Advertising Balloon Company

Last week we took up game theory in this space. Today, with the help of Reuben Steiger, CEO of social media agency Millions of Us, we’re looking at game mechanics, and the impact these mechanics can have on marketing.

Writing in Ad Age, Steiger says:

Today, the research on buying behavior is beginning to be reframed in terms of gaming mechanics. Game mechanics are the rules and rewards that make a particular game fun and gratifying. I eat a ghost in Pacman and get 200 points. I pull a lever on a slot machine, three cherries line up and bells ring while money pours into my hands. Farmville and other social games have mastered these mechanics to combine highly addictive positive feedback loops with viral social play. Users compete with each other for status, measured in “levels,” while paying real money for virtual items that enhance their gameplay.

Simply put, people like treats.

Steiger also points to Bunchball, a company that injects social gaming into your site and social sites like Facebook and Twitter. Bunchball says, “Gamification works because it satisifies our fundamental human needs and desires.”

“People have fundamental needs and desires – for reward, status, achievement, self-expression, competition, and altruism among others. These needs are universal, and cross generations, demographics, cultures and genders,” according to Bunchball.

I’m intrigued by this. What kind of social gaming might we bring to AdPulp? Do you want virtual currency for participating here? The experts say you do. What do you say?

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In the wake of the BP oil spill, Forbes takes a look at what other oil companies are doing to get their message out:

Shell Oil recently launched a campaign created by JWT in London that trumpets the company’s efforts to “build a better energy future” by delivering liquefied natural gas to Japan and creating emissions-butting fuel for factories in Brazil. The Netherlands-based company rolled out the campaign, themed “Let’s Go,” in May. “It is even more important now to engage with our customers and stakeholders,” Patricia Singer, Shell brand manager, said in an e-mail.

Other companies are still backing campaigns that were already running. Citgo Petroleum hasn’t altered the media plan for its two-year-old “Fueling Good” effort. As part of the ad initiative created by the ad agency BVK in Milwaukee, Citgo touts the jobs it offers and the “millions of dollars and thousands of dedicated volunteer hours in social-development efforts.” “Because it supports our nearly 6,500 independently owned and operated retail locations, we believe it is a privilege and obligation to continue [the campaign] in these challenging times,” says Jennifer Moos, Citgo’s general manager of brand development.

Every industry made up of international conglomerates has its share of image ads. So it sounds like business as usual for the other oil producers. It’ll be interesting to see if BP’s troubles affect the perceptions of the rest of the industry.

Editor’s Update: Let’s look at some of Citgo’s very friendly web copy: “Millions of gallons of quality fuel and lubricants. Thousands of jobs. Countless volunteer service hours. CITGO is spreading the Fueling Good philosophy at every turn, and creating change in our communities.”

FuelingGood.com looks like a site for a community center or some other community-oriented charity. Citgo, may in fact be the good guy when compared to BP, ExxonMobile, Shell and the rest, but they’re still an oil company. The trick, it seems to me, is to own who you really are right now, but balance that with you you want to be (a respected and contributing member of the community).

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Looks like Wheat Thins is a Kraft brand that just wants to have fun. Which makes sense–the ubiquitous crackers are a party snack, after all.

Here’s another in a growing series of on-camera pranks from Chicago agency, and Friend of AdPulp (FoAP), The Escape Pod.

The brand was also at Bonnaroo recently, and it looks like the festers want them back next year.

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