Games people play

Gamification has become trendy in business circles in the past couple of years, but it’s really just old wine in new bottles. (There is evidence that the Egyptians used a form of gamification to motivate teams working on the Pyramids.)

This American Marketing Association article explains what gamification is about and how pharmaceutical companies are experimenting with it as a way to motivate patients to take their medications.

In a completely different business sector, British Airways has used the principles of gamification to create something called “My Flightpath.” BA’s VP of marketing says, “We wanted to give customers something that helps to capture the magic of flying as well as allows them to easily track and share their personal traveling milestones.”

“My Flightpath” is not a game, per se. (Many examples of gamification are not literally games.) But the tool does contain a kind of scoreboard and can provide you with a kind of social status – elements that often are part and parcel of games and competition.