Casino companies know how to treat their high rollers right, but it’s about time they started giving rewards and achievements to their players as well. That’s why Boyd Gaming Corporation of Las Vegas is teaming up with Gigya, which will “gamify” Boyd’s online platform.
As part of the larger trend of gamification, or the application of game design techniques in non-game contexts, Mountain View, Calif.-based Gigya offers tools that gamify websites with social and real-world rewards. Boyd Gaming, one of the nation’s largest casino companies that operates Las Vegas hotels such as Fremont and Gold Coast, is launching a new version of its “B Connected Social” loyalty program that will use Gigya’s gamification platform for the corporation’s online clientele.
B Connected Social links together 13 casinos in five states. It encourages users to earn rewards for behavior, such as booking hotel rooms or sharing offers on social networks. Users accrue “social points” and badges, gaining standing in the online community, said Brian Best, vice president of e-commerce at Boyd Gaming, in an interview with VentureBeat. Users can cash in rewards for entries into regular giveaways.
“They can get everything from gifts for the casino, iPads, and other free items,” Best said.
Gigya says that the implementation of B Connected Social is the first time a national casino rewards program has been integrated with gamification. It ties physical and virtual prizes together to create behavior feedback loops: rewards drive engagement and vice versa. Gigya’s platform includes sending alerts about reward chances, such as ticket sales. Gigya’s other clients include ABC, Pepsi, and Verizon. It has more than 500 enterprise users of its gamification platform.