If you step back and take a look at the internet through the lens of a marketer, then you'll see that it's the perfect platform for finding new methods to inspire users, customers, and even employees. A word you hear a lot in relation to this is “engagement.” Just a few years ago companies started to implement fresh ways of thinking in order to keep their employees engaged and happy with their work. That brings us to another buzz word, “gamification.”

The general idea is to introduce and apply the elements of gaming into the workplace environment. This can help motivate employees and would also have a positive effect on such things as customer loyalty and customer acquisition. Essentially, the employer is trying to keep his employees motivated. To give them a sense of purpose and a path. 

What Does Gamification Mean?

You don't need a big brain to see that the English word “ game” is where this term derived from. Taking a look at Wikipedia we can see that they describe gamification as “as common game elements in a fundamentally alien context.” You can use games and the principles of gameplay to help learn new skills and improve existing ones. With the use of such things as puzzles and games to encourage unique ways of thinking, along with leveling up, and with the possibility of learning new things. If the difficulty levels steadily increase, and the end result comes with awards and trophies, then you'll find these games are the perfect means of motivating employees to steadily improve and evolve.

What Uses of Gamification Are There?

In the early 2000s, a marketer, author and programmer called Nick Pelling introduced the term “gamification.” He saw the possibility of bringing game theory into the office  environment as a means of improving morale. The ideas of gameplay can be found both online and off. These games can include things which are off site, such as escape room games, rock climbing,  white water rafting and a huge number of physically and mentally taxing activities. In the office space, there are any number of gamification activities that can be used to motivate employees as well as attracting and retaining new customers. 

Since the inception of gamification into the workplace, we're seeing more and more companies making use of these techniques. When carried out correctly, you'll find that gamification has helped improve sales, customer loyalty, productivity, and even market position. Let's have a look at some of the companies that have used gamification to improve their employee morale, and by doing so, their profits.

Microsoft: Learn Microsoft Office With Ribbon Hero

The idea of this game is to help you master the Microsoft programs of Excel, PowerPoint and Word. There's an exciting story which needs the player to complete various tasks.  Everything revolves around the irritating Clippy paperclip. The game proved very successful. So much so that Microsoft has recently released a successor called Ribbon Hero2

Domino’s Pizza: Pizza Hero For Recruitment

The Pizza Hero was essentially an experiment that was designed as a marketing campaign for the company. As such it delivered amazing results and the pizza chain was able to see its sales increase by over 30%. Essentially, using the Domino Pizza app you are the pizza maker and you are tasked with making the perfect pizza. (For God’s sake, no pineapple!). What’s great about this is that once the pizza has been created, you can simply order it from the nearest Domino's Pizza via their phone app. It works on the principle that the better your pizza, the more points you gain. As an aside, the best pizza makers are offered jobs at Domino's Pizza. 

Audi Uses A virtual World For Training Sales Staff

Back in 2018 a virtual training programme was introduced for Aldi employees.  they were placed in a virtual computer like setting where they had to t 2 to deal with customer contacts and also no

Audi announced in 2018 that it would introduce a virtual training program for employees. In a computer game-like setting, employees have real customer contact with virtual customers and have to master difficult and challenging situations. What's interesting is that the customers have a mood barometer which is very much like that found in The Sims. Depending on their so-called mood, they will react differently to the employee. This game shows the players how to deal with customers correctly. They also have a huge amount of fun in the process. In Germany right now, over 570 Audi car dealerships make use of this virtual gamification for training employees.

Chipotle’s Scarecrow For more Engagement

The American restaurant had been looking around for ideas in order to help lift up the sales of their groceries. So they designed an app called” The Scarecrow.” No, it’s not some sort of Gothic American horror story. With this app you can see a Scarecrow going about his daily chores around the farm. You can be sad when the Scarecrow is sad if something bad has happened. On the Sky Bridge Farm he notices that the chickens are given growth hormones and the cows are kept in tiny pens. So he decided to harvest his own vegetables and used them to open his own burrito stand. 

This is a free adventure game where you, the player, helps the Scarecrow deal with animal husbandry and farm production. The app also highlights ethical problems that can be found in animal husbandry, particularly in the US. The game is a monster hit. Presently there are over 18 million social media posts about the Scarecrow.

Reddit: Karma Points 

The news aggregator, Reddit, has an interesting system that motivates users to up-vote or down-vote posts. Any post with more upvotes is going to rise to the top. Reddit has a comment system whereby you are given comment points and the more you collect then the greater your status will become. It means that in order to increase your own self importance, you need to be active on the forums

Conclusion: Gamification is Here to Stay

Today we're seeing more and more gamification within working environments. The idea of transferring gameplay elements into new contexts such as websites, office spaces, and offline areas, has proved incredibly popular for employees. Right now you'll find that there are many companies who are using gamification for improving their sales and their customer loyalty. Having an element of gaming fun once in a while certainly breaks the stress of daily office life and allows everyone to relax around a shared activity. And let's not forget gamification has contributed to some huge increases in profits.