Content Bar created an interactive play-and-reward brand activation for children's medicine specialists Calpol. The activation engaged with mums and kids at the recent MamaMagic Baby Expo held in Johannesburg in May 2015, leaving them with a smile on their faces and a branded keepsake to remember the moment.

A refurbished gumball machine installed at the expo invited mothers to play and trigger a digital camera to create a photo memory that became available to them online. Branded with a Calpol picture frame, the photo was sent to the player via SMS, generating a unique link that could be shared with friends and family. An immediate reward also appeared in the form of a colourful gumball that spiralled out of the machine to the delight of kids and mums alike.

Avoiding the temptation to over-digitalise the interaction between brand and consumer, Content Bar wanted to create an experience that had a meaningful physical, real-world component. The gumball machine facilitates this physical engagement, while introducing an element of nostalgia for mums, and working on a play and reward system as a motivation.

Play and reward is a simple gamification strategy that incentivises a task. The motivating factor of game dynamics can be used successfully by brands to create loyalty amongst consumers and to drive brand awareness in a memorable way. Getting the consumer to interact physically with the brand and leaving them with a self-created keepsake both further heighten the emotional engagement and the brand, leaving a bigger impression on the consumer or player's mind.

The response rate to the Calpol Gumball Machine was immensely successful. Of the 520 photos captured in three days, the online photos had 2301 pageviews and 1482 unique impressions over the subsequent fortnight. That's an average of two additional shares per photo and almost five views each, seeing the brand reach extend by 300% beyond the physical activation at the expo.

This confirms studies that show that social sharing of an advertisement or brand is more likely when the brand reaffirms self-concept, is entertaining and falls within a product category that the user is highly involved with. The Calpol Gumball Machine satisfies all three of these criteria.

Furthermore, game theory shows that acts of cooperation activate dopamine centres, increasing the emotional reward when the actual reward is received. At each stage of the process - from the moment the mother makes the decision to play, through to receiving the photograph, followed by the treat to share with her child and finally being able to share the memory with loved ones - the brand triggers a response of pleasure that becomes associated with its products.

The outcome shows just why brands should be using social marketing and game dynamics not to sell their products but to drive engagement, loyalty and advocacy by creating personal satisfaction and an emotional response. In other words, creating fans. Connecting the dots from there to a sale becomes the easy part.

To view a video of the activation, click here.