Lessons from mobile gaming applied to CPG brand engagement

User engagement is critical to driving brand loyalty. Mobile gaming can offer a unique perspective on how consumer packaged goods firms can engage their consumers.

I recently had the chance to speak with my friend Gregg Carey, co-founder and VP operations for Voxy, a personalized mobile platform to help native Spanish speakers learn English through everyday life experiences (check out Voxy.com). I consider Gregg an expert at mobile technology and I thought I would take advantage of our friendship to gain perspective on how he believes CPG brands can better leverage mobile platforms to gain brand loyalty. Here are the key takeaways of our conversation.

It all boils down to user engagement. Engaging users in two or multi-way interaction is far more effective then pushing out ads, coupons or the like. While the later can drive very short-term purchases, the former builds long-term brand loyalty. As Gregg sees it, one of the most effective ways to engage users is through fun mobile games. He thinks CPG firms can learn a thing or two from the big mobile companies out there today (think Zygna). He suggests that brands need to understand how they fit into their consumer’s lifestyle and build games around that. The key questions CPG firms should be asking are, “how can our brand help our consumers achieve their lifestyle goals and how can we build a game around that?” By building games that reward consumers for achieving goals or by simply building a game which is fun to play and where your brand is a major part of the gaming activities, will increase user engagement and thereby increase brand loyalty. A great example of this is Pepsi's Brisksaber app that helped promote the Brisk ice tea brand.

I think we are going to see similar apps coming from a much larger range of brands. Be sure you are not left behind.

Moira Koch is a VP at Maia Strategy Group, where she leads consumer packaged goods engagements with an emphasis on retail insights. Prior to joining Maia Strategy Group, she was responsible for developing and launching Bluebeards Original, a premium line of Men’s beard care products sold in retail stores nationwide. Her latest whitepaper “How Mobile Technology is Changing the Retail Environment” is available here.

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