gaming

Despite substantial investment, only 1 in 4 gaming companies are collecting mobile phone numbers, and 1 in 10 are using SMS for bets in-play.

Recent research conducted by mobile intelligence and SMS platform provider, Dynmark, shows that despite 89% of gaming companies claiming to use SMS proactively to send welcome messages and encourage registration to deposit, only 10% are using it for time-critical promotions such as bets in-play.

The research, released to coincide with this week’s ICE Totally Gaming 2013 Conference, reveals that with competition intensifying, gaming companies have yet to master the art of sending the right SMS messages to the right customers on the right devices at the right time.

Understanding why people behave the way they do, and designing interventions and communications to elicit new, more positive behaviours is an established discipline - but using social media as part of the mix is relatively new.

I’m convinced it has the potential to be hugely effective, because our behaviour is often defined by our interpersonal relationships and our perception of social norms - both things that are an inherent part of the social web.

From a research perspective, the massive volume of personal and conversation data we publish to the web everyday also gives us a gold mine of information that can help us understand individual’s online behaviours and attitudes - more quickly and at a lower cost than traditional research methods.

After the success of our first Social Media Week brainstorm, the second, with a consumer focus, took place last Wednesday 7th December at Ketchum PR's offices in Shoreditch.

The aim was to explore how social media is impacting our day-to-day lives from the clothes we wear, the food we eat, the music we listen to, the games we play, the sport we do and the way our families interact online.

After last week's successful Social Media Week London brainstorm - we're delighted to announce a SMWLDN Brainstorm Round 2 in preparation for next February's SMWLDN on Wed 7th Dec from 6pm - 8pm in Shoreditch or TechCity, if you're startup-minded (RSVP).

This time, the aim is to focus on how social media is affecting and impacting our day-to-day lives from the clothes we wear, the food we eat, the music we listen to, the games we play, the sport (some of us, ehem) do and our families.

IC tomorrow, a Technology Strategy Board (TSB) initiative has launched a brand-spanking new £25,000 competition for the University of Abertay Dundee to build prototypes to push the barriers of the games industry.

The Future of Games contest is designed to enable small firms to develop prototypes which can be developed into commercial models in early 2012. As part of the hook up with IC tomorrow, developers will get access to content from EMI, Tate, IPC Media and National Geographic.

Our friends at leading games community GameHorizon are planning a shindig in London-town on 2nd Dec to celebrate the Best of British games featuring the legendary Ian Livingstone.

We fluttered our eyelashes and they've kindly given us a couple of tickets to give away to this networking event. As well as the talk above, the evening features a pub quiz, show reel of the best in British Games and a spot of food'n'drink to keep the wheels oiled.

There's two tickets up for grabs. To get your hands on one, simply fill out the form below.