Swarovski’s gamification move
Two Saturdays ago, 600 eager fashion geeks swarmed through the streets of London in an attempt to win the star prize of Swarovski’s Discover Your Light treasure hunt. The smartphone-operated SCVNGR game had its participants running in pairs from pillar to post, picking up clues from London’s fashion/music/art establishments. As the clock struck four, the game switched off and players headed back to base at The Royal Horticultural Hall in Pimlico.
As a blog partner (I supplied Vogue House as one of the clues), I was invited to the event to see the winners collect their prizes. Others London creatives who had submitted clues included Mary Katrantzou, artist Mark Titchner and writer Joe Dunthorne, a high profile roll call as befits a Swarovski event.
My interest in the project was to see how it was received by the public and what kind of punters such a game attracted. The general consensus was that although it got off to a slow start (there were grumbles at the beginning as players wanted to get on with the game), the game itself was exciting, engaging and a great way to learn about London. The participants were mostly twenty-somethings whose main objective was to win the big prize – a 5-star trip to Florence – or maybe a much-coveted Nirvana ring. As the weary players were fed and watered post-treasure hunt, the winners and runners up were invited on to the stage to collect their prizes (over £20,000 worth of glittering prizes were given out). The winning couple had practically sprinted the entire hunt to save time – I’d say their prize was well deserved.
SCVNGR is a new discovery for me, I’m not really into games, but it made me pay attention and I can certainly see now why people would want to take part – especially when luxury brands like Swarovski get involved. Now that they have set a precedent for fashion and luxury brands in the gamification space, I’ll be keeping an eye on who does what next.
