Jon Silk | PR Geek

How gamification could kill your business

2012-01-29T11:28:00.008Z

I'm not a gamification expert, and I hear there are lot of people out there who get deeply defensive over the technique. But as a marketer, web user, and customer service campaigner, I can't help but read at least one article about it a day.

And gamification is starting to worry me.

Gamification - or as Wikipedia eloquently puts it: 'the use of game design techniques and mechanics to solve problems and engage audiences' - is currently a favourite topic of the social media speakers who, two years ago, were fronting Foursquare as the answer to every marketing problem. But gamification isn't just a social network with 'next big thing' status - it's a blanket concept that the big brands are already getting excited about.

It may be a great idea, but here is the problem: Plugging gamification into a badly-running business or process doesn't help. I agree with venture capitalist Bing Gordon that as a term 'gamification' is just like 'social media' and 'mobile'. But that also means you can't just buy some, sit back, and reap the rewards.

Here are ten reasons why a poorly thought-out approach might just kill your business in 2012. Hopefully they will help you think more carefully about how it could work for you...

1. If your customer service is broken, making a game out of it won't help. Just as the adoption of Twitter forced companies to rethink the notion of the call centre, gamification requires a whole new approach. Winning points for how long I stay on hold to your crappy helpline won't make me any happier.

2. Gamification doesn't fix unhelpful systems. If your employees are complaining that your financial system is slow and fragmented, don't try to gamify it. Fix the system.

3. Making a game out of something people are forced to do just looks sly and manipulative. 'Let's play tidying your room!' might work for 3 year-olds, but your customers and employees are going to see that coming a mile off.

4. A small section of the world's population play computer games, and an even smaller section of them are on social networks. Your amazing idea to use gamification to revolutionise your business is going to be understood by less than 1% of your existing customers.

5. Gamification isn't new. Airline loyalty programmes, where you collect points and receive badges, have been going for decades. Don't get too excited about the concept - the first loyalty scheme was launched in 1793.

6. We're in the expensive part of the hype cycle. That gamification guru who just sent you a $250k pitch was a Gowalla guru last year. Think before you invest.

7. All the best examples are not business related. MyFitnessPal is for weight loss. GetGlue is for watching films. Nike+ is for running. Recyclebank is for recycling. Those things are easy to gamify, because they are all lifestyle choices in the first place.

8. Playing a game can be annoying. A large number of your customers and employees don't want to be faced with a multi-level roleplaying adventure game set in a future where dragons rule the Earth when trying to use your website.

9. We're still in a financial slump. If you're thinking about spending money, spend it on improving efficiency to make your product or service cheaper, or easier to get at. Oh, and if you're a bank doing it, stop gamifying things with my money.

10. Gamification removes a layer of human interaction from management and / or customer service. There are theories out there that you can replace guidance from another human with a scoreboard and virtual badges. Erm, hell no.

(Score +1 for reading this post, and +1 for each reason that you agree with. +5 bonus for leaving a comment, +10 for retweeting this post, and +20 bonus for leaving a comment on Tac's post using sweary language.)

Video: Explosive Chinese army demonstration

2012-01-23T15:52:00.004Z

In other news, Happy Year of the Dragon!

Questionable picture placement on the Guardian front page today...

2012-01-16T09:50:00.009Z

While the amazing image captures the scale of the terrifying Italian cruise ship disaster, I'm wondering if the Guardian subeditors got a sinking feeling when they saw today's print edition.

Justin Timberlake speaks at CES. Nobody laughs.

2012-01-10T13:43:00.002Z

Anyone else think this is a bit awkward?

Getting sucked in by quantum levitation

2012-01-05T15:47:00.002Z

WipeOut is my all-time favourite game, so I could relate to Japanese scientists using the theme to show off their quantum levitation race track.

Plus I loved this video so knew the science was sound. Please don't tell me that was a fake too...

I think I'm getting the hang of new year resolutions

2012-01-02T20:31:00.002Z

The only resolution I have ever stuck to was in 2011 - 'Don't go to Nandos'. I'd developed an unhealthy addiction which felt good to kick completely (although I'm sure my local branch is happy that it's now 2012). But I liked the feeling of completing a year with a resolution still holding so I'm going to share mine with you. That way you can keep an eye on me and make sure I don't break any.

1. Complete the usual January detox: This year I'm doing a heart-friendly diet alongside the normal no-booze rule. Cue replacing the bread in sandwiches with lettuce leaves, eating lots of omelettes, and sneering at you when you drink fruit juice.

2. Improve end-of-day time management: At 5.30pm every day I will clear my inbox, fill in my agency timesheets, and write my to-do list for the next day. I will walk out of the office at 6pm. (OK, OK... As near to 6pm as humanly possible.)

3. Do something charitable: I spent the 16 hours my employer allows us to give to charity in 2011, but I need to do more than that (plus sponsor the runner who twists my arm hard enough). My goal is not to sign up for a fun run - this year I'm going to *create something* that benefits a charity.

4. Stop reading The Daily What: Four hours a day watching videos of kittens doing funny things is a worse addiction than eating the odd piece of peri-peri chicken.

That's it. Feel free to check in with me to make sure I'm on track. And don't ask me out for a drink in January!

Why you got unfriended on Facebook...

2011-12-20T18:20:00.000Z

Check out NM Incite's new research into why people friend and unfriend on Facebook, based on a survey of over 1,300 people.

The main takeaway for me? That 39% of people unfriend due to their friends trying to sell them something. I wonder whether this includes unliking brand pages too... Or am I just lucky enough to have friends that don't sell things?

The Kernel: Milo and co. plant a new seed

2011-12-19T21:10:00.003Z

Today marked the launch of Milo Yiannopoulos' new online tech rag The Kernel - a site and newsletter (called The Nutshell). Milo has been teasing this for a while, writing in November that "it's time to fix technology journalism" and that the future lies in longer-form copy and quality over quantity. Back in my tech journo days we didn't care about 'pageview chasing' or optimised headlines, so I've been looking forward to seeing how this turns out.

My first reaction? The long articles and worthy subject matter (the cover story is 1,200 words about "Africa's Bill Gates") turned my twitterised brain into a terrified, jelly-like mess. As you surf through the site the experience is much more Time than Time Out.

This is a site you're going to want to make a cup of tea and sit down with, rather than surf across with one eye while your other one watches cat videos.

(Yeah, you have to actually think while you read. OMG! WTF?)

Once I'd recovered, I realised that this site is going to be a fun one to stick with. Just read Tech City: what a missed opportunity, for example. After blanket press coverage over the last couple of weeks suggesting a roundabout in East London is the UK's answer to Silicon Valley, this article disagrees. The writer, Peter J Storey, may be a little close to the subject matter (having founded a business centre nearby), but he accuses the press and public sector of 'grotesque Victorian taxidermy' and then hopes the concept will become more than a 'silicon circle-jerk'. Whatever your view, you can't fault the writing.

Good luck to Milo, Pritchard and the team on keeping this level of insight, humour and bile going for as long as possible. I haven't seen a business model yet, but here's hoping it doesn't get in the way of the fun stuff.

TomTom's bad weather warning

2011-12-16T11:21:00.001Z

Nearly half a million hits for this seasonal TomTom video and it's just a megamix of funny YouTube vids of people getting stuck in the snow. Lovely.

Don't look back in anger...

2011-12-15T14:12:00.001Z

I just found out I've been voted Best PR Blogger at this year's CRAPPS (Communicative Relations Awards from PR Professionals). Thanks to everyone who voted for me!

I'm dedicating this award to all the people in this epic video from the WE UK Christmas party (as well as those not in it, having made the disastrous decision to be ill / abroad), because they are the reason I turn up to work and bother with all this madness every day. Cheers.

Toilet advertising: The next generation

2011-11-28T14:40:00.002Z

Stay with this video until at least 1 minute in.

Client campaign: Win your Christmas list

2011-11-25T17:28:00.006Z

Keep an eye out for the adverts around Angel for the campaign our team launched today for the N1 Centre in Islington.

All you need to do is go to the N1 Centre, take pics of the gifts you'd like for Christmas, tweet or upload to Facebook, and the most likes / retweets wins the lot! Head on over to the Facebook page for all the details.

Now that's what I call Christmas shopping.

Samsung's cheeky anti-Apple advert

2011-11-23T17:30:00.001Z

My favourite bit: "Can I see it with my hands?"

Goodbye stuff, I didn't need you anyway

2011-11-22T11:48:00.007Z

I keep going to update Twitter and Facebook with a witty remark about how our flat was turned into an episode of CSI last night (see above for newly-dusted point of entry), or asking people to keep an eye out for people running around London in my clothes, or even starting a campaign to #findmyimac, but none if it seems fitting for the day after the night some **** invaded our home.

But weirdly, it feels OK to share stuff on this blog. Longer form writing seems to fit in these instances. So... Erm...

I know! I'll write a list.

Five things I found out in the last 14 hours

Sleeping's tough when a stranger's been rummaging around in your bedroom that day.

Online backup of your photos is a really, really good idea.

You can never have enough window locks.

I probably won't miss my iPad.

I'm thankful we are fine and that is the most important thing.

PR Geek link of the weeeeeeek!

2011-11-20T15:20:00.002Z

It's been a week (or two) for wonderful digital advertising, where we've been treated to a host of ideas that you see and immediately wish you'd had them yourself.

Take the agency that's just opened its first 'catvertising' spinoff, for example (prompting one of my clients to say she wished she worked with them - I was only slightly offended). Or the FedEx ad where a goose inexplicably sends a hockey stick to a puppy via a giant domino run.

But I particularly loved this digital billboard from sports cobbler ASICS, inviting you to run against Olympic marathon runner Ryan Hall. And lose, obvs.

Tesco launches Augmented Reality, possibly kills it

2011-11-17T16:39:00.005Z

I was chatting this morning with someone about how Augmented Reality seems to have disappeared, failing to find it a useful place in our lives. But suddenly, this happened:

Here are a few reasons why this misses the mark so convincingly:

1. Terrible 3D renders of products don't help you decide to buy products.

2. Nobody is going to follow the 'easy', 28-step process.

3. If this is a new way to buy, why is it only available for 40 items?

4. Oh. I still need a piece of paper to make it work?
5. I don't believe that the woman is looking for 'ports' and 'functionality'. Can't she just read those in the product specs?

While I'm all for companies trying out new technology to communicate with buyers and influencers (and great work by Kishino to get a household name like Tesco to give it a go and then get in the Telegraph), Augmented Reality needs to dose of Actual Reality before it takes off.

Mind you - I quite like the look of that Lego Millennium Falcon...

VW's new car is set to be a fan magnet

2011-11-10T18:02:00.004Z

10 more signs that you're a social media 'guru'

2011-11-08T14:31:00.007Z

1. Your conference speech was made up on the train to the conference.

2. Your conference speech was the best thing at the conference.

3. People at the conference have asked you to come and do some training at their office.

4. You'll probably make up the training on the train to their office.

5. When you arrive at their office, you're shocked that there isn't a Starbucks within 2 miles.

6. You start having anxiety attacks when more than 2 miles away from a source of wifi.

7. Your holiday bookings are governed by the availability of wifi.

8. You get in trouble with your non-guru friends for "fiddling with your phone" too much.

9. You're not fiddling, you're checking in on Foursquare.

10. You're the mayor of your own house on Foursquare.

(Featured t-shirt available from Rizzo Tees.)

10 signs you've turned into a social media 'guru'

2011-11-07T11:23:00.000Z

1. You deny that you're a social media guru.

2. You carry a heavily annotated Moleskine notebook.

3. You call heavily annotating a Moleskine notebook a 'hack'.

4. Your desk is littered with 'hacked' Moleskine notebooks, Lego, and Star Wars figures.

5. Your blog posts are accompanied by photos of Lego Star Wars figures.

6. You blog more than you do actual work.

7. Your actual work is impossible to explain to friends and relatives.

8. Your friends and relatives think you're in 'computers'.

9. You have at least three computers.

10. You carry your computers around in one of these.

(Sorry Tac.)

PR Geek link of the weeeeeek!

2011-11-05T11:22:00.004Z

I like dancing. But the last three times I danced in public, someone told me to stop, because I was embarrassing myself. And now I don't dance any more.

I probably need to learn a new dance. I considered Jian Sword Dancing, but now I've decided I'm going to learn to dance like these chaps, and then everything will be OK.

Google's new products are like inviting J-Lo around to your house for tea

2011-11-02T10:23:00.010Z

Google has recently changed all of its products, bringing in a new design and shakeup of features.

In Google Reader, it's forcing it's own path, removing any sharing services in favour of the simply dreadful Google+. In Gmail, which revolutionised the way we consume email through its use of conversations, it now treats conversations with contempt, as they seem to get in the way of its slick (but almost unusable) good looks. The same is true of Docs, which has had a redesign that favours form over function. And Blogger? I can't even work out how to use the damn thing.

Being reliant on so many Google products (using them for work and play hundreds of times a day) this is going to be a massive change for me. And I can't help thinking that Google is ignoring the outcry from millions of people just to make things a bit prettier and to force people to do what they want.

When J-Lo orders a room full of white lilies, or Madonna is forced to accept a hydrangea, or Whitney is thrown off a plane, we find it amusing, endearing, and sometimes attractive.

But this is life, not art. Imagine that, when invited round to your house for tea, J-Lo demanded that you fill your lounge with white lilies. Google being a diva is just annoying. Yes, it's pretty, but it's also a pain in the ass.

I've been a Blogger user since I started my first blog in 2002. My next blog will be on Tumblr.

Late for work? Just take a 'tanksi'

2011-10-28T15:25:00.001+01:00

Yeah, it's been done a million times. But that doesn't mean it isn't awesome.

This video = a worthwhile 90 seconds of your time

2011-10-15T18:44:00.003+01:00

PR Geek link of the weeeeeeek, no competition.

Pushing forward innovation (as long as there are hot chicks)

2011-10-14T12:43:00.004+01:00

As one of the largest companies on the planet, Chevrolet is committed to innovative thinking and the future of the planet. As a result, it has created its first fully-electric mass production car, the Spark.

Here, it shows off the Spark in a bright green metallic finish, to underline its commitment to environmental solutions that ensure we can all share in a future that is not only green, but also bright.

This truly is a glimpse into the future of an enlightened humanity.

"Yeah but can we get a coupla hot chicks in high heels and tight pants?"

Apple copies BlackBerry, and crumbles

2011-10-12T22:42:00.005+01:00

The news is currently alive with stories of BlackBerry's technology problems bringing down services like BBM and web browsing on its handsets.

And it seems that Apple is not immune to these kinds of issues either. iOS 5 - it's much anticipated and major update - is crashing computers and phones up and down the land during the update process.

What's interesting about these two major crises are that, the past, major errors on mobile phones used to be the fault of the operators. Should something like this have happened a few years ago, you'd probably have been on the (home) phone to Orange / Vodafone / T-Mobile / O2 straight away, shouting.

But with so much technology now proprietary to the device manufacturer, we're at their mercy. And as hardware manufacturers, they just don't seem to have the technology to keep services running 100% of the time, nor the customer service setup to handle the complaints when things go wrong.

So all we can do is sit back, seethe, and surf Twitter to make ourselves feel better.