Some brands are also directly engaging with consumers to promote their products and gain the necessary data.

Nike Plus

Nike, the sports shoe company, wants people to run more. So, they launched Nike+, a motivational platform that became popular among people who like to run.[i] Using Nike+ sports kit, you could attach an accelerometer sensor in your shoe to track, store, and transmit data during your workouts. It could track every single step you take while you run. So, it had all the information on how fast you run and how far you had run. The data was transferred to the Nike+ server and was shown to the community users. You could compare your current run with your previous runs, set challenges for yourself, and participate in a variety of competitions. Nike+ online community today has more than 2 million active users, and this platform has helped in boosting Nike’s overall revenue. Nike is always pushing for innovative ways to connect with customers and is continuing its transformative journey with different kinds of playful experiences. There is a lot to learn from the overwhelming success of Nike+ for adopting some of its strategies in a similar line of business.

Foursquare

I liked what Foursquare did to motivate people to lead an enjoyable social life. They launched a mobile application that allowed you to ‘check-in’ at various venues you visit.[ii] It was a hit, and they managed to raise $50M in 2011 at a valuation of $600M. Users started getting points for various activities like checking into new places. If they got the highest number of check-ins at a place, they got the status of ‘The Mayor’ of that place. If someone else comes along and checks-in more than you did, then your status of ‘The Mayor’ is transferred to that person.

Samsung Nation

Samsung, the consumer electronics giant, wanted more people to come to their site and write product reviews, watch videos, explore new products, or register products which they already had bought from its different stores. So, to achieve that, Samsung launched an app ‘Samsung Nation’ by adding simple elements like points, leaderboards, and badges to reward achievements.[iii] Thus, the result was that people started spending more time on their websites which eventually led to them buying products.

Toothpaste Manufacturer

A toothpaste manufacturer can re-imagine the future toothbrush – You get up in the morning to brush your teeth. And a new toothbrush enabled with sensors is introduced which knows that you’re brushing your teeth, and it starts rewarding you points for brushing your teeth and can guide you for how long and how you are supposed to brush your teeth.[iv] The more you brush; the more bonus points you get which you may or may not care about. However, for the toothpaste company, the more you brush, the more toothpaste you use. So, such experiences are surely aligned with their financial interest and can work out well for specific age groups, like kids who do not brush often.

Australia’s Commonwealth Bank

Australia’s Commonwealth Bank developed Investorville, a property-investing game to educate potential home buyers about the real estate market. In the game, players can explore real estate investing without actually risking their money. As a consequence, the Investorville game generated about 600 loans within one year since its game’s launch.[v]

Playboy – Miss Social Game

Playboy created a Facebook app called Miss Social Game Competition where any aspiring women who wanted to be a part of the Playboy magazine could ask her friends to vote for her. When she succeeded, she obtained the Miss Social Crown for a month and got a pictorial feature on playboy.com.[vi]

McDonald & Domino

The world’s largest food chain McDonald’s Monopoly game (which has been played for almost 14 consecutive years) has driven marginal customers to its stores and has raised incremental spending among the restaurant’s loyalists.[vii] Every time you buy a qualifying McDonald’s product, there would be game pieces on the packet that represent tiles on the classic version of Monopoly. You could add these tiles onto a board and collect them to win prizes. Some game pieces would be instant prizes, such as a free drink or a burger, and there would also be an online game piece, which can be redeemed for an online voucher or prize. However, there are some collections of game pieces that could get you bigger prizes like that of winning a car. Monopoly game in America, as well as with its success overseas, incurred a 5.5% same-store sales hike in a single month. [viii]

Domino’s created the gaming app “Pizza Hero” enabling customers to create their Pizza with the app.[ix] Data obtained from that game helped them to increase their sales revenue by 30%. Domino’s Pizza is also improving ordering and delivery experience by developing a digital platform called Anyware.[x] Now, customers can order Pizza through a broad range of channel options, including Google Home, Apple watches, Ford cars, and others. The Company has digitized its operations to provide complete transparency to customers starting from the order and ranging to delivery.

Key Takeaways
 Companies should leverage innovative ways like those developed by Nike+, Foursquare, Samsung Nation, McDonalds, Domino & PlayBoy to connect with customers for promoting products and gain necessary customer insights.

[i] https://digital.hbs.edu/platform-digit/submission/nike-from-products-to-platform/

[ii] https://centrical.com/with-swarm-foursquare-goes-full-circle-with-its-gamification-mechanics/

[iii] https://www.samsung.com/us/news/newsPreviewRead.do?news_seq=19953

[iv] https://www.gamification.co/2014/04/21/kolibree-app-brings-gamification-to-your-teeth/

[v] https://financialpost.com/executive/c-suite/the-power-of-play-how-companies-are-using-gamification-to-build-engagement

[vi] https://venturebeat.com/2011/06/13/bunchball-raises-6-5m-for-gamification-expansion/

[vii] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonald%27s_Monopoly

[viii] https://investorplace.com/2011/11/mcdonalds-monopoly-same-store-sales/

[ix] https://www.unit9.com/project/dominos-pizza-hero/

[x] https://anyware.dominos.com/