“Games are the only force in the known universe that can get people to take actions against their self-interest, in a predictable way, without using force.” ― Gabe Zichermann.

The history of gamification is a long and storied one. From the millennium-old Gurukul system prevailing in India to the advent of movements such as Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, various forms of gamification ranging from group tasks to performance badges have enabled its beneficiaries to utilise reward-based systems. Jobs once thought to be tedious, time-consuming and straight-up boring could now be split into smaller tasks with incremental benefits to the performer. This would also have the dual benefit of aiding an increase in retention rate and recall. Defined as ‘the application of typical elements of game playing in a non-game environment to encourage engagement with a product or service’, gamification is rapidly changing the way we interact, engage and think.

Gamification and game-based systems utilise biological mechanisms to hijack and reformulate the way individuals perceive the experience of carrying out different tasks. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter of the central nervous system produced in an area widely known as the brain's reward centre. The reward centre is part of an evolutionary mechanism developed to ensure the survival of our species by satisfying basic needs like food, shelter and reproduction. The increased dopamine production is directly linked to the perception of feelings like pleasure and satisfaction in the brain, encouraging us to repeat the behaviours that created these feelings. Gamification takes advantage of this process and retargets it towards the product, information or service being gamified, generating a spike in the interest levels and attention span towards that experience. Therefore, the question naturally arises - Are we being biologically hacked as a result of gamification? The short but not-so-subtle answer - Yes.

Gamification is increasingly being used as a powerful marketing tool that can potentially sway interests and increase consumer loyalty at the same time. The discipline of gamified marketing is a fast-growing one with organisations, irrespective of size and brand equity, attempting to capture a chunk of the attention economy that constitutes the world today. Unlike traditional marketing, games cannot unexpectedly pop up in users’ feeds and attempt to divert their attention. Instead, users are given the option to try the game through an incentive. This means that all engagements from the opt-in point forth will arrive proactively from the user - they are given control of how they choose to interact with the brand or organisation.

Omni-channel marketing campaigns of some of the world’s leading brands with components of gamification continue to linger in our minds a long time ( in today’s attention span terms) after they took place. One of the most famous ones, The ‘My Starbucks’ Reward programme, is notable for revolutionising the beverage industry's brand-customer experience. With its transaction-based reward system gamified with different tiers and personalised offers catering to birthdays and special events in their consumers’ lives, Starbucks attained a previously unreachable level of customer connection. This success prompted Starbucks to launch an integrated rewards system with its mobile application and Starbucks cards to essentially create its own payment ecosystem. The aforementioned gamified marketing strategy ended up helping Starbucks receive deposits of more than 1.5 Billion USD by its customers worldwide at effectively zero percent interest. To put this figure into perspective, Starbucks was ranked sixth in the list of United States financial institutions holding consumer cash! Other major brands such as Nike, Coca Cola and even the United States Army soon followed up with their own gamified offerings with considerable success, capitalising on an increasingly online audience.

Gamification strategies have also helped social networking giants like Snapchat (with their streaks feature) and Facebook (still remember FB friendship anniversaries? xD) make their products more attractive to a diverse userbase, increasing their earned media. Streaming giants like Netflix have taken this concept to another level with titles like ‘Black Mirror: Bandersnatch’, where consumers had the opportunity to make choices that affect the movie's storyline. When almost every major brand in the world attempts to gamify its offerings, it is reasonable to conclude that it is working for them.

Gamification, therefore, has invigorated the brand-customer relationship and interactions with the onus on marketers to think out of the box to gather intelligent insights and generate additional incentives like never before. It is a limitless well of unending riches and customer loyalty. However, the future of gamification will depend on what brands choose to do with the increased connectivity and data. Will they attempt to generate newer games to attract larger audiences? Or will they be used to personalise the consumer experience further? Let us wait and watch.