Spa Business issue 2 2012 - Leisure Opportunities

When you add the social gaming layer, research shows that people
are radically more likely to adhere to health programmes
But, as noted in our trends report, the big,
powerful and truly game-changing gaming
and wellness connection lies ahead – and it
involves ‘serious games’, a new online, social
gaming category. Serious wellness gaming
platforms are rapidly developing as medical
experts agree that gaming could be the key
to changing the world’s health. If countless
medical studies show that the old directives
from doctor to patient dramatically
fail to keep people on track, the ‘gamifi cation’
of getting people to adhere to regimens
– whether fi tness, diet, stress reduction or
even beauty – seems to work far better.
Gamifi cation means putting into play elements
like voluntary participation, rules,
points, levels of achievement, challenges/
goals, rewards and a social feedback system
to keep people in the health game. When you
add the social gaming layer, research shows
people are radically more likely to adhere.
Add to the mix new gadgets that make it
easier to monitor bio-information – such as
uploading vital signs, calories burned and
steps taken – and connect the results online,
you can see how the online wellness game
could get very precise and real.
WELLNESS GAME EVOLUTION
While fi tness/health games such as Nintendo’s
Wii Fit and Let’s Yoga! have been around for
years, wellness gaming concepts are suddenly
getting far more interesting and complex.
Improving health behaviour is a massive
CASE STUDY
Han Wen,
director of internet
marketing, Clarins
W
e recognised the
gamifi cation trend in
the digital social
world and felt the need for Clarins
to be where our customers
are. Our target audience is
women over 25 who are interested
in spas and beauty
products. We chose Facebook
because the platform is huge –
it has an estimated 900 million
users, half of whom are regular
social game players. In addition,
social discovery – discovering a game
via friends – enables games to grow quickly
without a large marketing budget.
As Clarins was the fi rst in the beauty
industry to create a completely branded
social game, we thoroughly researched
online and social gaming trends as well as
PC, console and hand-held games to fi gure
out what makes a game great. We also
partnered with FreshPlanet because of its
expertise in developing casual games.
We’ve implemented all the standard
features of successful social games in Spa
Clarins was the fi rst
in the beauty industry
to create a completely
branded social game
It’s getting easier to
monitor bio-information,
making wellness
gaming more precise
Life – including rewards,
challenges and leader
boards. Our goal from day
one was to create a fun
and engaging game, so we
decided against features that require the
player to perform any specifi c action – such
as watching brand advertising or making a
purchase – to progress in their game play.
Since the launch in September 2011,
we’ve had more than 1.1 million unique
players and over 120,000 likes.
Spa Life, on Facebook, is a game where
players manage a spa of their own design to
attract customers with the best treatments
while working with limited resources. Details:
https://apps.facebook.com/spa-life
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