April 3, 2026
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status

cicada 3301

Cicada 3301 – The Best Head-Hunting Campaign Ever?

Natalija Knaidele015 mins

I’ve officially caught the bug this winter — infatuated with this fascinating online scavenger hunt, which has been unapproachable from the world of the average lazy human lacking cryptography or coding skills (that is to say, myself).

Cicada 3301, now in its third year, is a codename for both a covert organization and an online puzzle game popping up every January since 2012. This mysterious entity has been drawing hundreds of players into a vortex of exquisitely sophisticated series of clues without an explicit goal or end-time. This year’s first clue arrived on January 6, the Epiphany Day, when Christians celebrate the manifestation of Jesus Christ to the people in a human form. Cicada 3301 must think very highly of themselves, and so far most of us would agree.

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gettaxi gamification

How GetTaxi Is Empowering Drivers with Gamification

Gabe Zichermann28 mins

No matter where you travel in the world, one thing is consistent: taxis suck. They frequently don’t know where they’re going, they try to rip you off, driver’s often have trouble communicating, and credit card acceptance is more rare than a unicorn. Against this context, a number of startups have made great inroads in transforming livery transport. Uber and Lyft are probably the most famous – though their approach has been to replace taxis entirely rather than work with existing systems. GetTaxi, however, aims to empower their drivers in a way not seen before.

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The Power and Pitfalls of Status in Social Networks: Scruff’s Blue Dot

Ivan Kuo12 mins

We all know motivating with SAPS and status can go a long way but what happens when it works against you?

Scruff is a fast-growing global brand in mobile dating, and the world’s second largest mobile social network distinguished by a tight-knit community, vocal users and strong brand image. With this powerful cohesion and motivated users, the introduction of status items can have unintended consequences – both positive and constructively challenging. Founding Partner and Chief Product Officer Jason Marchant shares the lessons of Scruff’s Blue Dot – an arbitrary status program that pushed the community’s buttons – and how you can leverage those insights for your community-oriented site, service or app.

Want more GSummit videos? Be sure to also subscribe to our YouTube channel to get the latest videos from GSummit SF 2013 as they’re released. You can also download a copy of this presentation by downloading it here.

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linkedin

Why Gamification Should Be in Your Linkedin Profile

Kevin Shane35 mins

If you have knowledge on the topic of gamification, you should be letting people know. Gamification is one of the hottest topics in business–whether it’s about motivating employees, creating loyal consumers or engaging other users. Since 70% of the workforce is disengaged and there are more distractions than ever that brands have to compete with for consumer attention, people & companies are looking for solutions & advice on how to better engagement–gamification being one of those solutions. So, if you have knowledge about gamification, you should promote it…and Linkedin is a great place to flaunt your skills.

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ebay

eBay’s Subtle but Effective Approach to Gamification

Kevin Shane64 mins

In the ever involving world of marketing, gamification has come to be regarded as one of the most effective and profitable methods in use today. Granting brands the ability to have a greater influence on consumer behavior, it is an effective strategy for garnering long term consumer interest. In recent years the trend towards employing gamification has been on the increase. While more and more companies are utilizing this relatively new method of engaging its customers, many have already implemented it into their marketing strategy and seen tremendous benefits.

One such company that has been successfully using gamification for years is eBay, the internet’s number one auction site.

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Boston CIO to Gamify Citizens Connect App to Thank City Workers

Ivan Kuo34 mins

If the case for non-physical rewards (see SAPS) as a motivator still hasn’t convinced you of its effectiveness, you might want to look at Boston’s government mobile app that will allow Bostonians to improve city services.

Released in 2008, Citizen’s Connect allows local citizens to report issues like broken signs and potholes to make sure they are fixed quickly. According to SearchCIO, this effort is in part of Boston CIO, Bill Oates’ desire to create an active communication loop between citizen and workers to ensure city problems are solved.

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Status in the Subway: Montreal STM Introduces VIP Program

Heong Weng Mak04 mins

Loyalty programs have been commonly associated with airlines and retailers but Montreal’s recent plans may soon change that perspective to include public transportation systems. Montreal operates the Opus-à-l’année also know as the Opus & Cie subscriptions, a subscription service which recharges a commuter’s OPUS card automatically every month.
Montreal STM will be introducing a VIP class for its customers, which will only be made available to 20,000 commuters (9% of the 217,000 who regularly buy monthly Société passes). After subscribing for more 12 months, Opus & Cie users will be given the opportunity to upgrade to their new “maestro” status.

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Seeking Status on Top Chef

Danyell Thillet02 mins

In part one of episode 13 of this season of Top Chef All Stars, a little snippet stood out amongst the drama. Contestant and previous season 4 winner, Antonia Lofaso commented that the show’s prize money doesn’t matter, only winning the competition. Splicd.com This goes to show what we at Gamification Co have been saying…

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Gamified Luxury Brands in The New York Times

admin02 mins

Gabe Zichermann was recently interviewed for an article in The New York Times by Fiona MacKay. The article discusses how the wide appeal of gamification can be applied to luxury fashion brands. Some companies like Britain’s Dunhill have already taken the initiative.  Dunhill, in collaboration with the Japanese media company, Hakuhodo, created a simulated soccer…

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