I am a loyal Starbucks coffee junkie. A gold-card-member-bearing-barista-knows-my-name-and-drink-when-I-walk-in-the-door kind of Starbucks junkie. My unwavering loyalty is largely due to the My Starbucks Rewards application that is often recognized in the gamification arena as a best-in-class use of gaming mechanics and rewards. Points, levels, goals, progress bar, status…a shining example of a great loyalty program. However, My Starbucks Rewards is not the only gamification platform that has been successful for Starbucks. .
Recently, I discovered MyStarbucksIdea.com a crowdsourcing
platform started in 2008 allowing Starbucks enthusiasts to share, comment and
vote on ideas in the hopes of creating an even better Starbucks experience for
all. Crowdsourcing, utilizing the power of a passionate brand community to
gather feedback and innovative ideas, has proven an effective and efficient method
for generating content and ideas. The result for Starbucks Corp. has been an
experience that has motivated customers to generate over 150,000 ideas to date.
Here are three key gaming strategies that have served Starbucks well in
leveraging their consumer to provide innovative ideas and insights while
fostering a deeper level of engagement through their online community.
1. Social Collaboration (Commenting/Voting/Liking)
Users have one goal, get ideas
launched, but those ideas are not the result of one individual effort. Working
together, users bring the best ideas to the top by commenting, liking and voting
on ideas they are most interested in. The result is a collaborative effort
behind a central idea that customers are passionate about. For Starbucks, this
is an organic and engaging way to see what ideas are priorities to customers.
2. Friendly Competition (Leaderboards/Points)
My Starbucks Idea Leaderboard
displays the top 10 users who have generated the most conversation over the
previous month. Users earn points by sharing ideas, receiving positive votes,
commenting on other ideas and voting on the ideas of others. The point
structure is a nice blend of quality and quantity reinforcement. Users are
motivated to share quality ideas to earn votes that are gratifying to the user,
but they are also being motivated to vote and comment at high volumes to earn
additional points. Using points and leaderboards adds a layer of competition to
the community it serves as a recognition tool for active participation, and
allows Starbucks to track loyal brand advocates within the community.
3. Feedback (Idea Tracker)
Submitting ideas
with My Starbucks Idea is a far cry from the good ole suggestion box. Starbucks
has implemented an idea tracker that keeps the user informed on the status of
their ideas. Users will see one of four badges: under review, reviewed, coming
soon and launched. By creating these milestone achievements it provides positive
reinforcement for the user’s progression towards the larger goal of getting an
idea launched.
If you’re interested in hearing more about leveraging gaming strategies
to engage your customers or employees, please contact Inward Strategic Consulting
to arrange a gamification credentials presentation. We are bringing
gamification to Fortune 500 companies and would love to help you utilize the
power of gaming mechanics to drive engagement for your business.
1 comment:
Gamification is a science that drives positive behaviours sustainably and helps develop desirable habits. It goes beyond points, badges and leaderboards by enabling every individual to optimize their potential in any field. The human-focused approach of gamification is much desired in multiple spheres of our life. TGC Technologies Pvt Ltd is a gamification and technology backed ideas and product company. We are incubated by Atal Incubation Centre (AIC-RMP). We have ready-to-roll out gamification products and we also design customised gamification journeys.
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