Gaming the Auto Finance System

I’ve never been a good Scrabble player (or Words with Friends, for that matter) because I like to make up words (this really helps me in other games, like Balderdash, though). For example, one of my favorite scenes from “Up in the Air” is when the young consultant starts her PowerPoint presentation by merging the words “global” and “local” into “glocal.”

And since it’s a new year and all (Happy New Year, everyone!), I thought I’d bring your attention to another new-fangled word that is gaining traction in sales and marketing. 

Gamification.

It’s not surprising that when I typed that word into my text window, spell check didn’t recognize it as a real word. 

Gamification is when someone uses a game or game techniques to engage an audience. It’s not altogether different from using sweepstakes or prizes to induce certain behaviors, but the concept of using games instead of prizes is becoming more popular because people are playing more games online. All you have to do is look at Zynga’s IPO as proof of that.

An entire industry of companies helping corporations “gamify” their websites is growing larger and larger by the day. According to some data I found online, more than 25% of all Facebook users play games on the social networking site. That is more than 100,000,000 people worldwide. 

Game techniques that are being added to websites include loyalty programs and bonuses, badges and rewards for accomplishing achievements, and integrating with a user’s social networking profile to use word-of-mouth marketing to promote a brand. 

I recently read an article about how an NHL hockey team was using gamification technology to reward visitors that watch highlights on the team’s website, posting to the team’s forum and sharing news and updates via social networks. I wondered if the concept would be applicable to the auto finance industry as well. 

Lenders could use game techniques to:

• encourage customers to make payments online
• learn more about a lender’s new offerings
• promote a lender’s offerings via Twitter and Facebook

In exchange for encouraging such behavior from its customers, a lender could develop a loyalty program that offers rebates or discounts on monthly payments or incentives when obtaining another product from the lender. There are a lot of other possibilities for this technology that can be applied. 

Car manufacturers are building out new and better websites to attract more customers. The finance companies should be doing the same.