Gamification Marketing for Brand and Sponsorship Activations

Brand and sponsorship activations always face the same hurdle: how do you get people to stop and pay attention? Activations that take place out in the real world are fighting for audience attention. Sponsorship activations at concerts, sports, and festivals have to find a way to attract attention when there is so much else going on. Brand activations that take place in-store or in public are competing with people’s daily lives, busy streets, and everything else going on around them. With the holiday season approaching, the competition for audience attention will only heat up as malls, plazas, and shopping streets get busier and more crowded. You need to find a way to make sure your holiday campaign gets noticed in a competitive environment.

Gamification is a way of introducing fun, competition, and engagement to your next campaign, and it’s an effective way to get the attention you need to make your campaign a success. The introduction of casual gaming into the mainstream that came with the success of mobile games and apps has made the principles behind gamification familiar to just about everyone. The increasing acceptance of gamification has also allowed companies to incentivize engagements by offering vouchers or points-based rewards for consistent engagement.

Gamification can also create interactive opportunities for your business as part of brand and sponsorship activations. We help you take gamification out of apps and into the Out-of-Home advertising environment thanks to portable digital billboards for events and activations.

BIG Digital can custom-build fun and memorable gamification experiences of all kinds. We create gesture control brand activations, adventure-based gaming, and all kinds of rich, immersive experiences that feature front and centre in our clients’ campaigns. We also create classics like Pac Man, Memory Game, Spin-to-Win, and other feel-good hits, all of which can be fully branded and integrated with mobile for touch-free experiences. Audiences can play on their phones and see your gaming experience in the real world on a digital billboard. Mobile-integration turns your gaming experience into a shareable moment that extends beyond your real-world activation.

Deploying gamification as part of activations marketing is a way to stand out from the crowd and deliver a unique, immersive experience.

Use the Right Technology for Gamification

Digital billboards have always been an effective way to get attention for Out-of-Home advertising. They’re more effective at capturing viewers’ attention than online advertising while providing better communication and flexible programming than traditional billboards. In fact, digital displays capture 400% more views than static signage and have a recall rate of 83%. If you want people to remember you, digital billboards are the way to go.

One of the features that makes our digital displays stand out from the alternatives is that they stand at eye level. Our displays are designed like the mobile devices everyone has in their pocket. It’s what audiences are accustomed to. Their vertical design is user-friendly and irresistible to touch and experience.

BIG Digital has also unlocked new capabilities in our digital billboards for rent, including touch and gesture control for both indoor and outdoor options. Our outdoor options combine touch-free capabilities with extreme weather rating and simple installation. Interactivity can transform brand and sponsor activations. They elevate your event into something your audiences can participate in.

When you work with BIG Digital, you get on-demand, plug-and-play portable digital billboards for your activation and uniquely-designed gamification experiences. We have a diverse library of gaming experiences to draw on and will custom-develop brand-centric gaming experiences based on your vision for your activation. In addition to contactless motion and gesture control features, we can also incorporate elements of Augmented Reality, real-time leaderboards and mobile notifications, and integration with mobile devices for multi-channel gamification experiences.

The Advantages of Gamification Marketing

Gamification marketing is a unique opportunity to create a memorable experience and build a bond with audiences. These are some examples of what brand activations can do for your business and your brand.

#1 Create Engagement

Engagement is the number one goal of most activation campaigns. It’s the first step toward establishing a long-term relationship between the brand and the customer, and gamification provides the perfect excuse to entice someone into engaging with you. Create a fun, surprising, and immersive experience to get the ball rolling and start building relationships.

#2 Grow Brand Awareness

Creating an emotional attachment for a brand often results in engaged, premium customers. A Gallup report on consumer behaviour shows that consumers often spend based on emotional factors. The way they feel about a brand will influence the rest of their impressions. Consumers who feel an emotional attachment to a brand are more likely to spend more and act as brand ambassadors who tell others how they feel.

#3 Add Excitement to Giveaways

Giveaways are a great way to introduce a new product or brand to audiences, but brands that already have widespread name recognition can use giveaways to generate excitement and add an element of competition.

Gamification experiences can also add energy and draw a crowd at live events like music festivals or sports. Gamification helps you associate your brand with the buzz, energy, and excitement of the event.

#4 Strengthen Consumer Relationships

Integrating gamification experiences with mobile offers an avenue to creating an ongoing, stronger relationship with the consumer.

#5 Data Collection and ROI

One of the benefits of using portable digital billboards for gamification is that they can provide data collection and insights into your ROI. Find out information like dwell time, visitor flow, and other engagement statistics. Data collection and analytics can help you make more informed decisions for your next activation. Digital billboard data collection is all done without storing or tracking any private data.

Consumers are also more willing to consent to certain types of data collection or provide contact information when there is a clear incentive, such as a prize, reward, or enriching experience. Make the most of your opportunity to connect with potential customers and engaged audiences in the real world.

Successful Sponsorship Activations Make the Most of Gamification

How can portable digital billboards and gamification experiences support your next sponsorship activation? Take a look at some of our sponsorship activation examples to learn more about what we do and the kinds of partners we support.

In one of our more recent gamification experiences, we created a unique sponsorship activation during a music awards show at a major live music venue. The project combined advertising with a custom-built, music-focused interactive game alongside a contest giveaway.

For this activation, we provided portable digital billboards with a custom gamification experience where the user could connect with the display via QR code on their smartphone and become their own DJ by making their own music sequences. Users were also given the opportunity to enter a contest to win tickets to next year’s awards show. The project engaged over 400 users in one weekend.

If you want your next activation to feature an element of interactivity, gamification is the solution you need. Get in touch with BIG Digital before your next activation and create a one-of-a-kind experience.