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1. Are you a player in the
brand engagement game?
Leveraging gamification in brand building
strategies
White paper | September 2011

2. Shikatani Lacroix is a leading branding and design firm located in
Toronto, Canada. The company is commissioned assignments from
all around the world, across CPG, retail and service industries,
helping clients achieve success within their operating markets. It
does this by enabling its clients’ brands to better connect with
consumers through a variety of core services including corporate
identity, naming and communication, brand experience, packaging,
retail, wayfinding and product design.
About the Author
Jean-Pierre Lacroix, R.G.D., President and Founder of
Shikatani Lacroix
Jean-Pierre (JP) Lacroix provides leadership and direction to his
firm, which was founded in 1990. He has spent the last 30 years
helping organizations better connect their brands with consumers
in ways that impact the overall performance of their business. Mr.
Lacroix was the first to coin and trademark the statement “The
Blink Factor” in 1990, which today is a cornerstone principle to how
brands succeed in the marketplace. JP has authored several papers,
has been quoted in numerous branding and design articles and, in
2001, he co-authored the book “The Business of Graphic Design,”
which has sold over 10,000 copies. JP can be reached at
jplacroix@sld.com and you can follow his blog at:
www.belongingexperiences.com and www.sldesignlounge.com.
Other Articles and Books
Belonging Experiences...Designing Engaged Brands
Business of Graphic Design
White paper | September 2011 | Gamification | 1

3. Increasing your brand engagement through gamification
I recently presented to a group of researchers and marketers on the
shift in research methodologies and approaches due to the rise of
social media. A key factor that I covered in my presentation was how
gamification is playing an important role in ensuring respondents are
truly engaged in sharing their ideas. Today, marketers are challenged
to gain stronger consumer engagement in their marketing programs.
Experienced marketers have realized that to effectively connect with
consumers to build brand affinity, it’s important to leverage their
customers inherent behaviours and rituals. In my book Belonging
Experiences, Designing Engaged Brands, I identified the need for
consumers to connect and form communities as the doorway to self-
actualization. Gamification is a strategy for brands and organizations
to ensure the action of belonging is enjoyable and driven by a need
to contribute and be recognized.
Gamification is an emerging marketing approach that capitalizes on
how today’s generation needs a sense of excitement, control, and,
more importantly, a need for fun to complete their daily chores. It
has evolved from the historical product placement approach found
in video games and movies to a new level that is far more engaging
and provides greater results for marketers. This white paper will
present recent research and insights on this new marketing
approach, namely:
1. Defining the meaning of gamification
2. Trends driving the need for change
3. Examples of applications
4. Guidelines and application approaches for marketers
White paper | September 2011 | Gamification | 2
"By handing
out rewards
like badges,
you are
creating an
environment
filled with
positive
reinforcement"
Gabe Zichermann, co-author of
Game-Based Marketing

4. What is gamification?
According to Wikipedia, Gamification is defined as the use of game
design techniques and mechanics to solve problems and engage
audiences. Typically, gamification applies to non-game applications
(also known as "funware"), particularly consumer-oriented web and
mobile sites, in order to encourage people to adopt the applications.
It also strives to encourage users to engage in desired behaviours in
connection with the applications.
Gamification works by making technology more engaging, and by
encouraging desired behaviours, thus taking advantage of humans'
psychological predisposition to engage in gaming. The technique
can encourage people to perform chores that they ordinarily
consider boring, such as completing surveys, shopping, or reading
web sites.
Types of gamification approaches?
Early examples of gamification are based on rewarding points to
people who share experiences on location-based platforms such as
Facebook’s "Place" feature, Foursquare (social network), and
Gowalla. However, the approach is evolving with the growing number
of smart phone users, allowing brands such as Nike, Starbucks and
Adidas to create games that build strong engagement within a loyal
branded community. The techniques can be structured in three main
engagement strategies:
1. Recognition: one of the surest ways to build brand loyalty is to
recognize your loyal customers for their contribution to the
growth of your organization’s business. Recognition by the
organization or the players’ peers is an effective tool to stimulate
engagement, and support given marketing initiatives:
• Achievement "badges" or levels
• Leader boards
White paper | September 2011 | Gamification | 3
“Games are
unnecessary
obstacles
we volunteer
to tackle.”
Jane McGonigal, author of
Broken: Why Games Make Us
Better and How They Can
Change the World

5. 1. Belonging: Meeting new people, forming a group of like-minded
people, and contributing to the purpose of this group are
important factors that lead to brand engagement. Marketers are
learning that their “target groups” consistent not only of
demographics and psychographics, but also “communities”
whose common values are not derived from age or gender but
from needs and beliefs. Gamification allows brands to create
deeper relationships within communities by creating a platform
for its members to interact with each other in playful venues.
Examples of such initiatives are:
• Challenges between users
• Ability to create new games that solicit participation by the
community
• Embedding small casual games within other activities.
2. Status: Beyond the need for recognition from an organization is
the need for recognition by our peers based on our
demonstrated gaming abilities or the level of experience we have
gained. Examples of such status-driven initiatives are:
• A progress bar or other visual meter to indicate how close
people are to completing a task a company is trying to
encourage, such as completing a social networking profile or
earning a frequent shopper loyalty award.
• Virtual currency
• Systems for awarding, redeeming, trading, gifting, or
exchanging points
White paper | September 2011 | Gamification | 4
“One way to
motivate
those workers
is by
incorporating
game
mechanics
into the
workplace,
especially
when it comes
to rewarding
worker
performance.”
Salesforce.com Chief Scientist JP
Rangaswami

6. 3. Escape: A new dimension of gamification that is emerging in the
Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) sector is the introduction of
virtual gaming platforms that allow easy access to gaming
technology. These new platforms allow consumers to overcome
mundane tasks by converting the actual product into a virtual
gaming platform. Examples of these initiatives are:
• Packaging that converts to a virtual game through the
interaction of a computer
• Packaging becomes the trigger to a virtual game that can be
played on a smart phone
• Proximity-based games that reward players by having them
scavenger hunt for virtual objects
Examples of gamification initiatives
Facebook ups its game
Facebook’s new look is not just a change in social media but more
importantly, a new link to gamification. In addition to Facebook’s
introduction of Timeline and an updated version of Open Graph, the
company has also introduced Facebook subscriptions and an
updated news feed. The upgraded news feed is confirmation that
Facebook sees gamification as a critical evolution of how consumers
use social media. The news feed offers an option to receive game
updates through a ticker, in real time, located in the top right-hand
corner of the screen. Now organizations such as Spotify and Netflix
are allowing their members to watch or join someone’s social game
experience right from the ticker, making it easier for players to
participate in a greater number of popular social games. The new
version of Facebook’s Open Graph has also helped game makers
take advantage of this new platform.
White paper | September 2011 | Gamification | 5
Gartner Group
estimates that by
2015, 70% of the
Forbes Global
2000 will be
using gamified
apps, and M2
Research
forecasts that
U.S. companies
alone will spend
$1.6 billion on
gamification
products and
services by that
same year.

7. Foursquare rewards Starbucks fans
Location-based services such as Foursquare, Gowalla, and Facebook
Places have redefined game mechanics in non-gaming products.
Foursquare stands out with 10 million users on a platform that was
built around solid game mechanics in addition to web and mobile
applications. The system allows registered users to connect with
friends and update their location. Points are awarded for "checking-
in" at venues and users can choose to have their check-ins posted on
their accounts on Twitter, Facebook, or both. Users can claim
mayorships, unlock badges, receive special offers and rewards, such
as discounts to specific retailers, while tracking against friends via a
leaderboard. Foursquare also provides free tools made specifically
for businesses, such as statistics dashboards that reflect customer
behaviour. Starbucks launched a Foursquare strategy to reward loyal
customers. Users can earn the barista badge after checking in to five
separate locations. They also offer a special for Foursquare mayors.
Mayors got $1 off a Frappuccino beverage.
Salesforce gets its gaming mojo
Salesforce, an enterprise cloud computing company headquartered
in San Francisco that distributes business software on a subscription
basis, has taken gamification to another level. The organization has
created a platform to raise the engagement level of its two-million-
plus subscribers by leveraging the inherent need drivers of sales
people. Salesforce converted users’ activities within the system into
various game mechanics that increase the user’s drive to not only
make better use of their system, but also stimulate greater sales for
the user’s organization. The new gamified system offers direct
competition with other users within the same organization. The new
system leverages the pre-existing competitive behaviours of gaming
participants while linking these to drive engagement and usage of
the CRM platform.
White paper | September 2011 | Gamification | 6

8. Putting real currency behind relevancy
Hallmark is the leading purveyor of greeting cards and calendar-
driven activities. The organization has leveraged the gamification of
Facebook credits to entice users to interact with specific content
within Hallmark’s Social Calendar.
Taking control of the game
Adidas, the world’s second largest sporting goods manufacturer, has
launched a virtual game where a pair of their sneakers can be used
to control a digital world on customer screens. All participants have
to do is show their shoe to their webcam and the virtual world will
open. Adidas took it one step further and teamed up with Dutch
game developers, Xform, who created no less than three games.
Taking a bite out of gaming
McDonald’s Europe operation has gamified an old medium to make it
more engaging. McDonald’s billboard campaign invited passersby to
play Pong on a large interactive billboard. Not only did the billboard
grab people’s attention, the game provided successful players with
digital coupons that were used in nearby stores. The coupons
significantly increased the likelihood of new business for these
McDonald’s locations, while also ensuring the brand was relevant
with a younger generation of consumers.
White paper | September 2011 | Gamification | 7

9. Steps to brand gamification
We have identified five stages of planning for the implementation of
an effective gamification program, based on the white paper
“Winning with Gamification, Tips from the Expert’s Playbook,”
published by Bunchball (www.bunchball.com), and a wide range of
related articles:
Step One: Setting your goals
Before you gain any value in launching a gamification initiative, it’s
important that you clearly define your business goals and strategies.
Defining both financial, sales, behaviour and engagement metrics
will allow the organization to determine the level of investment and
desired activities. A key part of the first step is to understand your
users: who they are, what they do, why and how they do it. Since
gamification is linked to leveraging the inherent behaviours of your
customers, it is important to clearly understand what drives their
needs and wants. Clearly defining your user’s need states will help
align the types of incentives or rewards that will have the most
impact on engagement.
Step 2: Identify the action you want the users to do
Gamification is a platform to motivate and stimulate users to
participate in an action that they would not have otherwise
completed. To that end, it’s very important that you clearly define
the action you want your users to accomplish.
It could be to register for an event or service, connect with the
organization, watch a video, share ideas or suggestions, watch a
slideshow on the company or product, complete a profile that would
allow you to segment future messaging, allow them to upload a
video on a brand relevant subject (i.e., cooking steps on how to use
the branded product), or to allow for comments on the organization,
a campaign, or idea.
White paper | September 2011 | Gamification | 8

10. In essence, gamification should be leveraged to stimulate on-going
dialogue between the organization and consumers, while ensuring
that at each level of engagement, the user-evolving need states are
being met.
Step 3: What is the right incentive?
Building on the insights established by understanding what
motivates your customers, it is important to establish a reward
system that is flexible, and rewards deeper relationships with the
brand, while ensuring the program is cost effective. A great way to
determine the ideal approach is to explore the reward structure of
other brands that may share the same customers. Since consumers
typically compare offerings based on past experiences,
understanding how other organizations establish their reward
systems will minimize the risk that your offering is not relevant.
Another factor to consider when establishing your reward program is
the type of levels you will be offering and the desired outcome you
are wanting to achieve. Ultimately, the goal of any reward system is
to support ongoing relationships that become deeper and more
meaningful. Creating tiers for your reward system will ensure that
your gamification program has legs and can grow as your user base
and level of engagement evolves.
Step 4: Make it visually exciting and easy to use
Web development and social media platforms have demonstrated
that less is more, simple is better, and visually exciting versus word-
centric are the keys to user engagement. The same principles apply
to gamification approaches. In developing your gamification
strategy, it is important that the gaming mechanism, reward
structure and overall user experience are simple yet exciting.
White paper | September 2011 | Gamification | 9

11. Ideally the visuals and naming convention for both the rewards and
interaction should leverage core equities of the brand while also
ensuring the images are stunning and inviting to view. Since the
reference point for most gamification programs are the best in class
electronic games, it is from this perspective that the visuals and
experiences should be established.
Step 5: Make it a virtual community
Since the fundamental premise of gamification is to build a loyal
community of consumers that are advocates for your brand, it’s
important that the users are allowed to build their online profile and
recognition from peers and friends. A key tenant of gamification
programs is to make users’ accomplishments and achievements
highly visible, fueling a sense of competitiveness and pride.
Allowing users to share success stories, accomplishments, or even
ideas on how to make the overall game better will lead to higher
social awareness and grassroots participation, well beyond the
outbound marketing initiatives of the organization.
White paper | September 2011 | Gamification | 10

12. Conclusion
Gamification is truly the next wave of brand engagement that
creates a platform that leverages the inherent behaviours of
consumers and encourages them to participate in brand building
initiatives.
As new approaches to gamification emerge through the
commoditization of technology and the accessibility of smart phone
technologies, branding strategies will need to be modified and
enhanced to remain relevant. Although these nuances will be
important, the foundation of the approach – a holistic and integrated
gamification strategy that is focused on engaging consumers and
building brand loyalty communities – will become easier and
hopefully more fun for both organizations and consumers.
It will be interesting to note how the approach will evolve and which
of the leading brands will embrace change.
White paper | September 2011 | Gamification | 11

13. For more information, contact:
Jean-Pierre Lacroix, President
Shikatani Lacroix
387 Richmond Street East
Toronto, Ontario
M5A 1P6
Telephone: 416-367-1999
Email: jplacroix@sld.com
White paper | September 2011 | Gamification | 12