Playing a New Rewards Game

Like millions of other Americans, I have more apps on my cellphone than I care to count — multiple screens of apps, half of which I barely use, if at all. Among those crowding the screens in my hand are news apps, retailer apps, parking apps, and apps that came with the phone that I cannot delete.

The ones I use the most, however, are the game apps. And I admit I have a routine: there are three I play every morning as soon as I open my eyes and reach for my phone. I even have a dinosaur game app that my four-year-old godson clamors to play whenever I see him.

To many, these games are a way to pass time, but why can't they be more? Mobivity and P97 Networks think they can be — to the benefit of retailers and consumers. The companies are teaming up to offer mobile game users rewards for gameplay achievements. The partnership has two pilot programs underway, one with a regional convenience store chain and the other with a national fuel brand. 

As Mobivity CEO Dennis Becker told Convenience Store News, the program presents a new opportunity for fuel brands to reward consumers in a way that doesn't necessarily require them to bear the cost of the discount of the loyalty program because there is also value being delivered to the mobile game publisher.

In crowded screens full of apps, brands need to find new and creative ways to reach consumers. I, for one, am game for something new.