Beyond advergaming design: the convergence of branded currency, social exchange, trust

and contextual experiences

Vanissa Wanick; Ashok Ranchhod – University of Southampton, Winchester School of Art

Scenario• Ludification of culture (Raessens, 2006; 2012)• Convergence of branded content into a

combination of play and branded currency• Technology empowers consumers, who

become co-creators of value and active participants of their own process of decision-making (Ranchhod, 1998).

Branded currency is an independent currency, which evokes loyal behaviour, through the collection of points, for example. Loyalty, then, becomes a “micro-economy” (Kemp-Robertson, 2015).

How can play shape branded currency?

The integration between branded currency and play could transcend the technology that embeds the advergame. Hence, as advertising becomes ubiquitous, the advergame itself becomes pervasive, expanding the presence of the branded message into real-world contexts.

How would people feel invited to play a game that is sponsored by

a brand?

What is the future of advertising in the gameful world?

Three words could help to shape this answer:

Trust Social Context

Social currency is a concept brought by Berger (2013) as an exchange of values that would make people to achieve positive impressions from others by sharing specific content.

Trust as a currency represents the value of collaborative consumption, built on personal relationships (Botsman, 2012). For example, the search of products’ reviews could also describe trust.

Context is the game space, when, how and where people make their decisions. How does the environment influence people’s behaviour?

Technologies that involve pervasive interaction and Internet of Things could be a way to understand this relationship.

The combination of those three elements could help to situate advertising in the ludic culture, including cues for emotional behaviour and storytelling.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKrzxd24-BA

http://postscapes.com/internet-of-things-award/project/real-world-minecraft-lighting/

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Thank you!

• Vanissa Wanick; Ashok Ranchhod – University of Southampton, Winchester School of Art

References

• http://www.lego.com/en-gb/seriousplay/• http://midas.ioe.ac.uk/case-studies/• http://postscapes.com/internet-of-things-awa

rd/project/real-world-minecraft-lighting/• http://www.servicedesigntools.org/• http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/186

514/storyboarding_for_games_user_.php

• https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260593933_Neuromarketing-_A_Step_Ahead_of_Traditional_Marketing_Tools

References• Ranchhod, A. (1998). Advertising into the next millennium. , 17(4).• Raessens, J. (2006). Playful identities, or the ludification of culture. Games

and Culture, 1(1), 52-57.• Raessens, J. (2014). The ludification of culture. Rethinking Gamification. 91-

114• Berger, J. (2013). Contagious: Why things catch on. Simon and Schuster.• Botsman, R. (2012). The currency of the new economy is trust. TED Talks.

[Talk] Retrieved from http://www. ted. com/talks/rachel_botsman_the_currency_of_the_new_economy_is_trust. html.

• Kemp-Robertson, P. (2013) Bitcoin. Sweat. Tide. Meet the future of branded currency. TED Talks.[Talk] Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/paul_kemp_robertson_bitcoin_sweat_tide_meet_the_future_of_branded_currency