It’s Not Just a Game! Use Gamification to Drive Your Business Objectives

Leveraging knowledge and skills gained through his background in nuclear physics, Kunayev brought deep research and an understanding of how elements combine to redefine the gamification experience. Taking this background and applying it to various industries, such as events, Kunayev saw an opportunity to align the entertainment value of gaming with the customer’s business objectives to forge a new path for value creation through gamification.

Through the pandemic, Kunayev attended many virtual events and observed one common experiential design flaw – the breaks between sessions, which left attendees to their own devices, and created an opportunity for them to disengage.  We all know that free time during virtual events leads to digital distractions!  These days everyone is multi-tasking, so event organizers need to think carefully about how to leverage those inter-session gaps to create interactive engagement opportunities, like gamification, that can advance their business objectives.

Kunayev advises that while we’re designing our events, there are key considerations we should understand about gamification and its implementation:

Games and Gamification are two different ideas

• The majority of people believe games are pure entertainment, but there is a difference between games and gamification.
• While games do provide entertainment and a brain break, gamification can be created or modified to create meaningful outcomes, such as lead generation, additional face time with speakers, and unique networking instances.

Align your business goals with attendee and sponsor goals

• Start with understanding a brand’s business perspective and bring both your attendee eye and professional expertise into the gamification process.
• Gamification can be a new sponsorship opportunity. With sponsorship being a core revenue stream, it is imperative to recognize the goals of the sponsors and the attendees to align goal setting and generate future buy-in from both groups.

Make actions a part of the gamification

• Incorporate storytelling prior to the gamification. With brand storytelling, you’re walking the participant through the gamification process and providing a connection to the game and outcome.
• Implement a call to action at the conclusion of the gamification experience. Give the user more than one accomplishment outside of completing the game. Call to actions keep the user focused and engaged on taking the next step with your brand.

“We cannot afford to ignore all of the digital technologies that are out there,” said Kunayev.  “The range of tools have increased flexibility for event professionals.” Attendee access and engagement expectations have changed and now is the time for experimentation.

For more details on gamification and how to keep digital relevant with the new phase of “normal,” check out The Scoop’s full interview Dimash Kunayev here .

Interested in bringing the Scoop to your next event? Contact us today to speak to one of our expert humans!