Centryc: Create Brand-Engaged Customers Before Thinking Gamification

Sydney, Australia, November 11, 2011 --(PR.com)-- Centryc, the Australian customer engagement start-up, has called for brands to think "beyond the like" and develop engagement strategies before contemplating any gamification-style initiatives.

The call comes as the company adds Google integration with Google+, Picasa and Gmail syncing to its MeTag real-time engagement platform.

"Marketers have tended to focus on number of Facebook likes or Twitter followers as a measure of social media effectiveness, but today that isn’t enough," said Centryc founder and CEO, Dave Aicken.

"To truly cut-through, real-time brand interaction and engagement is needed, with hard numbers driving ROI," stated Aicken. "Gamification doesn’t magically make social media work. A sound engagement foundation needs to be built first."

The MeTag platform seamlessly connects real-life event experiences and customer behaviour with online social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and now Google+. MeTag enables event guests to post status updates and photos to their Facebook wall or Twitter feed automatically, garnering comments and interaction from online friends while still at the event.

MeTag makes instantly sharing the real-life event experience hassle-free; while delivering metrics and tracking for the brand hosting the event. Higher levels of engagement can be integrated into the experience via real-time games such as scavenger hunts, treasure hunts, trivia contests and scoring competitions.

"The MeTag Engagement Platform can allow brands to engage each consumer as an individual via Facebook, Twitter, Google, email and mobile. Brands can track numbers, engagement and sentiment in real-time so actions can be taken during the event to ensure all guests have the best experience," commented Aicken.

Centryc MeTag clients include Luna Park (Sydney), Smirnoff and Southern Cross Austereo. Centryc has been recognized as one of the most innovative new technology companies as part of the NSW Government Mobile Concierge program and won the Outstanding Collaboration Award at the 2011 Tech23.

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About Centryc
Australian startup, Centryc, provides its MeTag real-time engagement platform to brands and vendors wanting to engage with their consumers in real-time across offline and online worlds. MeTag provides integrated multi-channel communication based on real-life behaviour that leads to more engaging interactions via physical kiosks, email, social media, web and mobile. Clients include Smirnoff, Intel, Southern Cross Austereo, Luna Park (Sydney) and Australian Direct Marketing Association. Centryc has been recognized as one of the most innovative new technology companies as part of the NSW Government Mobile Concierge program and won the Outstanding Collaboration Award at the 2011 Tech23.

About MeTag real-time engagement platform
MeTag incorporates near field communication, multi-channel campaign and mobile technologies in three distinct layers.

The access layer uses MeTag RFID inlays and proximity readers to track when a customer ‘checks-in’ during the event. Originally the domain of logistics management, RFID provides a simple, unobtrusive mechanism to link a customer’s actions, such as photos taken, status updates and the number of physical interactions, to the orchestration and execution layer.

The orchestration and execution layer uses multi-channel campaign management in a hosted, on-demand model to enable the elasticity to handle demand peaks and troughs. Triggers based on items such as activity, location and time can initiate interactions through various channels including mobile, social media and email.

The interaction layer delivers photographs and status updates to the customer’s social media account where their friends can interact in real time. It also delivers offers to the customer based on pre-defined triggers as well as features like end-of-day experience summaries delivered by email so customers they can re-live and share their experience when they get home.