Gaming the Future
A Vision for Engagement, Innovation, and Loyalty
I read a fascinating book recently and thought it would be an interesting perspective for our readers. Bastian Bergmann’s Press Play: Why Every Company Needs a Gaming Strategy (Harvard Business Review Press, 2025) makes a bold but increasingly undeniable claim: gaming has become a critical business tool, not simply a form of entertainment. Bergmann argues that organizations that fail to understand the cultural and strategic significance of gaming are missing one of the most powerful levers of customer engagement, innovation, and loyalty in the modern economy.
Consider this: nearly 3.5 billion people around the globe now play games on a regular basis. That number far outstrips the global audience for movies, television, or music. Games are not only where attention lives; they are where identity, community, and meaning are being built for entire generations. When a platform commands that kind of scale and cultural resonance, ignoring it becomes less a matter of choice and more a risk of obsolescence. Bergmann’s insight is not that every company should suddenly launch a video game, but rather that leaders must recognize the mechanics of play as central to how consumers engage, learn, and commit in a digital-first era.
The most compelling dimension of his work is the way it reframes what engagement truly means. Traditional marketing, with its reliance on reach and repetition, struggles to break through. By contrast, games transform the audience from spectators into participants. They create emotional investment through challenges and rewards, competition and collaboration, stories and achievements. When a customer competes on a Peloton leaderboard, joins an immersive digital event hosted by Burberry, or solves a New York Times crossword puzzle, the relationship with the brand transcends transaction. It becomes participatory, ongoing, and deeply personal. This shift redefines loyalty from a metric of repeat purchase to one of lived experience, something far more resilient in a crowded market.
Equally provocative is the recognition that gaming generates a new layer of intelligence about consumers. Every interaction, every choice within a game is data, granular, contextual, and behavioural. Unlike surveys or focus groups that tell you what customers say, games reveal what they do, what motivates them, and where their attention lingers. This opens a new frontier for product development and personalization, enabling companies to build not just around consumer needs but around the emotional drivers that create lasting attachment.
Of course, Bergmann also warns that this is not a call for superficial gamification. Sticker badges, hollow points, or gimmicky apps will not cut it. Companies that approach gaming strategy as a bolt-on risk alienating the very audiences they seek to reach. Success requires authenticity, coherence, and alignment with brand values. It requires leaders to view games as narratives and communities, rather than just mechanics. Done right, this is not about manipulation but about creating spaces where customers want to belong.
What struck me most in reading Press Play is the forward-looking implication. As digital natives ascend as the dominant consumer base, the culture of play will not fade into the background; it will define the foreground. Gaming is moving into education, training, commerce, and even social impact. The companies that embrace this shift will not only find new ways to differentiate but also discover new ways to unlock innovation inside their own walls. Play, after all, is not just for customers; it is how humans experiment, learn, and create. It is how cultures advance.
The lesson is simple yet profound: gaming is not a trend to watch; it is a force to be harnessed. For leaders willing to look beyond traditional marketing and engagement models, it provides a robust framework for building brands that matter in an era defined by participation. Bergmann’s book is both a wake-up call and a roadmap. It left me reflecting on how often organizations fail because they cling to linear strategies in a world that is becoming inherently interactive. Those who recognize that the future belongs to those who can design experiences worth playing will find themselves not merely keeping up but shaping the very markets in which they compete.