Man vs. Brand – A Maritz Blog

Social gaming is poised to completely disrupt loyalty marketing as we know it.

Farmville. Petville. Zombie Wars. Cafeworld.  The list of games now available on social networks is huge, with the players numbering in the tens of millions.  On any given day, 30 million people are playing Farmville. And the demographics of these players can be surprising — like, the average social gamer is 43 years old and female. Many of these consumers are making it part of their daily schedule to cultivate their online crops, feed their digital pets, and earn (or buy) their virtual rewards. So its no surprise that the U.S. virtual goods market is projected to exceed $1.5 billion in 2010 — social gaming is expected to account for $835 million of that total. 

But what role will traditional loyalty programs find to play in this space?  For an industry that has spent decades building expertise in engaging customers with points, how will we adapt to a market where many consumers will be as content with a virtual reward as they are with one they can hold in their hand? Where a shopper is as happy burning her points in a make-believe world as in the real one?

Understanding why consumers love games is key.  Game designers know what the human brain craves – achievement, mastery, rewards and social interaction. Ever play golf, volleyball or Monopoly?  The exact same principles apply.  But whether you personally get that or not, there is no longer a question that social games are a consumer force to be reckoned with. 

And brands are starting to figure that out.

7-11 recently ran a promotion with social game giant Zynga allowing customers to earn rewards inside their favorite social game by purchasing game-branded products in store. Buy a Slurpee, earn a virtual cow. Now Green Giant is launching a co-branded promotion with Farmville in 4,000 stores across the U.S. And the recently launched Gamepoints.com enables brands to market directly to social game players, offering them their choice of virtual game currency in exchange for purchase of special offers.

Loyalty marketers are now competing with professional game designers for consumer attention.  Will they rise to the challenge? The answer will lie in embracing one simple notion:  Your program is already a game – just maybe not a great one. And your members are already players — they just might not be having much fun. Or feeling challenged.  Or see themselves as part of a social experience.

 Let’s figure out how to change that.