Susan Bonds of 42 Entertainment gives the keynote speech this afternoon. She has been at the forefront of building interactive, viral and engaging gamified experiences not just online but in the real world as well. She is going to talk about the secrets behind engaging consumers offline from the visionary and undisputed master designer of real world games. Bonds is the force behind Flynn Lives (Tron Legacy), I Love Bees (Halo), and dozens of other blockbuster ARGs. Her group has helped major media companies reinvent their marketing campaigns and motivated millions of consumers to play around the world.
Gamfication is a great word but Bonds would like to wrap storytelling and narrative around it. She acknowledges the lack of definition surrounding it at this point in time. People want to have creative control. The landscape is changing quickly.
As you move from platform to platform you can’t lose the thread – on and off the computer screen, television screen, the player or user has a key role. You have a whole bunch of connected people on the web and you should use them. Also, remember the world is a gameboard.
She shows a video showing how you can reach players on mobile devices, email, et al. Entice people to follow a story and solve a mystery. It shows the potential of entertainment, extended over multiple-channels.
Stick around…You want to hear what she has up her sleeve.
