What is this book and who wrote it?
“Press Start: Using gamification to power-up your marketing“ by Daniel Griffin, Albert van der Meer was published in 2019 and immediately shortlisted for the 2020 Business Book Awards.
It was written for marketing professionals as a guide on how to create effective gamification solutions and implement them successfully. The authors have done an excellent job of avoiding jargon (or clearly explaining it when necessary), making this book accessible not only for marketers but also for a broader audience interested in gamification.
What to Expect from This Gamification Book?
This book was a fantastic companion on my way to Gamification Europe 2023
I consider “Press Start: Using Gamification to Power-Up Your Marketing” more than just an overview of what’s possible with gamification. For me, this book comes close to being a perfect guide and an introduction for someone who is just starting to build an interest in gamification.
In the beginning authors partially present biological aspect of the gamification, basically answering the question of why it works. We can learn about classic psychological experiments with handy explanation of their results, as well as the role of dopamine in our motivation. Theory is immediately put into context with multiple example from various fields.
With the biology explained, the book focuses on the importance of clearly setting goals when designing gamification and suggests several ways of gathering feedback. It may sound obvious, but quite often gamification experts find it difficult to prove their success. The authors advise how to avoid these problems by setting appropriate goals and performance indicators. Again we are presented with relevant example helping us to understand the explained mechanisms.
The final part of the book is a pure gold for any marketing expert. It is a very practical, step-by-step guide to building your own ‘gamification tower’ which effectively means a gamification solution with a clear understanding of their audience, mechanics and goals. Every step of this tower is demonstrated in a fictional example and an existing solution. Marketing experts were the core audience for this book, so it is fully understandable that other readers may need to modify and understand the presented design process on a deeper lever to fully leverage offered knowledge.
Advantages
- Excellent overview of gamification in marketing
- Numerous real-world examples
- Actionable tips for gamification designers
Conclusion
“Press Start: Using gamification to power-up your marketing” is a fantastic read for everyone interested in gamification. Daniel Griffin and Albert van der Meer have written a great book that is easy to read and deliver a strong gamification foundation for practitioners of gamification and experienced marketing experts. I strongly recommend it.
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Written by
Ike Gluski, Nexus at Gamification Global
