Happy Monday! It’s almost the 4th of July, so it’s easy to lose track of news and want to step away from the computer and enjoy summer. Catch up on our quick read news recap for the week below and enjoy the holiday!

Social Loyalty Programs Reward Customers and Retailers Alike eMarketer 6/28/2012 Gamification solutions are often referred to as revved up loyalty programs. This report takes a look at the role of social media in loyalty programs and the challenges facing brands trying to implement. The value of a gamification solution is that social media is already built in to the program giving marketers more time to focus on what matters.

How to Be a Chamillionaire: Story of BigDoor Gamification Social Marketing Fella 6/26/2012 Chamillionaire’s talk at Gamification Summit was a huge hit and it is very exciting to see his online success noticed. This article takes a look at Chamillionaire’s engagement challenges as well as how the BigDoor solution worked for him.

Computer games help kids with illnesses News24 6/37/2012 Gamification in fitness and health is growing rapidly and these new applications are really exciting. Companies are now designing gamified programs to encourage kids to learn and function with their illnesses. Christian Dawson of Woolley Pau Gyro a healthcare advertising company said, “Gamification is a way pharmaceutical can use that basic human instinct to get the right information into peoples’ heads.”

How game designers are influencing the world of gamification VentureBeat 6/29/2012 Those of us who design gamification solutions often hear about how game designers dislike the word and application of gamification. This is a great look at the differences between the two, and how game designers are informing current gamification solutions. We loved this quote from Dr. Richard Bartle, “Fundamentally, a game designer is creating a game; a gamifier is creating a not-game.”

Don’t Play Games for Fun Business2Community 7/1/2012 Many people still believe that gamification is nothing more than leaderboards and points. Christina Pappas reminds us the exact reason why this is terrible gamification and something to stay away from. At BigDoor, we know that engagement and interaction between publishers and users (and users to users) is the most important aspect of gamification.

Future of loyalty is the value of interaction Marketing Week 6/27/2012 While this doesn’t directly relate to gamification, we had to share this. We talk a lot about how the web is changing and how marketing techniques that used to work just aren’t enough anymore. Marketing Week talks about the need for interaction and engagement to encourage loyalty. We don’t want to sound like a broken record, but gamification is a great way to engage users!