How Tinder Gamed Engagement

October 29, 2019 by Taylor Wiegert in Engagement, Gaming

Interacting with brands is not at the top of anyone’s to-do list, which means the bar for engagement is getting higher each and every day. That’s why I love what Tinder has done with Swipe Night.

Tinder launched an interactive, choose-your-own-adventure gaming experience to give users yet another reason to open Tinder and engage with the app. The experience is called Swipe Night, and it invites users the chance to choose how a story unfolds, and the ultimate payoff is the choices they make in this story are factored into their profiles. Interacting with this game helps the app give users better dating recommendations.

Gaming Culture's Pop Culture Pivot

June 25, 2019 by Taylor Wiegert in Gaming

There are three times each year that I look forward to most: Christmas, Spring and E3. This post is about the latter—that time of year in which gaming’s biggest companies and indie developers show off the latest and greatest in the world of gaming on the world’s stage. This is the time of year where fans, like myself, get to piece together what the next year of gaming will be.

This year was different on a few fronts. Gaming seems to be on the cusp of entering a new era, an era that’s about inclusivity, accessibility and mainstream appeal. This has major implications for marketers. Gaming is mainstream behavior. It’s taking a massive chunk of the time spent with media by players, and with gamers growing up with games like Fortnite intertwined with how they live, this is only going to continue.

Gaming the Traditional Social Network

December 06, 2018 by Taylor Wiegert in Gaming

What will be the Facebook killer? Well, right now it appears to be Facebook’s playing that role itself, but all kidding aside what does the future hold for online interpersonal connection? A strong argument could be made that the future of connecting online won’t center around sharing personal updates on what we have going on in our day-to-day lives but may instead center around gaming.

What Marketers Can Learn from the New Approach to Gaming

June 27, 2017 by Taylor Wiegert in Gaming

The biggest event in gaming, E3, took place a couple weeks ago, and for a life-long gamer such as myself, it was a dream come true to attend. On the surface, E3 was what one might expect, a showcase of upcoming games, game talks and a deep dive into gaming culture, but this deep dive into culture offered much more than gaming. It offered a lens in which businesses outside of entertainment can think about how they connect with consumers.

How Video Games Create an Experience Ecosystem and What Marketers Can Learn

August 28, 2014 by Taylor Wiegert in Engagement, User-Generated Content, Gaming

Amazon shocked everyone (well, me at least) this week when it announced that it acquired video streaming service Twitch. The sale wasn't the surprise so much as it was the buyer. It was almost a given that YouTube would be the one to make the acquisition.

Still, the buyer isn't as much of a big deal as what the acquisition symbolizes. Gaming is huge and attractive to large online companies because it is made up of special kinds of products that consumers build ecosystems around.