizing that many people still face difficulty in choosing the right insurance product, a renowned insurance brand recently shared knowledge about the difference between their products, what should be the financial goal and how to choose a suitable plan through the quiz. Similarly, another Insurance major held a quiz contest with the aim to educate millennials about long term insurance plans for financial protection.

• Travel brands use quizzing as a platform to enlighten existing and prospective members about the safety standards & precautions being followed at their properties.

• Quizzing can be a great source of entertainment for cab brands, as they engage passengers on their journey while earning ad revenue. Social awareness campaigns can be run through quizzing to create high recall value. From the automobile sector to the IT, e-commerce, real estate, pharma, healthcare, manufacturing sectors, brands across industries can innovatively harness the power of quizzing to ace their marketing game.

• With its ability to connect a chord with the audience, manage perception for brands, and create a recall and brand pull, quizzing is the power tool for effective branding and marketing in today’s digital era.

 

• This article piece is authored by Nishant Parashar, Founder – BrainBout, and it also featured in Social Samosa