Future of Money: Alternative Currencies and Transactions | What Would The Internet Do? Increased online gameplay is changing e-commerce to g-commerce. Nielsen says people are spending more time online playing games than sending email – bringing new meaning to the phrase “everyone is a gamer.” How can marketers use the increase in gameplay to their advantage? For e-tailers, the goal should be to add gaming elements to the purchase process, also called “gamification.” That can be as simple as advertising in and around games, or as complex as revamping an entire Web site to include badges, points and virtual currency. If it sounds like too much work, read on from some stats from Interpret that prove why gamers may be an e-tailer’s most coveted target demographic. Gamers are more inclined to be online shoppers First, let’s get a simple definition out of the way. For this study, Interpret defined gamers as people who had either purchased a game, played PC or console games, or even just spent a few hours playing social games on Facebook.
Gamers are more influential online Gamers are more inclined to buy within a "gamified" environment. De l'innovation monétaire aux monnaies de l'innovation (1) De l'innovation monétaire aux monnaies de l'innovation (2) American Express Offers Zynga Virtual Goods as a Member Reward. American Express Offers Zynga Virtual Goods as a Member Reward Credit and charge card points can be used for just about everything: flights, event tickets, hotels, gas, online shopping, the list goes on. Now you can add one more thing to the list: virtual goods. Zynga is entering into a new partnership with American Express for charge card users with Membership Rewards points to be able to buy a special Zynga goods.
For now, there’s just a handful of possibilities, but the companies say they’ll be expanding the partnership in coming weeks. Note that 100 points are about equal to a dollar, so judging by the above prices, buying limited edition virtual goods through Amex won’t be a great deal more expensive than getting equivalent goods with regular currency in the game. This isn’t a hugely significant deal by itself, but it does show how widely social game companies are spreading their nets to accept different payment types. Sponsored Post Hands-On Social Media Training for Beginners. Will American Express, Zynga deal be a virtual rewards game-changer? Got points? Starting today, you can redeem them for virtual items like cows in FarmVille or guns in Mafia Wars. In a first-of-its kind deal, American Express has teamed with game-maker Zynga to make its credit card rewards redeemable for virtual goods.
It’s the latest example of gamification – or the introduction of game elements into non-game activities. There are reasons this commerce and gaming partnership works for AmEx and Zynga, but the deal could have implications for other companies’ reward programs as well. Zynga’s player demographics gel with the American Express cardholder base Per Jonathan Flesher, Zynga’s GM of business development: American Express and Zynga are logical partners for demographic reasons. Cardholders can already redeem points for other intangible objects There’s no money exchanging hands when cardholders redeem points, and often no item they receive in the mail. The deal raises the perceived value of Zynga’s virtual currency. American Express and Zynga Announce Strategic Relationship to Make Virtual Goods and Game Cards Available for Purchase Using Membership Rewards® Points. In an industry first, American Express and Zynga announced today that they have entered into a strategic relationship that allows customers to use Membership Rewards points from American Express to pay for limited edition virtual goods, as well as physical and virtual game cards for Zynga's games.
American Express is the first financial services provider to offer reward redemptions for virtual games. The relationship will also bring to market unique joint-marketing endeavors and exclusive offers for both company's membership bases. “Our relationship with Zynga, one of the key players in the digital space, marks a new redemption category for American Express and reflects our ongoing commitment to expanding and deepening the value we offer customers online,” said Dan Schulman, Group President Enterprise Growth, American Express. The specific redemption offers will start at 200 points and the goods immediately available include: Zynga links FarmVille and other games with American Express rewards. Membership has its privileges — even in the virtual worlds of social games.
Zynga, the maker of FarmVille, Mafia Wars, and other social games, is announcing today that you can use your rewards from American Express credit cards to buy virtual goods in its offerings. The strategic relationship is a first between a social game company and a major credit-card rewards program. The American Express Membership Rewards program gives rewards to cardholders in the form of points. Users who play Zynga can take their American Express points and spent them on virtual goods in increments that are as small as 200 points, which is enough to get you a $2 gift card that you can spend on items in the game. A purple cow in FarmVille, for instance, costs 540 American Express points. For students of consumer behavior, the implications of the deal are mindblowing: It’s the ultimate union of two virtual currencies.
Frequent-flier miles and credit-card points are often seen in the same light. Using Facebook Credits for Loyalty Programs and Beyond. At the Facebook f8 conference earlier this year, founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled Open Graph as “the most transformative thing we’ve ever done for the web” and with that announcement, the disparate strands of the world wide web became more tightly woven.
At the time, and to my surprise, mention of Facebook Credits was minimal at best—but as more information becomes available, it’s my prediction that Facebook Credits will be the NEXT major step Facebook takes toward unifying the online experience from simple, social interactions to true social commerce (or when tied to Facebook commerce, labeled as fCommerce). Before we dive into where I see that going, here’s a quick recap of what Facebook Open Graph is and how it lays the foundation for Facebook Credits to revolutionize the online experience for users and marketers alike.
An Open Graph Recap The Open Graph protocol enables any web page to become a rich object in a social graph. But the use of Open Graph gets even more interesting. Discovering the Power of Virtual Goods Incentives.