7Summits Leads Social Business Gamification Movement
Milwaukee, WI (PRWEB) March 07, 2014 -- 7Summits, a social business solutions provider, has become a leader in social business gamification, thanks to their pioneering work with several Fortune 500 companies. 7Summits recently implemented a successful gamification strategy with Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) and has published a white paper on the subject.
Gamification, the application of game-like elements to non-game environments, was one of the top business trends of 2013 and is continuing to gain momentum in 2014. Gamification uses game mechanics and game design techniques to engage employees and customers, in order to influence behavior, develop skills, and drive innovation. Many gamification models feature badges, leaderboards and points systems to keep participants engaged, drawing on tactics popularized in gaming. These tactics comprise a larger opportunity for driving measurable change and positive transformation in organizations.
While game-like incentives have a long history in various industries, such as customer loyalty cards and frequent flyer miles, it was only recently that the trend began to take off as a major business objective across all industries. Today’s popularity of gamification is due in part to Generation Y coming of age after growing up amid exposure to more complex game elements, as detailed in 7Summits’ white paper, Critical Elements of Gamification.
While traditional forms of marketing have begun to lose effectiveness, gamification succeeds by providing users with immersive and interactive experiences. Gamification is capable of driving business results by transforming customers into brand advocates, building buzz for the brand, and increasing employee engagement and productivity for businesses in any industry.
“7Summits develops comprehensive social strategies that include gamification to drive measurable results,” said Rob Murray, Senior Vice President of Business Development for 7Summits. “By incorporating gamification into a community, we are able to help our customers activate and engage users in a more meaningful way and reap tangible business benefits, such as increased customer loyalty, employee productivity and time spent on site.”
An effective gamification strategy incorporates intrinsic and extrinsic motivators to guide user behavior. All users have unique motivations and will want to participate in varying ways. Effective game mechanics ensure there are multiple reasons to participate and numerous ways to reach the final goal.
Gamification can also help drive adoption of an online community by encouraging user participation and building a community of action.
“Companies should capitalize on people’s natural proclivity for competition to generate stronger results in user adoption,” said Paul Stillmank, CEO of 7Summits. “7Summits can enable rapid adoption of any business process with these techniques, minimizing productivity loss.”
7Summits recently created two social communities for Hitachi Data Systems, using gamification to enhance the interactive experience for employees and customers. The internal community features employee missions and digital badges that encourage interaction, and the external community incentivizes customers to help each other with support issues, lowering customer support costs for HDS.
Forward-thinking companies understand the potential of game mechanics to drive measurable business value and user behavior, but are still learning how to properly implement them. Download the white paper to learn more about the critical elements of gamification and how 7Summits can implement a gamification strategy for your organization.
About 7Summits
7Summits LLC is a social business solutions provider founded in 2009 to help companies engage customers, partners and employees to help grow their businesses. 7Summits delivers top line revenue growth and bottom-line productivity improvement by focusing on both consumer influence and employee collaboration. The company works with dozens of Fortune 500 brands to transform key business processes and become more fully networked enterprises. 7Summits offers deep expertise in social business strategy, community experience design, platform development and integration, as well as community activation. 7Summits is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. For more information, please visit http://www.7summitsagency.com/.
Dustin Vrab, For 7Summits, +1 (414) 765-2311, [email protected]
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