Investors: Winning In Gamification Initiatives

Winning In Enterprise Gamification Initiatives

Investors can benefit and learn from AT&T Inc. (T), Xerox (RX) and Nike Inc. (NKE) enterprise gamification initiatives. Gamification in the enterprise is being used to educate, engage, collaborate and share within the workplace. Gamification is the use of game thinking and mechanics in a non-game context in order to engage users and solve problems. The Global Gamification market is expected to grow to 99 percent from 2012-2016.


So how is gamification being used at enterprise organizations today?

Xerox
Investors should watch for Xerox Learning innovations and growth in new areas such as gamification. 52% of Xerox's revenue is currently comprised of various outsourcing services. Xerox competitors in business outsourcing services include technology companies IBM and Oracle. Xerox hit a new 52-week high April 10 as it is currently trading at $8.92, above its previous 52-week high of $8.87. The company has a P/E ratio of 9.8, below the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. Xerox has a market cap of $10.57 billion. Shares are up 28.7% year to date.


Xerox Gamification Initiatives
Last year Xerox decided to look at gamification across the organization to engage users, simplify processes, and compete for mindshare. According to Xerox, consumers see about 3,000 media messages a day, pay attention to 52 and only remember four. With those stats, odds are slim that learning messages will make it to the employee’s final four. For this reason, Xerox Learning organizations are embracing gaming as a way to break through the clutter.

Xerox Learning is a three phase reinforcement model:
Foundation: Foundational knowledge. Immersion: Complex games. Reinforcement: Engaging games.

AT&T
AT&T’s gamification initiatives directly impact investors by making improvements in education and leverages its growth through acquisitions. The stock is currently trading above its 20-day SMA of $36.35. AT&T’s Q4 EPS reported $0.44 and revenue of $32.58 billion beating its expectations. The stock trades at Price/Earnings ratio of 30.07, higher than industry average. AT&T Inc. is expected to face its first resistance level at $36.86.


AT&T Gamification Initiatives
AT&T believes in innovating through the education of gamification. CEO Randall Stephenson identified company GameDesk as a new partner under the AT&T Aspire initiative. AT&T is contributing $3.8 million, one of AT&T’s largest single contributions to date under AT&T Aspire, to vastly expand GameDesk’s reach to parents, students and educators nationwide through the development of a physical learning laboratory and a national online portal.

AT&T and the Foundation launched AT&T Aspire initiative that provides grants to schools and nonprofit organizations, supports research and offers job shadowing opportunities. In March 2012, AT&T announced that it would invest an additional $250 million in this program over five years. The Foundation will emphasize interactive gamification solutions to solve complex problems in the educational system.

Nike
Nike doubled its share price between 2009-2012, and it’s up another 15% this year. Revenue growth slightly outpaced the industry average of 1.4%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues increased by 5.8%. Nike has a market cap of $42.48 billion. The P/E ratio is of 12.3, below the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. Shares are up 14.3% year to date.


Nike Gamification Initiatives
For investors, Nike+ and FuelBands have been outstanding and innovative when it comes to gamification. Investors can begin to see return with global impact and meeting its consumer demands. In 2011, Nike reported 40% growth in Nike+ memberships, boosting revenue in the company’s Running category by 30% compared to the previous year.

There are concerns over gamification that come from a variety of disciplines. For example, managers fear a distracted workforce doing nothing more than playing games, but these managers may be unfamiliar with the modern behavioral techniques embedded within existing technology, systems and processes.

Market Dynamics
Market dynamics continue to shift at “an unprecedented rate.” Gartner predicts 70 percent of Global 2000 businesses will be managing at least one “gamified” application or system by 2014. “Generation Y, has not only grown up in a digital world, they are also enthusiastic online gamers, driving the growth of an industry worth $112 billion globally by 2015. By 2015, consumers will turn into employees as a majority of the US working population.” states Accenture.

Gamification Attracts Early-Stage Investment
The potential is there. Gamification is being used as Return on Investment. The industry is expected to reach $2.8 Billion by 2016. By 2015, in the world's largest companies, Gartner states half of all corporate innovation will derive from gamification. The opportunities for businesses are great – from having more engaged customers, to crowdsourcing innovation or improving employee performance. For investors, gamification is a tool and these tools must produce return on investment results.