Partnership rewards gamers with real-world goods

BestBuy is the first brand to adopt the program.

"We're excited about our partnership with Placecast because of the scale it provides. With SMS, there's no app to build or download," said Chris LoRusso, Director of Business Development, SocialVibe. "Using geofencing and SMS to deliver virtual currency rewards and brand messaging makes sense because it's always on, cuts through the clutter, and allows us to extend the brand experience out into the physical world, providing a great value to our clients."

Here's how the partnership works: a consumer is playing an online game, when they reach a certain point, as ad appears. If the consumer chooses to engage with that ad they're offered more game points and a store discount; that discount is delivered via SMS when the consumer is within a geo-fenced area. The discounts can also be triggered as a consumer is surfing the web, and because the offers are opt-in there is already a built-in relevance between the consumer and brand.

"Our partnership with SocialVibe and their industry leading engagement platform provides a unique application of our geo-triggered mobile marketing platform," said Alistair Goodman, Placecast CEO. "This is the first time that we've gotten to explore the convergence of online gaming, mobile marketing, geofencing and retail stores. This promises to give brands and marketers a powerful new tool to increase brand engagement online, while increasing store traffic offline at the same time."

Tags: gamification, in game ads, Placecast, social marketing, SocialVibe