Technology X Storytelling: Accelerate your Brand Strategy with Gamified Ads

High engagement is every marketer’s dream. To spin a story so compelling that the audience stays until the end and takes an action — from engagement to results. Adland has been swiftly moving to newer avenues, from static banners to snackable content. The next phase of this journey is the gamification of ads, giving consumers a reason to stay with not just the ad but the brand itself, much beyond the purchase. 

Gamification has always been a part of life for humans. Spoonfuls of spinach are turned into airplanes for kids, compelling them to finish their share. When the internet revolution brought emails home, adults would send personalised greetings where the receiver would input their name to feel the warmth of the sender’s intent.

Today, every piece of content is vying for audiences’ attention and brands must step up their game to cut through the clutter. Brands are leveraging gamified ad experiences to woo consumers and prolong the retention of their message.

And these efforts often pay off well!

Be it creating awareness or driving purchase intent, increasing message association or driving brand recall, gamified ads have a leg up on static ads: 

Here are some success stories of brands acing gamification of ads with a mix of compelling storytelling and the best of technology with mCanvas.

Minion fun with McDonald’s

To promote the launch of a limited-edition range of desserts created in collaboration with Minions: The Rise of Gru, McDonald’s created a virtual reality-led gamified ad experience with mCanvas. 

The ad nudged the audience to move their phone in a specific direction, and tap the screen to let the message unfold. The CTA drove the audiences to the brand’s website to learn more about the new desserts. 

The brand was able to keep the product at the heart of the message while engaging the audiences in a fun way, leading them to learn more about it.

Stars that fell for The Body Shop

Picking up on the saying of how falling stars grant wishes, The Body Shop spun a campaign to promote their new range of tea tree products.

By tilting their phones left and right, audiences could catch the falling products in their cart — as many as possible in 30 seconds. The gamified ad leveraged the accelerometer and gyroscope motion sensors in the phone to add to the user’s experience. Towards the end, users were asked to share their details to get rewards. 

The campaign included elements of awareness and engagement, with a direct CTA to incentivise purchase — completing the loop with a full-funnel approach.  

Killing aliens with Men in Black

Men In Black tapped into the camera-centric capabilities of augmented reality technology to show audiences, aliens, in their immediate surroundings — within the range of their camera.  

Audiences were encouraged to find and kill aliens around them, as many as possible. The score was then displayed on their screen, followed by the trailer. 

The campaign was used to ignite intrigue about the upcoming movie by nudging fans and science fiction enthusiasts to know more about the film, garnering an average time spent of 10 seconds.

Some retro munching with OnePlus & Pac-Man

OnePlus partnered with Pac-Man to promote OnePlus Nord 2, leveraging nostalgia to engage audiences and make them feel interested in the new phone. 

Audiences were asked to tap and collect the emojis they were shown in their immediate, augmented reality-tweaked surroundings.

The campaign’s value increased manifold thanks to this feel-good factor, increasing the brand’s reach to promote the new phone.

Keeping it clean with Domex

Domex created ‘Toilet Wars’, a gamified experience with mCanvas, to give consumers the power to fight off the evils in a household toilet space. 

The brand targeted 3 key pain points of consumers and assigned them values accordingly. While getting rid of the bad smell by moving the mobile in a specific way got the player 10 points, fighting off germs and stains got them 5 points each. 

The campaign incentivised the gamified experience by keeping a tally of scores and promising a year’s worth of Domex supplies to the top scorers.

Elevate your brand campaigns by gamifying experiences for your audiences. 75% of the global brands have adopted gamified ads and have seen an increase of 62% in audience engagement with their campaigns. These ad formats can help you achieve desired results for any section of the marketing funnel. Join this new ad tech revolution to add to your brand’s success story today.

Reach out to us today to learn how mCanvas can facilitate you to be at the forefront of the next wave of engagement-driven advertising at scale.