The sustainability challenge: move away from language and toward experience.

By Emily Drew

Angry Birds and Cinepuzzle. Those are the favorite games of Judah Schiller, CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi S, whose San Francisco office got rid of the board room years ago and replaced it with a game room, complete with Xbox Kinect. “We have our best meetings in the game room,” Schiller and his colleagues told me at Sustainable Brands ’11 this week.

Schiller’s own love for gaming led Saatchi S to a study released this week called, “Engagement Unleashed: Gamification for Business, Brands, and Loyalty.”

Saatchi S has been in the business of engagement for a long time. “We’ve worked with some of the biggest brands, and just as we admire the beauty and creativity needed to engage people in a brand,” Schiller continues, “we understand that people’s expectations for engagement are changing.” Today’s American consumers want to be entertained, they want to learn and they enjoy competing.

One of the study’s most poignant findings, he said, was that 37% of consumers surveyed would prefer to learn about new products or offers via an online game experience. Only 3% prefer radio or television advertising.

“This sends a clear message to advertisers: they need to accelerate new ways to engage with consumers,” he said. “Gaming will fundamentally change the way people communicate. We’re moving away from language and toward experience.”

The CEO noted game-time at the workplace offered a significant opportunity for marketers: 27% of consumers employed play games 30 minutes or more during the work day.

Schiller pointed out while companies have been using more entertaining means of getting things done internally (such as role-playing to learn conflict resolution), companies need to be more outward-focused on how they can utilize fun. 

“Our lives are filled with pockets of boredom,” he said. “I think we’ll find many ways to fill these pockets of boredom—on the subway or waiting for a meeting to start.”

Schiller predicts in the next year companies will be taking new steps toward integrating gaming into their business strategies:

• Large corporations are going to be doing internal audits, Schiller said. “They’re not going to want to shy away from this opportunity to increase internal talent and attract the best employees.”
• Companies are also going to be getting their heads around what kinds of games will create the most value for them and not be gratuitous. 

“Eighty-five percent of consumers would be willing to play a brand-building game for just the chance of winning a prize of $100,” he said quoting findings from the survey. “Figuring out to deliver incentives in gaming will be key.” 

Some incentives could include product discounts or donations to a consumer’s favorite social cause. In the Saatchi S survey, sadly, discounts edged out all other incentives, including those benefiting children (this tied with loyalty points), the environment and communities. 

“On the social benefit side of gaming,” Schiller said, “everyone needs to recognize that we haven’t done enough. Communicating through inspiration is not enough. Consumers want their points.” 

A summary of the study’s methodology, key findings and graphs is available here.

Note: This article has appeared on the BCLC Blog.

About Emily Drew

Emily Drew is a BCLC researcher and reporter and head of BCLC’s mapping initiatives. She writes about current events and trends in CSR.

Talkback Readers: What can green marketers take away from Saatchi S’s study? Weigh in on Talkback!