So anything that gets people to stay around longer has good effects on the game’s overall usage. Normally, people play Zynga games for 10 minutes at a time. FarmVille’s fastest-growing crop, by contrast, takes two hours, which leaves users without much to do in between harvests. That means that you’ll get an extra reward if you stick around long enough. For instance, when you plant strawberries in a field, you can harvest them in just five minutes. "I don't see them not doing it," Spieckerman said.The game also has built-in motivators to keep you playing the game. For instance, Spieckerman of Newmarketbuilders said consumers could one day buy real merchandise in "CityVille" Best Buy stores that they can't find in the actual stores. 6, just in time for the holiday shopping season.īest Buy and Zynga officials say they are open to introducing more real-world transactions into the game. But we are thrilled with the results we have so far and the positive feedback we've heard from our fans on Facebook."īest Buy will return to "CityVille" for a week beginning Nov. "We are still assessing other metrics, like traffic to our website and engagement with the game. "This was unprecedented for us," spokeswoman Erin Bix wrote in an e-mail. 6 - the week Best Buy appeared on "CityVille" - the retailer gained more than 1 million fans on Facebook. "Our first priority is to build brand consideration" among players.īetween Aug. Will building Best Buys in "CityVille" lead to real-world sales? That's especially appealing to Best Buy, which has been aggressively courting consumers on their mobile devices. In addition, 66 percent of social gamers own a tablet and 53 percent are smartphone users. "And social gaming is relevant to women." "Retailers (covet) female shoppers," said Carol Spieckerman, president of Newmarketbuilders, a retail strategy firm in Bentonville, Ark. online population age 18 to 45 plays social games on a daily basis, according to a recent study by Saatchi & Saatchi. Social games like "CityVille" also offer retailers a wider audience than the hard-core gamers, who tend to be young and male. In "CityVille," "I wouldn't want a generic big-box store. "There's no reason to see Best Buy in Halo," said Shust, referring to the violent sci-fi video game for Xbox. But they can naturally associate Best Buy stores with the reality-based world of "CityVille" Shust said. Of course, too much marketing can turn off gamers. Collecting these items can win gamers points, energy boosts, game coins and even Geek Squad vehicles that roam the city. Players can place Best Buy stores in their cities, where they collect items like a smartphone, camera or refrigerator. They can recruit their family and friends to work in police departments and build franchises, such as toy stores. In "CityVille," players build the city of their dreams, including homes, businesses, famous landmarks and public buildings. I can see a whole lot more retailers doing it." Best Buy's presence on "CityVille" "does go a little further. "It's certainly new," said Dan Shust, who heads innovation for Resource Interactive, a digital marketing agency based in Columbus, Ohio, that works with retailers. Last week, media/tech giants like Google, Microsoft, Sony and NBC Universal attended the Gamification Summit in New York City. Internet retailer signed up with Badgeville, a Silicon Valley-based gamification startup that recently raised $12 million in venture capital. In May, HSN (formerly the Home Shopping Network) launched HSN Arcade on its website. Retailers could exploit the popularity of "FarmVille," "Mafia Wars" and "Cafe World" - games where users can play and interact with each other on Facebook, Yahoo and Google - and reach gamers with deals, product info and loyalty programs. That's why Best Buy and other retailers, including Minneapolis-based Target Corp., want to boost sales by more closely integrating stores with websites and mobile devices. Although Best Buy generated more than $50 billion in revenue last year, sales from its bricks-and-mortar stores has slowed. This is the deepest we've ever gone in social gaming."īest Buy is trying to get ahead of what industry experts call "gamification," a marketing concept that seeks to effortlessly fuse social media, entertainment and commerce. "CityVille" "is such a great fit to reach consumers where they are. "Our core customers spend a lot of their time on Facebook," said Alix Hart, senior director of digital marketing for Best Buy. By making itself a fixture in the popular social game, Best Buy hopes to move beyond traditional advertising and engage consumers in a manner that's equal parts familiar and cutting-edge. to allow players to "place" Best Buy stores in the "CityVille" game on Facebook. The company recently partnered with San Francisco-based Zynga Inc.
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