My total was $160. I walked into the game store planning to spend about $100, and even that felt like a stretch. But after swiping my card for my Grey Knights Combat Patrol, I was able to swiftly justify the purchase with what I thought, and still think to this day, were some pretty solid excuses. As an avid tabletop gamer and someone in the process of building my own business, that moment got me thinking about how my favorite games get people like me to buy in, and what that can teach us about gamification in marketing.
In the Grim Darkness of the Pretty Near Future, There Is Only Customer Buy-In
When I started looking into the world of Warhammer, the first thing that struck me was the world and characters that Games Workshop had built. The driving motivations behind each faction felt distinct, the characters were easy to root for or against, and growing attached to a certain faction felt so natural. It felt as if I had some sort of stake in the world of Warhammer 40k, picking a side and justifying their actions in a universe that was set out against them. So during my hours upon hours of intensely studying factions and watching countless videos, I decided I was going to align with the Grey Knights of the Imperium. The daemon hunters, the hammers of the Emperor. Their psyker abilities, their iconic grey armor, and their desire to rid the universe of Chaos instantly drew me in. Over time I started reading more and more about the Grey Knights and their origin, along with the Horus Heresy series, following the path of Nathaniel Garro, the first Knight Errant.
Then eventually I found myself wandering into a game store looking for my first box of Grey Knights. I was originally planning on spending only about $100, and even then I was on the fence about spending the money. Then I saw it, stacked in with all the other Combat Patrol boxes, the Grey Knights Combat Patrol, standing out like a fire in the dark. I pulled the box out and realized I could get a head start on my army with it, since the models inside were recognizable from my research. I strolled up to the checkout counter, they scanned the box, and told me my total was $160. My heart dropped for a second, but then I realized this was my opportunity to buy into the world of Warhammer.
I find this experience to be a great example of how companies like Games Workshop, Wizards of the Coast, and others get people to buy into their brands. They give a potential customer a world they can get involved in without ever having to spend a dime. It gets them thinking about the brand and the product through a lens that is less about a purchase and more about something that is a part of them now, a part of their identity as a person with hobbies and interests. Games Workshop has shorts on Amazon, audiobooks, hundreds of content creators focused on Warhammer, and video games. This lets anyone get into the world in whatever way is comfortable to them. That’s exactly what happened to me. It started with the Vermintide 2 video game, then YouTube videos, and finally the game store. When we’re marketing, I think it’s important to build something the customer can get involved in without spending money, and to help them feel like the world we’ve built as a business is part of who they are as a person. This path also lets us create a personal connection with the customer, since it gives us opportunities to interact with them outside of our product. I would call this strategy World Building Marketing.
Dungeons, Dragons, and the Customer
Dungeons and Dragons is another game I find myself playing often. When I first heard about the game, I immediately dismissed it, thinking it was for the super nerdy, which obviously wasn’t me. But boy was I wrong. I was sitting at work one day when one of my coworkers asked me if I had ever played. I told them I hadn’t, and they eventually convinced me to try. I had a tremendous amount of fun creating my character, roleplaying, and coming up with a plan to rob a goblin crime lord. That set me on a path of playing almost every Friday with different groups, and eventually crafting two universes of my own that I’m constantly building and running campaigns in.
What I find so fascinating about Dungeons & Dragons is the Dungeon Master’s ability to craft and set a scene for the heroes (or villains, depending on your party) and then let those players fill in the scene. What I mean by that is they can explore rooms, talk with the people in the room, fight those same people, or set an elaborate trap for the party. The possibilities are absolutely endless. This boundless creativity that Wizards of the Coast has offered its players is what keeps bringing people back. Whether they’re using tools like D&D Beyond to manage a campaign or character, or buying books and campaigns, the pattern is that people are always exploring their imagination.
When I’ve been in the planning phases of building a company or crafting a business idea, I always focus on the customer and what they can do with the product or service. One of those questions is: are we creating something so niche and limited that they can only do one thing with it? There’s a time and place for that, but can we let the customer go wild with our product? One idea I had in the past was a Sim Racing Cafe, a mix of Topgolf and a race track. The vision was to let customers come race on a sim, eat some good food, and hang out with their friends, making their own experience while we provide a set of bones that the customer fills in with the guts. For example, a group of friends could come in, rent a couple of seats, and host their own race event to prove who truly is the best. That moment would be memorable and special for them. Or another person might come in on their own to practice racing a track in their favorite car, one they may never be able to own in real life. That creates a special bond with that vehicle and that moment at the cafe. So how can we as marketers or entrepreneurs build something that lets our customers create their own story with our brand? I would call this strategy Player-Driven Marketing.
Gamification in Marketing: Turning Customers Into Players
So far we’ve talked about the world of Warhammer, my first time playing Dungeons and Dragons, and the marketing lessons I think can be pulled from them. These tools and strategies can be found all over the world of tabletop gaming, and people love gamifying their personal lives, so why can’t we as entrepreneurs and marketers gamify our marketing efforts? I think we need to make a solid push to make our brands fun and enjoyable to be around, from the very first time someone hears about us to years down the road as a loyal customer. Whether our brands are big or small, we have the opportunity to make them fun. Personally, I would much rather get involved with a brand I can relate to and live in, and those brands often turn the experience of being involved with them into a lifestyle.
One way you could make your brand more engaging is to give new customers a quest board when they onboard onto your platform, a list of things they can do on your site. Each completed task earns them a point, and if they do something without being prompted, they earn even more. Those points can feed into a leaderboard where they compete with other users to become the best around. Another option is to host a marketing campaign where customers form guilds, just like picking a faction in Warhammer, and complete treasure hunts on your socials, in your store, or with your product, then post their results online. Build unique communities around these guilds so your customers can interact with each other and create their own experience with your brand.
So the first time, or the next time, that nerdy friend of yours invites you over for a night of Dungeons and Dragons or Warhammer, take the leap and look for the lessons in the game. Still have fun, obviously, but it’s a great chance to see gamification in marketing in action and learn how you can gamify your brand to create something truly unique and special for yourself and your customers.
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