Games for Marketing??

Ferrari California - 4.3-liter direct-injected V8 engine, 454 horsepower at 7,600rpm, top speed of 193mph, acceleration to the 62 mph benchmark in less than 4.0 seconds

Before you think I am a hard core racer, these are the words of my 5 year old nephew – ‘A Generation Z’er’ and a games-freak!

This generation was born into Facebook, iPhone applications, Virtual worlds and on-line gaming (I am really not as old as you might be thinking by now ). Being a marketer, I wonder why Ferrari is targeting a 5 year old kid? Did they lose all their B-school knowledge in the corporate board-rooms?? Apparently not!
It figures, Ferrari, McLaren and recently Best Buy and MTV are using games to exploit what Taylan Kadayifcioglu calls the Relevance* Stickiness factor.

Humans as competitive creatures put relevance to anything that puts them ahead of others. When playing a game the drive to get ahead pushes us to concentrate. Any information linked to that motivation receives our utmost focus. This presents a great potential opportunity for marketers to effectively utilize the undivided attention and occupy a space in the mind of the consumer. The eagerness to win also gives rise to what is called the stickiness factor. It triggers self-engagement and repetitiveness from the user while having fun. According to recent brand impact studies, associating a brand with the fun of gaming is known to lift brand metrics such as brand awareness, message association and purchase intent. After playing a game consumers are more likely to remember not just the brand or product itself, but to associate specific brand attributes with it.

If utilized effectively, this combination of relevance, stickiness and fun results in unusual levels of user retention and knowledge about your brand. Something virtually impossible to achieve with the old framework of ‘reach and frequency’.

Sounds logical and easy? Not really! A number of companies have burnt their hands in the process. So what does it take to have a successful ‘gaming’ campaign? Let’s leave the discussion for the next blog. Till then, welcome your comments and inputs.