The foundation of marketing is beginning to shift. For many decades, TV has been the focus of advertising campaigns, but with the Internet, social media, and now games, the structure of advertising has been forced to follow the audience to increasingly interactive mediums. Right now, social media is king, but quickly games will be the new TV.
Innovation Games has recently developed an interesting product in this category, Knowsy. Innovation Games has typically been involved with gamification of the enterprise and develops digital and community based games around product development and internal communication. Knowsy represents a new direction for the company. Knowsy is an iPad app that is described as “a sophisticated advertising and choice modeling market research platform disguised as an incredibly fun game.” The app promises new developments in the balancing act between game platform and advertising platform.
In the Knowsy platform, advertisements do not take on the typical (annoying) location on a secluded bar at the bottom of the screen. Instead, they become an integral part of the game play. The goal of the game is to see how well you know your friends, family, and/or co-workers. Participants play in rounds to guess each other’s favorite items in their individual “like” lists, on topics such as favorite Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavors, iPad apps, sport bikes or vacation destinations. The player who knows the other participants’ likes and dislikes the best wins the game. “Knowing” someone just by the places they shop may seem like a shallow way to play, but focusing on another’s likes and dislikes is a fun and interactive way to get to see how familiar you are with someone.
Beyond the consumer facing game, Knowsy can be “skinned” to create customized applications to drive in-store sales and loyalty programs. Knowsy Knows is the merchant facing platform. It promises to drive in-store contests and provide a fun way to rate merchandise (or a pain free past-time for a bored boy-friend or hyperactive children). The product is already in use at a select few stores in the Bay Area, and it will be interesting to see how businesses best make use of the platform.
Banner ads and traditional online advertising has seen some dark days of spam, pop-ups, and cookies that track your every online activity. As annoying as advertising is, I look forward to the new direction. As Innovation Games puts it, “Advertisers want to invest in ads that create positive experiences and drive actual behavior because the ads are presenting their product and service in a compelling way. What if advertisements were as positive and engaging as the games being played?” What if, indeed?
