Hi everyone and welcome to my second Blog, I will be talking about the impact that gamification has had on sport this week. Gamification is the application of typical elements of game playing to other areas of activity, typically as an online marketing technique to encourage engagement with a product or service.
Gamification has been known for how much its improved the fun in sport, with things such as Fantasy Football and games in fitness apps. fitness isn’t typically associated with fun. Fitness is something that we have to do to stay fit and healthy, rather than something that some people actually want to do. Ha et al (2017) states that “Gamification elements in the sport applications are key features to change user’s behaviour”
However, it looks like this could be set to change. Digital systems are becoming more seamlessly integrated into our daily activities and whilst some tech innovations might be making us lazier, the latest trend of gamification encourages us to be more active. Lister et al (2014) states that “Gamification has been a predominant focus of the health app industry in recent years.”
When used in fitness apps and exercise classes it targets the ruthless, competitive zeal that can be found within us all. It can transform a lonely, boring run into an exhilarating race for your life. The latest examples of the gamification trend could inspire even the most reluctant of people to get up and get their heartbeats racing are Zombies, Run!, The Pursuit and Nexercise. There’s no denying that the opportunity to ‘gamify your life’ really does provide the motivation needed to take the dread out of exercise.
Gamification doesn’t just come in for the supporters it can also be used to help players improve their game for example Hensley Meulens, San Francisco Giant’s hitting coach came up with a way to help improve his players performance by gamifing the training. Players get points for positive contributions such as moving runners over with less than two outs or driving a runner in from scoring position. They can lose points, too, in the scoring system Meulens set and tracks himself. Under Meulens’ system, players are rewarded for doing the little things. Getting a runner in scoring position, or having a long at-bat to help their pitcher regroup are perfect example.
So with these gamification examples already in the sporting world how can they be used or adopted to be used in football.
1). Auditing
A football club and its fans have dozens of different types of interaction. From visiting the stadium on match day, to liking the official Facebook page or buying merchandise. Every single interaction can be used in a Gamification context – but only if you have them all mapped out and know how they all fit into each other.
2). Bridging online and offline behaviour
Every other industry is starting to understand how online and offline behaviour interacts. How the online research can lead to offline purchase, or vice versa. Brands use online channels to monitor chatter, assess feedback and even handle complaints about offline purchases. This is a difficult concept to gamify but one way is turning taking selfies at games into a game in the way that the best selfie could possible win a prize.
3). Enlist fan to engage with other fans
A popular Gamification technique is that of adding rewards and bonuses for referrals. This should work perfectly in a football environment. It could be something along the lines of a simple recommend-a-friend bonus. Or more complex like group-buying discounts. But the fact is that the fans are the best recruiters a club could ever have.
And as games get more expensive to attend, the dad-to-son vertical model of recruitment may be less reliable and peer-to-peer horizontal model will become more important. This kind of thing could work on a game-by-game, competition-by-competition or seasonal basis if done correctly.
Think about how LinkedIn encourages you to complete your professional profile. Well, why can’t my club do that for me? Why can’t it try to get me more engaged by showing me the level of my interactions and letting me share them with my social networks. Shame me about only going to 3 games in the last year. Give me credit for liking, sharing, subscribing, +1’ing, retweeting and embedding. And give me a pat on the back for sharing my engagement with my friends and followers.
So I say game on and bring the fun for sporting events get us fans involved and competing for prizes from our favourite teams.
References
Brodegard, D., Cannon, B., Lister. C., Sax, T., West, H. J. (2014). Just a Fad? Gamification in Health and Fitness Apps. LaughModel Health Communication Research Group, Department of Health Science, Brigham Young University.
Ha, J. P., Kang, S. J., & Kim, Y. (2017). Sport fans in a “smart sport” (SS) age: drivers of smartphone use for sport consumption. International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship, 18(3), 281–297.
socialmediain.sport.blog 