Next Tuesday is the kick off of the two-part Gamification Lab - New Zealand’s first workshop on applying games psychology to your marketing. Presented by the experts from the Gamedojo in partnership with Idealog and NZ Marketing magazines, a few places are still available. The lab is split over two Tuesday mornings on 26 June and 3 July, featuring case studies and group discussion with other senior marketers. According to M2 Research, in corporations spent USD$100 million on gamification in 2010, with that figure expected to rise to $2.8 billion by 2016. Why? The results speak for themselves: better sales conversion rates, retention, brand affect, social sharing and engagement with your brand. G-Lab will be facilitated by Mitch Olson, co-founder of New Zealand’s most successful social game Smallworlds, and Stephen Knightly, Chairperson of the NZ Game Developers Association.  Attendees are encouraged to bring sticky marketing problems or upcoming campaigns. For more information and to register...

The gamification of marketing and branding is here to stay.  According to M2 Research, in 2010 corporations spent USD$100 million on gamification, with that figure expected to rise to $2.8 billion by 2016. That’s a serious amount of useful fun and entertainment. If you feel that the time is ripe for you and your brand to jump in and explore this new marketing trend, we have the perfect opportunity for you to pop your toe in the  water and come out with something you can really use! Gamedojo (in partnership with Idealog and NZ Marketing magazine) present The Gamification Lab – held on two consecutive half-days, 26 June and 3 July.  If you’ve heard the buzzword and feel it’s time for some hands-on expert guidance, it’s the place to be. To define it briefly, Gamification is the application of successful game design principles to non-game activities such as brands, social media, loyalty campaigns or...

Mitch Olson is founder of game design studio, Gamedojo, which in partnership with Idealog and NZ Marketing magazine is hosting the Gamification Lab in Auckland next month. He is also co-founder of the hugely successful social game world SmallWorlds. We spoke to him about how to go beyond buzzwords and hype to create a business case for gamification for your brand. Mitch, how would you define Gamification? Gamification is where you take game mechanics, the tools that we use to make video games so entertaining and addictive, and apply them to something that is not a game. Marketing, customer loyalty, online brand communities are all common applications. It’s human nature to gravitate toward activities that are fun and personally rewarding. Bottom line? Gamification makes interacting with your brand fun, engaging and rewarding; providing you with greater participation, sharing and ultimately increased revenue. Where did the buzzword come from? Basically, it...