Gamification is the method of taking something that already exists – a website, an enterprise application, an online community – and integrating game mechanics into it to motivate participation, engagement, and loyalty.

Despite its potentially misleading name, gamification isn’t simply games built for corporate purposes. Rather, it is all about expanding the implementation of an already existing understanding or process in the business, as opposed to building something new from scratch. Gamification does not equate to games. However, in the workplace, gamification can be a game-changer.

What is Game Mechanics?

The components of a game are called game mechanics. And as it applies to gamification, the right set of game mechanics are used to engage or motivate the user.

The following 10 game mechanics are used in gamification for applications in different combinations to accomplish the desired goal. They are:

• Fast Feedback
• Transparency
• Goals
• Badges
• Leveling Up
• Onboarding
• Competition
• Collaboration
• Community
• Points

Gamification Examples in Businesses

1. M&M’s Eye-Spy Pretzel

This is a gamification classic. In 2013, M&M’s launched an incredibly successful game as a part of its M&M’s pretzel marketing campaign. The game was based on the eye-spy logic – it was inexpensive and simple, and yet became an instant hit among the audience of M&M’s.

Users were basically presented with a large graphic design of M&M’s candy, with one small pretzel hidden among them. The task was to simply find the hidden pretzel.

What kind of benefits did the game bring to M&M’s? It boosted user engagement with the brand, bringing over 25,000 new likes on the company’s official Facebook page, as well as more than 6,000 shares and 10,000 comments.

The game was a miniscule part of a massive marketing campaign, but it offered a new fun way to engage with the company’s new product and effectively helped to spread the word about it all over social media.

2. Autodesk

Autodesk is a recognized software provider, which values user trials. In order to render them more engaging, Autodesk chose to gamify the components of Undiscovered Territory, a new experience created for trial users of Autodesk 3ds Max. The main goal here was to increase the use of this software during the trial period and improve the probability of purchase.

Users could gain access to their profiles and have a look at their completed missions, information on their rank within the program’s leader board, the number of points they gained, their badges and other achievements. The game-like character of the trial version was very successful – 10% more users decided to download it and trial usage itself rose by 40%.

3. Starbucks – My Startbucks Rewards

Starbucks is known for its care when it come to customer and employee loyalty and engagement. My Starbucks Rewards is an example of such a technique, where gamification serves to transform a traditional card loyalty program into something much more complex.

After registering, clients gain stars with every purchase, which can later be exchanged for free drinks and food. The game has three levels users can reach by their degree of loyalty – next levels are open to those who visit a Starbucks store. The game is simple and includes material rewards – a perfect marketing tool!