Accenture: Where Canadian firms will play with gamification

There’s a fine line between fun and fatigue when it comes to gamification.

A report released earlier this year by Accenture’s Singapore office warns that as the world gets gamified, consumers may start to tune out the deluge of offers, games and contests aimed at them. It also points out that as the gamification space gets louder and more competitive, its original target group – Generation Y – is growing up.

But as Stephen Gardiner tells us, it’s not the final inning for gamification just yet; it’s just time for a reboot that refines (and redefines) the game and how it’s played. Gardiner is the managing director at Accenture Canada’s management consulting practice in Toronto.

Q: There’s so much buzz about gamification applications in business. Have you seen that among Accenture Canada’s clients yet? 

A: We are seeing it. Even some of the stats out there prove it. Gartner estimates 70 per cent of G2000 companies will be using some form of gamification by 2014. Just anecdotally, we’re seeing all types of applications of gamification, including both client and consumer facing.

Q: How are companies today using gamification? Is it only about technology and mobile apps?

A: I think it extends beyond apps, especially consumer-facing apps. There’s a spectrum of games and gamification, whether played through one of the established consoles like an Xbox (or otherwise). We’re seeing game mechanics being used to go beyond just putting a game out there, to take a look at what people find intrinsically attractive about games and employ that to solve a business problem.

People like to be connected and rewarded, to compete and be recognized. (Companies) are starting to build those into employee as well as consumer interactions to drive certain behaviours. We’ve seen it with a bank that wanted to incent frontline staff. So badges (were awarded) for employees who had a certain number of referrals and there were also leaderboards. All the things people like (about) games are being decomposed and applied to business problems.

Q: Which Canadian industry sectors are seeing the biggest gamification activity so far? 

A: We’re seeing it across multiple dimensions. In enterprise, apps for driving collaboration, productivity and engagement – that’s probably the highest growth area we’re seeing recently as these gamification techniques are applied to learning.

Q: Where does Canada rank vs. other countries in developing and applying gamification techniques and technology? 

A: We’re certainly well positioned for gamification. Over 50 per cent of Canadians are gaming; 90 per cent of Canadian kids play games on a regular basis. We have high smartphone, device and gaming console adoption. There’s between four and five million Microsoft Xbox LIVE unique users here on a monthly basis. Are Canadians engaging in games and primed to take advantage of the fun and richness games have to offer? The answer is definitely yes. Are Canadian companies applying gamification on a consumer basis? We’ve got companies like Scotiabank and Cineplex engaging consumers with interactive trivia and games before a movie. So we’re starting to see some innovative examples in the Canadian marketplace.

Q: In the B2C space, is ‘gamification fatigue’ a danger among consumers?

A: I do think we’ll have to think of ways to avoid it. We would advise clients to really make sure you understand the objectives you have within the game. Is it to drive engagement, a set of behaviours, or affinity? Or are you trying, on the enterprise side, to drive learning or collaboration or just a behavioural change? Make sure the games are well designed for what you’re trying to do.

Q: Is gamification only effective for targeting younger consumers? 

A: It started off (that way) because of Generation Y’s familiarity with games. But it really does span all (age) segments. All of them are engaging on smartphones and social media. The intrinsic things that games apply to – status, competition, rewards – those are natural human traits across many age groups.

Q: What’s the coolest use of gamification you’ve seen so far?

A: There’s a couple that stand out. One is (Toronto’s) Hospital for Sick Kids. It runs an app program called Pain Squad [an iPhone app that helps pediatric cancer patients track and manage their pain]. In education there’s the Khan Academy. There you’ve got an application of online learning where the purpose is to increase the education levels around the world. They use gamification in very subtle ways to be able to drive the learning process. I just think that’s a wonderful application.

The key takeaway is it’s not just about games. It’s about decomposing what people find interesting about games and applying it to real world problems and opportunities. Once you get beyond games on your smartphone and use gamification techniques to drive behaviours and learning, the opportunity to use it for that is quite spectacular.