Spigit’s FaceOff Gives Consumers the Power to Choose

With a new gamification offering, Spigit, a company specializing in using social technology and the power of crowds, looks use a game to engage their customers while at the same time generating new ideas. Unlike being forced to sit through Nicholas Cage’s film of the same name, Spigit’s FaceOff offers consumers the chance to be brand consultants and give their opinion on how top companies market their products.

As an advanced polling system with roots in A/B testing, FaceOff puts consumers in the driver’s seat with the ability to provide direct feedback on different marketing ideas. Paul Pluschkell, founder and CEO of Spigit, described it this way, “Through the process, an engaged consumer community emerges, that encourages players to share, vote and rate ideas as they are generated during the game.”

Users can post ideas, vote on other ideas, and help organizations surface early adopters and social influencers. For instance, IKEA fans offered the suggestions “Post videos online that show a step-by-step way to assemble each product” and “Snack furniture made of meatballs so i can buy meatball furniture to eat at home,” and other users choose which one they prefer.

As you can tell from some of the examples, there is no limit to what users can suggest. Although some bizarre suggestions get plopped in front of the user, there is a point system that tracks which ones are successful. Popular suggestions and users gain a top spot in a brand-wide leaderboard, and the hope is that users compete for the highest honor and gain recognition from the brand.

Although FaceOff certainly has some benefit to businesses with greater customer engagement, a lot of the value is reduced by nonsensical ideas that aren’t screened and that you are forced to choose between.

With this and other quirks in the system, the value to the brands is still a bit murky, but overall, FaceOff brings some new interaction to the gamification space and gives a new way to engage with brands.