Beintoo Chases the Long Tail of Gamification

Beintoo is a gamification startup out of Milan that focuses on uniting users across the app ecosystem with a series of socially oriented game mechanics. So far, gamification platforms have been gunning for big targets, with the majority working on projects around larger brands and campaigns. Beintoo is the next step in the trend towards using gamification for small business loyalty. The company differentiates itself by pursuing the thousands of other small developers, campaigns, and apps that concentrate on mobile. They launched their SDK at the beginning of March, and according to Antonio Tomarchio, founder and CEO, the community already has over five hundred thousand weekly active users.

Beintoo focusses on accessibility and scalability in order to make the platform available to the masses. Their SDK allows developers to use a handfull of social game mechanics popularized by gamification, achievements, leaderboards, social graph, messaging, challenges, and rewards. Developers can select what they want, and they customize the game mechanics to their needs. Bedollars and Bepoints connect across independent apps to give access to discounts and both virtual and real rewards.

Beintoo’s independent approach is important for a few reasons, according to Antonio,

“First of all, we only focus on mobile apps because we believe that mobile apps are very suitable for gamification, even if they are not games… The second part is that we have developed a gamification framework where software developers can sign up for free, download our SDK, and within the SDK there are many game mechanics they can choose from… The third difference is that we believe gamification among mobile apps can be the means for building a new kind of social life, because the mobile apps that you are using show your own interest among music and games. They are a representation of your personality.”

Some app review sites have attempted to leverage user’s personal interests within the app ecosystem, but very few have been successful in making it social. Although the platform is a little bit simpler than others on the market, the accessibility makes it possible to focus on the long tail of mobile publishers and increase value for users.

Other companies such as Kiip are pursing the mobile gamification market, but rather than focus on real rewards for gaming achievements, Antonio says “Our most important market is outside of the games market… Real world rewards are, first of all, not applicable in all apps because it largely depends on the content. It can work well on music apps where it can deliver music coupons, or it can work well on location based apps that show socially targeted offers. But gamification mechanics work almost everywhere.”

Beintoo provides some of the tools necessary for independent brands, businesses, and developers can build their own gamification experience, and Antonio has taken many steps to build a community around the idea that gamification and engagement is accessible.