THE DEBATE
A real game changer?
We pit a traditionalist and a new thinker against each other in a debate on the merits – or otherwise – of gamification. After all, it’s just airline loyalty programmes re-packaged, isn’t it?
THE BUYER CAREL AUCAMP
customer behaviour through airline and accommodation loyalty programmes. Since 2012 we have actively structured our
T
company travel programme to become more customer focused, building individually tailored travel reports, communication and booking behaviour pattern analysis, to better change the collective behaviour within our organisation. The impact has been nothing short of astonishing. In the last three years we have seen year-on-
year two-digit percentage reductions to our travel spend without forcing a corresponding reduction in demand – indeed, in some markets, the travel demand actually increased. The impact of sharing knowledge, education and one-on-one feedback based on individual travel preferences has been the single greatest catalyst for change within our supplier selection, spending pattern and booking behaviour. The ultimate goal is building (and, in a manner of thinking, marketing) the programme into a game to change behaviour proactively. We believe that by deploying game-like techniques to focused stakeholder groups we will foster change faster and more effectively. It is not a one-size-fits-all solution. It is a change management programme geared toward specific personality types. During the third quarter of 2014 we will be launching our first automated gaming tool in three of our markets – Brazil, Australia and South Africa – to a controlled population. Despite not being rolled out as a standardised tool to all markets, it is still expected to deliver an ROI of more than 50 times as
well as generate a positive customer experience on how to be travel policy compliant. Key criteria for success will be the establishment
of clear, unambiguous rules of the game, ensuring that the game remains interactive and the provision of a price at the end of the game, which is in line with our company culture. Change is always challenging and as travel buyers
it is key to identify tools to assist in managing change more effectively in our organisations.
he travel industry was among the first to see the value in the implementation of ‘game-like’ techniques, designed to win customer loyalty and actively change
“Deploying game- like techniques will foster change faster and more effectively”
CAREL AUCAMP
THE CONSULTANT CHRIS POUNEY
set at an appropriate level? Is someone travelling in policy on every one of their simple trips really justified being rewarded more than an individual who travels out of policy, but does so to land a significant piece of business for the firm? What if my business objectives are compromised
G Head of Global Category, Fleet and Travel, Agrega
Carel Aucamp is the Global Category Manager for Fleet and Travel in Agrega, a company wholly owned within the British American Tobacco Group. In his current role he is responsible for spearheading the change towards global programmes and standardisation, managing the spend portfolio across 135 countries with a team of four.
CHRIS POUNEY Severnside Consulting
With over 20 years experience in the travel industry, many as Global Travel Lead for Citigroup, Chris is now an independent consultant supporting corporate clients on a variety of travel management projects. Chris also delivers supplier training on understanding the procurement process and is completing an MSc in Strategic Procurement.
has the tendency to belittle what we do”
'gamifi cation' “The term
by travelling in policy and overall my organisation would benefit hugely by me going out of policy? For example, travelling on a non-preferred flight to sit with a client – in the world of compliance, context is everything and is often lost in games. You can segment of course, and have different games for different communities targeting different behaviours, but frankly is the work needed to manage this segmentation worth it? Is going out of policy a bad thing anyway? In my experience, if an organisation has 100 per
cent compliance to something, then the policy is probably too loose anyway. Likewise, if only 50 per cent of your policy is followed, you probably have the wrong policy (or the wrong people). Fundamentally though, I feel that the term 'gamification' has the tendency to belittle and trivialise what we do. I spend my time ensuring that business travel is recognised as a business enabler and driver of revenue and corporate goals. The term gamification works against this, bringing in suggestions of things we try and
fight against in business travel. Business travel is a serious component of business life to support the growth and goals of the organisation – perhaps just a change of the name is required? Large organisations often feel they need to have highly technical ways of getting close to their customers, yet fail to do the basics, such as picking up the phone, holding focus groups and using social media to open up dialogue and encourage feedback. I believe these rather old fashioned ideas are far more effective at driving the right behaviours.
amification is not new, but why don’t I like the concept? How do you construct the ‘game’ to ensure fairness and that parameters and tolerances are
24 THE BUSINESS TRAVEL MAGAZINE
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