Video games as a marketing hook? Try me.
I’m not the target demographic for video games, and I rarely play them. I wasn’t a fan of online games, either—until someone sent me a link this week to TripAdvisor’s Travel IQ game.
The game was sapping my productivity until I decided it was worth blogging about as a great example of a company using an interactive tool to engage its users, increase their time on the website, and pique/expand their interest in the subject matter.
Travel IQ has a simple interface—a world map—and simple rules: When a location pops up, place it on the map where you think it belongs. And speed counts. Earn enough points and you advance to the next level.
If you click pause (maybe you actually have work to do?), you can glance at the bottom of the screen and read the fun travel facts, which relate to the city or site you’re trying to map. I discovered that Mt. Rushmore was supposed to be much larger, but there were funding problems. And Queen Victoria was the first monarch to live in Buckingham Palace.
I got hooked, and so did several of my travel-minded, non-gamer friends. Why? The game is interactive, it’s uncomplicated, and it’s fun. It’s also educational, but in an entertaining way (now I know that Burkina Faso is a country in Africa, a fact I probably learned in 7th grade geography but haven’t thought about since).
The benefits for TripAdvisor are also clear: Use an addictive game to encourage users to spend more time on your website and learn more about the world, which may encourage them to book more travel. Perhaps the game would also encourage armchair travelers who weren’t considering a trip but got inspired by mapping the Taj Mahal, the Alhambra, and the CN Tower.
The game also has a hook to get you to join TripAdvisor: You can see top scores and the travel IQs of other users who have played and registered, but if you want to save your own score, you need to join TripAdvisor.
Ultimately, it’s a well-executed online game that synchs perfectly with the website’s goals and purpose. And I won’t admit to fellow San Franciscan ImaCheater, who has a travel IQ of 167, that I accidentally put the Golden Gate Bridge in Oregon. Think you can do better? Try it and let me know how you do.
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