You’re an established company, luxury is your unique selling point, you’ve built your brand and now you’re ready to move with technology.

 

If you’re looking to increase sales, build consumer engagement and increase customer loyalty, then consider introducing gamification into your business strategy. Consumer engagement is seen both as a strategic imperative for establishing and sustaining a competitive advantage, and as a valuable predictor of future business performance (Brodie et al., 2013).

 

So, let’s begin with what gamification is…

 

Gamification is a word that has become synonymous with rewards. Most gamification systems focus on adding points, levels, leaderboards, achievements, or badges to a real-world setting in order to entice people to engage with the real world to earn these rewards (Nicholson, 2015).

We now have the most sophisticated mobile processors that the world has ever seen, enabling modern customers to be within reach at all times via their smartphone or tablet. So, today’s luxury brands can take advantage of this new digital connection to create a lasting relationship with consumers – whilst driving sales and growing revenues.

 

STEP 1: Know your audience – luxury means luxury!

 

You’re dealing with high-end labels; therefore, you’re marketing demographic is high-end consumers. Don’t forget this when introducing games to your app.

 

For example: a virtual pizza building app introduced by dominos, could convince customers whose loyalties lie elsewhere to give dominos a try simply because of their games on their app. – However, such an application would be ill-suited for a company like Gucci or Prada.

 

The question is, how can opulent brands utilise gamification by means that doesn’t come across as gimmicky and ‘cheapen’ a luxury brand?

 

STEP 2: How to do it?

 

How are you going to make this game “high-end”? look no further…

 

Companies can offer VIP privileges, product discounts or high-end digital badges which can be distributed through social media platforms. All content should be tailored to the brand and offer exclusivity that only these app consumers can indulge in.

 

Finally, the procedure of the games shouldn’t change much at all. In order for a luxury brand to take advantage of gamificaton, it all boils down to presentation. If luxurious brands tailor their apps to include games to meet high-end buyers needs and preferences, it’ll increase digital interaction from the consumers, and boost engagement for the consumers-to-brand. And due to technological advances, these can be available to the consumer directly through a mobile app or even a social platform.

 

STEP 3: Learn from examples…

 

World renown Karl Lagerfeld (Director of Chanel and owner of Karl Lagerfeld), teamed-up with Optic 2000 as part of a month-long collaboration to promote his new luxury eyewear partnership.

‘The Karl Game’ was released as a means of promoting both himself and the brand. The game gave players the challenge of removing his infamous sunglasses in a virtual world and even offered discounts to local French residents who successfully completed the game.

 

Take a look at ‘The Karl Game’ here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUAh9gmg5wM

 

An example like so, shows gamification has not only been accepted into the luxury industry, but embraced by one of the world’s most luxurious brands (Jaekel, 2017).

 

A second example of luxurious gamification is done by Gilt. They are a luxury, members-only e-commerce brand providing consumers with a VIP shopping experience. Their plan of action, is through the use of time on their games. They offer exclusive deals through games that are time sensitive, so once a consumer misses the flash sale game of the day, or week, they’ve missed out on exclusive label merchandise.

 

According to Gilt: “All sales take place only on gilt’s app and our full collection of merchandise is always available at the start of the sale, so be sure to log on early.” This creates a brand identity of exclusiveness, by offering this VIP experience and being one of the few that can obtain the merchandise.

 

The flash sale app offers a tiered loyalty program based on points. And Gilt members accrue points via interacting with the app, referring friends, making purchases, and connecting with Gilt’s Facebook Timeline (the brand found shoppers made more purchases when connected this way).

 

There you have it…

 

As a luxury label, you are targeting a high-end audience, if the presentation of your game or app reflects a cheap image or lack of opulence, you could lose custom! So, remember, presentation is KEY. People look before they buy, and if they don’t like the look of the game, they certainly will not buy.

 

Secondly, remember to offer minimal, exclusive deals or offerings, that only few of the consumers could indulge in. i.e. a ranking system, and only the top 50 players of Selfridges’ game get a sneak peek at Chanel’s summer line. You must create that VIP experience.

 

Best of luck and remember, your consumer is your Very-Important-Person!

 

 

 

References:

Brodie, R., Ilic, A., Juric, B. and Hollebeek, L. (2013). Consumer engagement in a virtual brand community: An exploratory analysis. Journal of Business Research, 66(1), pp.105-114.

 

Jaekel, B. (2017). Chanel and Gucci Rank Highest Luxury Brands on Social Media. [online] Luxury Society. Available at: https://www.luxurysociety.com/en/articles/2017/09/chanel-gucci-rank-highest-luxury-brands-social-netbase/ [Accessed 23 Mar. 2018].

 

Kim, B., 2015. Understanding gamification. ALA TechSource.

 

Nicholson, S., 2015. A recipe for meaningful gamification. In Gamification in education and business (pp. 1-20). Springer, Cham.

 

Ufford, L. (2017). 6 Examples of Retail Gamification to Boost Engagement and Sales. [online] Retail Marketing Blog – Retail News, Trends, Store Tips, and More by Shopify. Available at: https://www.shopify.com/retail/6-examples-of-retail-gamification-to-boost-engagement-and-sales [Accessed 22 Mar. 2018].