I'm Not Playing

In an effort to increase readership here, I'm looking into gamifying roundseventeen.

Not exactly sure how it would work yet, I only know that gamifying is the latest trend in marketing and that if I'm going to capitalize, I better have the badges and fuel bars to jump on that bandwagon.

When I go to work at various ad agencies, they rarely have a desk or an office for me to work. Which is great because it gives me an excuse to leave the premises and work from home where there's better coffee and no dress code. It's also where I'm much more productive.

(This seems like a good spot to introduce my new personal tagline: 
© Rich Siegel. Three writers for the price of two.)

But agency Creative Directors like to have Face Time, so on occasion I am forced set up shop in the cafeteria or the commons area.

Here, I get to eavesdrop.

Sometimes on sales pitches from magazines. Sometimes on status meetings. And sometimes on Monday morning recaps of weekend shenanigans, all surprisingly tame I  might add. I've never heard anyone talking about mushrooms, or tequila, or 4 AM road trips to Cachuma Lake.

What I do hear a lot about is gamifying.

On everything from cars to packaged goods. Clients, it seems are obsessed with turning their sophisticated marketing message into a chase, or a battle, or a virtual farm.

It's all in the name of some popcockery called "brand engagement." I don't understand the tenets of brand engagement, probably because I don't want to be engaged with my brands.

I love Apple Computers and all their associated products. Mostly because they do what they're supposed to do. Same goes for my used Lexus, which feels and drives like a new Lexus. I also love Thomas' All Wheat English muffins.

But here's the thing, everything I need to know about my Thomas' English Muffins is printed on the outside of the box. That is the scope of my brand engagement. I'm not following their tweets. I'm not visiting their website. And I'm most certainly not going to play an English Muffin game.

So if you ever see me using my iPhone to hunt down Thomas' nooks and crannies, it means there has been a very early onset of Alzheimer's and I'd prefer you put me down with a well-placed large caliber bullet.