SCNVGR - The Game Layer On the World by John Dobrowolski

Editor's Notes

• #2: My name is John Dobrowolski, I am a VP & Brand Alchemist with SCVNGR, we are a fast growing location-based mobile game platform, backed by Highland Capital and Google Ventures. (dld the app). We are building the game layer on the world. I’ll get to what I mean by that later. It’s because of that focus, because of that core mission statement that we spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about three powerful mediums.
• #3: Social, Mobile and Games. The majority of you are already spending a lot time exploring how you can use social and mobile, and (I hope) understand the power of these mediums. I don’t need to mention facts like social networks having passed email as the main form of communication on the internet. Or that mobile phones are, right now, the number one access point to the internet. So for the purpose of this talk lets take these two mediums as givens.But I would like to bring you up to speed on games and game dynamics, and how they are every bit as vital and relevant to building your brand.Mobile gives you access. Social gives you relevance. And games give you intent; they are the medium that will engage and influence behavior.So lets talk about games and game dynamics.
• #4: Well lets start here….what is the number 1 entertainment launch of all time? Titanic? The blue alien movie, Avatar? How about Modern Warfare 2…400 mil in the first day, supplanted GTA4, games are as big as movie industry, etc.Great, so I’m telling you that young men like to blow stuff up. A lot.
• #5: But how about the social phenomenon that is Farmville? 64 MAU. 18M DAU. Theequivalent of the entire population of Australia waking up every morning to play Farmville. But what’s interesting here? The average Farmville player is a 48 your old female. Games are penetrating a wide swath of audiences in a really massive way.
• #6: But very few of you are in the entertainment business. You have widgets to sell! So why is this relevant? Because when you take the dynamics of games like modern warfare and Farmville, and blah and blah, and apply them to your brand, you are leveraging enormously powerful tools. When used intelligently, can be used to engage, educate and inspire. By leveraging game dynamics, you are leveraging fun. Let’s take a look at this clip for an example of what I’m talking about.drive engagement, loyalty, buzz
• #7: Gamesare big moneyGames are broad reachingGames are powerful motivatorsAnd that brings me back to the assertion that we at SCVNGR building the game layer on the world.Well, that’s not quite accurate. Because, the thing is, there already is a game layer on top of the world.Although you cant see it, cant touch it there is a game layer on the top of the world influencing everything.It’s just not very well organized. And, frankly, it’s not all that fun.So what is in that game layer? Well for the most part, it’s pretty sparse. You can’t play games at most places or while doing most activities. But it’s certainly not empty. It’s cluttered with things like airline mile programs, coupon schemes (buy 10, get one free), it’s everywhere in your daily life – including the crazy game dynamics that you (and I) play to put ourselves in position for the office with the nice view, or the chance to work on the desirable project.So
• #8: So here’s how I look at the world. There are three layers.The first is land. It’s two dimensional. It’s mostly comprised of dirt and rock. You can pick it up and hold it in your hands. You can draw nice neat lines through it divide it into subplots. You can buy and sell it. But, it’s only two dimensional and there is a finite limit. This makes it expensive.The second layer is buildings. You can build buildings up and into three dimensions. Three dimensions! That’s a whole extra dimension to play around with. Buildings have a really nice aspect to them called specialization – we build our structures in such a way that they are specialized for certain tasks – hotels for sleeping, restaurants for eating, bars for drinking, clubs for dancing.The third layer is the game layer. It sits on top of the other two, and what it adds is the fourth dimension of game dynamics. And that’s huge. Because with this dimension, with this game layer, we can structure not just the buildings, but the interactions that take place inside those buildings, with subtle, powerful dynamics that motivate behavior on the individual level. And that’s what the game layer is all about. It’s all about this 4th dimension of interactions and of structure….and you can build on a game layer. And just like you need to know about pouring concrete to build a skyscraper, you need game dynamics to build on the game layer. Your raw materials arent purchasing land or glass or steel, you are purchasing mindshare. And your tools arentcatepillar equipment, they are game dynamics.Solets talk about somereally powerful game dynamics. Game dynamics are so powerful I like to think that with 7 game dynamics I can get anyone in this room to what I want. So with that in mind, I’m now going to share 4 with you. The other 3 I’m keeping to myself for competitive advantage.
• #10: Appointment dynamics are key to keeping 18mm dau.
• #12: Not done.
• #13: This is a driving mechanic the best selling game modern warfare, where all players in their 20M member community are rewarded with increasing military ranks, along with other acknowledgements, letting other people know you are good at the game. It serves as a core motivator to continue playing…
• #14: What’s a real world example of status and influence dynamics at work? American Express has built a wonderfully elegant status and influence mechanism through their globally iconic cards. At it’s core, this a status and ranking system. Bothers you and you want to have what they have. And the 500 annual fee that amex charges you to spend money.
• #15: Pick what I want, show that I emotionally own itCreating an idealized reality by trying on shoes. It’s the first step of merging actualized and idealized reality. In the picture, which is a virtual, viral, tangible artifact, the players own the shoes.
• #16: SCVNGR has partnered with Journeys, a national teen retailer, on a campaign kicking off later this year. A stated goals of the campaign is of course to sell more product – to sell more shoes. One of the ways we can do this is through actualization as a game dynamic. Step 1, a teenage enters their store with an idealized reality of walking out with some awesome converse or skywalk sneakers. Step 2: Through our Play SCVNGR @ Journeys campaign, players are incented to take photos of Players are challenged to take photos of sneakers, or perhaps even try some one. This is where First step. Get the player in the mindset that they own the shoes with a pictureSecond step.
• #17: NOT DONE
• #18: In the case of a movie promotion – there are 2 types of people: those that are going to watch your movie, and those that are not. The first group, those that are watching your movie, are of course a powerful vehicle of promotion. The campaign we have put together with Warner Bros is centered around giving those advocates the tools and wherewithall to vocalize their
• #19: So that’s game dynamics. It what this all boils down to leveraging the power of fun, to build creative, engaging experiences with consumers. This is not the next level of banner ad. We are talking about creation and engaging experiences. Humanized marketing. A long term, participatory relationship that drives long term value. You should leverage games. Starting now. There are lots of great tools out there, and you should understand them and use them, you should start building on the game layer. Enter the age of creation, rather than the age of collection and targeting. I hope this presentation on game dynamics has been thought provoking, and if you have any questions, I’d love to answer them.Game Dynamics are the next generation of brand marketing: immersive, creative, fun,scalable experiences rather than quick hit impressions, direct marketing, etc. It boils down to Creation vs. Collection. Location and time – 6 month utility. Own hearts and mind through creation, not collection., lets summarize what I’ve attempted to share with you today. Just like social and mobile, games are a critical, emerging component to building your brand.