“It’s all about money, not freedom, ya’ll, okay? Nothing to do with freedom. If you think you’re free, try going somewhere without money, okay?” – Bill Hicks, comedian Much has been written in the area of enterprise gamification about intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, the basic ideas being as follows: – Because money is considered an…
There’s little question that the loyalty “industry” has an innovation problem. With few exceptions, the world’s largest loyalty programs (mostly in travel, finance and retail) are mostly the same as they were 20 years ago. Social, mobile, gamification have struggled to find a footing, even as they are the entire foundation of next-gen loyalty systems such as those developed by Square, Belly or any number of gamified providers. With so much inertia and torpor, it’s easy to give up on traditional loyalty providers when it comes to innovation…but perhaps the old dog has a few tricks left.
A few weeks ago, through a social sharing post by a friend (this data point will be crucial), I came upon a new promotion run by Air Canada, called Earn Your Wings. The program created a leaderboard of top flyers during the promotional period that were ranked based on a range of activities. These included, but weren’t limited to, miles flown and were supported by a series of badges awarded for different activity loops. Top players split a large pot of 10 million miles at the end of the promotion period, and that activity seemed especially fierce, which is what really excited me.
Canada’s gamification efforts are being heard, especially with Audi Canada’s recent reimagination of the test-drive and VIP public transport but something much more important and dear to all my heart has become a gamified experience, and that’s Montreal’s decision to gamify Poutine Week for all the food adventurists participating in it last week.
Poutine Week or Semaine de la Poutine Week is a celebration of the delectable poutine: a dish consisting crispy french fries topped with gravy, and cheese curds.
Gamification warns designers about the dangers of using leaderboards as a measure of success for its members. Citing its loss of meaning for players if they aren’t first place, many cap the potential of the leaderboard as a meaningful game element for all. Trials Evolution is a side-scrolling motorcycle game with an excellent physics engine. Trials Evolution’s…
There has been an influx of gamified fitness-based apps in the last year, all focused on helping users to lose weight, be healthier, live happier. Fleetly is a Canadian site that claims to make fitness “simple, friendly and fun.” Similar to sites like DailyBurn and RunKeeper, Fleetly uses social competition to motivate users and build…
Coca-Cola recently announced a multi-media, fully interactive, campaign. Coke Freestyle lets you select your own unique flavor combinations from all of their brands (which I guarantee you is more than you think) and enjoy Coke in a whole new way. First off there is the Freestyle Facebook app, which simulates a vending machine that lets you pick…
When discussing gamification, especially with those not previously familiar, it’s hard not to bring up Foursquare. Their premise is so artfully simple, absolutely anyone with a computer or a mobile phone can understand. But just because it’s a basic idea doesn’t stop Foursquare from evolving. A new blog entry was posted Tuesday announcing the 3.0…
If Yelp and GetGlue had a baby, it would probably look something like InTheMO, a new site (still in Alpha) that allows users to get & give recommendations of cool spots around the world. While there are a plethora of review sites for restaurants, clubs and the like, InTheMO specifically targets small social networks as…
Earndit is a new fitness check-in site that makes it easy for you to get rewarded for staying in shape. Their simple system acts as a great motivator and encourages you to keep a routine and rewards you for living healthier. Link your account to existing apps, Nike+, Garmin Connect, EveryTrail or Foursquare – this…
Looking for work is usually a frustrating, arduous process. Sending resumes, filling out applications, making phone calls, hitting up your business contacts and sometimes getting no reply or any indication that you’re making progress can make anyone feel downtrodden. And that’s just how things usually are. Even more so now, people are getting reduced to…
