During the “Mobile Gamification – the Play, The Place, The Success: Business Models That Work” session, panelists discussed how the mobile marketing industry is rapidly evolving to meet the rising expectations of today’s consumers. The GameStop and Scvngr partnership shows that consumers were willing to engage with brands if there is an incentive attached.

“Play is at the centerpiece of what we focus on,” said Chris Mahl, senior vice president of Scvngr.

“Not only do users play the challenges, they play the game and interact with brands like GameStop and Coca-Cola,” he said.

Mobile gaming
Scvngr is a free location-based game and gaming platform.

People play Scvngr on iPhone and Android devices at participating locations by checking-in, completing challenges, earning points and unlocking rewards. They can also share their activity with their friends on Facebook and Twitter.

Via the partnership, GameStop found that 17,000 players competed in mobile challenges in four weeks since its launch.

Additionally, 10,000 rewards were unlocked and four challenges were completed per player.

There was also 10 minutes of engagement per play.

GameStop worked with Scvngr around the launch of the game “Call of Duty: Black Ops.”

Partnerships
In September, GameStop, Coca-Cola and Scvngr worked together on a mobile initiative.

Coca-Cola expanded its interactive mobile challenge game “Happiness in Numbers,” which was launched this summer and brought it to GameStop stores throughout the United States.

Coca-Cola Co. teamed up with Scvngr to launch the game this past summer, with consumers able to play “Happiness in Numbers” at participating restaurants, amusement parks, malls and movie theaters.

Coca-Cola and GameStop worked together to promote the game and provide rewards from both brands to in-store players.

Via the promotion, users were eligible to win rewards from both GameStop and Coca-Cola such as GameStop PowerUp rewards points and Live Nation concert cash. Participants could also enter a sweepstakes.

Mr. Mahl said that Coca-Cola will also be working with GameStop on future campaigns.

“We love this partnership,” said Steve Meyers, senior account executive at The Marketing Arm.

GameStop is a client of Marketing Arm.

“Engagement is very important,” Mr. Meyers said.  “This partnership with Scvngr makes sense.

“And as we head into the New Year, we’re excited to see what else will happen,” he said.

Final Take
Rimma Kats is staff reporter on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York