Business Execution is about delivering on a promise to your customers. Many companies, for example, have a lowest price promise to their customers. They offer to match any price a customer finds elsewhere. But most customers don’t take advantage of this offer. Customers just buy the item somewhere else. Why? Because most companies don’t engage their customers in fulfilling that promise.
Most of you, either first hand or by watching your kids and teens, know the power of engagement that computer and online games have. Smart game developers are taking this engagement know-how and moving it onto social networks like Facebook and converting whole new demographics into online game players. Game companies like Zynga are making serious money doing so while smart marketers, like Gabe Zichermann, are using this engagement know-how to drive customer loyalty and retention.
The best customer loyalty program of all time is the Frequent Flyer program, as Gabe pointed out at his talk “Playing the Loyalty Game” at EngageExpo! in September. Think of all the hoops most of us jump through to stick with our favorite frequent flyer program. Interestingly, Frequent Flyer programs have the five characteristics of any hugely successful Massively Multiplayer Online Game (MMOG):
- Points
- Leader boards
- Challenges
- Badges and levels
- Rewards
Points, leader boards, challenges, badges and levels and rewards are motivating. “People have fundamental needs and desires – for reward, status, achievement, self-expression, competition, and altruism among others. These needs are universal, and cross generations, demographics, cultures and genders. The big secret is that game mechanics address these needs, and in the process incent, motivate and engage your users.” writes Gabe in “The Engaging Web – How Fun and Games Improve Your Site”. Gabe advises all marketers to use the MMOG basic design philosophy to drive user behavior and create customer loyalty that is “passionately irrational with predictability”.
Smart companies engage their customers. They reward you for returning to the store and allowing them to match the lower price you found somewhere else. They want you to help them fulfill their promise to you. Southwest Airline’s promise is “the low cost airline.” One of the ways they keep this promise is fast turn-arounds – less time on the ground keeps overall costs down. Southwest airlines could create a game with rewarding points, challenges and badges for getting to the gate early. This would encourage you to help them do a fast turnaround and so keep costs down. Would leaderboards of on-time passengers be more effective than the punishment of last to board? I think so.
What game dynamics would make your customers “passionately irrational with predictability” – think about it. And think about getting Gabe’s new book – Game-Based Marketing: Inspire Customer Loyalty Through Rewards, Challenges, and Contests.
