News & Fox / Digital Gamification goal is getting to know you The brains behind supermarket gimmicks Discovery is a great example of a company that has gamified healthy behaviour. But why do other firms get it so wrong? BL PREMIUM

For weeks Pick n Pay customers were handed cards with animals on them at the checkout till if their purchase exceeded R150. But the retailer’s Super Animals campaign came to an end in June, and some customers still had no idea what the cards were for. What Pick n Pay might have communicated more clearly at its tills was that the cards could be scanned on its own app — bringing the animals to life for children — or swiped at a card reader, on sale at the stores. They could also be compiled in collectors’ activity books sold at the supermarket. Super Animals is an example of "gamification". The goal is to get consumers to spend money, motivated by a game, says Lebo Lekoma, head of client service at animation company Sea Monster, which helped Pick n Pay create the app. Its campaign was so successful that it led Checkers to launch Little Shop 2, after customers, teachers and even therapists requested specific items. And it certainly did encourage more frequent shopping trips to the supe...