Gamification is a great way to engage consumers at events, but what kind is right for your activation? It can be as simple as an iPad-based game or as complex as a 4-D virtual reality exhibition. Check out this blog post for more ideas.
Perhaps the most commonly used segment of gamification would be iPad and tablet based games. There are many reasons for their popularity including scalability, accessibility, low cost and consumer preference. Tablet based games are mobile, quick and engaging, allowing you to cycle through a high number of participants in a short amount of time. Also, because so many people are familiar with using tablets, they are great for large engagements with a lot of people, like a major sporting event or concert.
Have you ever seen people wearing those odd looking headsets and wonder what all the excitement was about? That's virtual reality and it can give your consumers the power to virtually experience situations they would never have the chance to otherwise. It could be racing a Formula 1 car or standing in the batter's box to face a 99 mile per hour fastball. Whatever the event, you are sure to see more and more of these experiences at events as companies like Oculus Rift and Sony bring new equipment to the market. Another type of VR gamification available is based-on the Microsoft Kinect, which is a camera that can track your movement and translate it into a video game. A consumer can stand in front of the Kinect sensor and their body movements will control the video game, as opposed to a traditional handheld controller. There are even "4D" experiences out there that use scent and/or touch in addition to the visual 3D world to create an even more realistic virtual gamification event.
Some event games are more about interacting with the real world more than the virtual world. If you're showcasing several products a great way to ensure they are all seen is to have multiple displays scattered around the event. You can create buzz by creating a "find all five locations and win a prize" style of game. Setting up a self-service scan point at each location and providing consumers with a bar coded bracelet or card allows them to treat your activation like a scavenger hunt. They simply explore the event and as they find your locations they can check out the featured item and scan their badge. If you're using the right technology you will be able to easily connect all these checkpoints to individual user records so that you can easily track your activation's trends and consumer data.
Social media provides a great way to engage consumers at events, especially Twitter and Instagram. A popular game would be an event-based photo contest. Essentially participants are encouraged to find a certain area or item and take a fun photo with it. Once they've take a photo they share it to Twitter with a predetermined hashtag. The organization then selects what they think is the best, or most relevant image to determine the winner. This type of engagement promotes interaction with your brand but also creativity and fun from your event attendees.
People love to play games and compete, and that can be a great motivator to engage with your brand. Make sure that whatever route you take, you have a solid plan to collect participant data and transmit it directly to your CRM. All the options mentioned above are great opportunities to engage consumers, don't miss the opportunity to build your database. Without data capture, your gamification activation can be an ROI loser.
eshots has been leading the event technology industry for nearly two decades, and we are on the forefront of gamification technology as well. We have all your needs covered regardless of scope. If you want a highly-scalable iPad based game or an ultra-advanced Kinect based game, we can help you connect with consumers in a fun and interactive way. If you want to increase consumer interaction at your events with gamification, we can help.