Versus

This is what VersusGame lives for. We make fandom more interactive, fun and rewarding for audiences, which drives engagement, loyalty and revenue for our partners. Win-win.

We’re excited to welcome Peter Naylor as an advisor. His passion, energy and smarts will help accelerate our mission to redefine business models for media through technology, interactivity and gamification that drives engagement and growth.

"Everybody is jealous of The New York Times." That's one of the headlines of this wide-ranging piece on the future of media. That jealousy typically leads to a predictable question: "What's our Wordle?" The real question they're asking: what can we do to drive deeper audience engagement and build a daily habit? The answer: partner with Versus. We team with the world's best media brands and platforms to gamify their content in real time. We don't need to invent a new game. Our partners already create content that people want to lean into and interactive with. We let them do that instantly by giving them a chance to predict the outcome of pop-culture events, express opinions and challenge their knowledge on topics they care about. Reach out to find out more about how we can be your secret weapon in the competition for your audience's time, attention and loyalty. https://lnkd.in/gtwcbPcE

"Everybody is jealous of The New York Times." That's one of the headlines of this wide-ranging piece on the future of media. That jealousy typically leads to a predictable question: "What's our Wordle?" The real question they're asking: what can we do to drive deeper audience engagement and build a daily habit? The answer: partner with Versus. We team with the world's best media brands and platforms to gamify their content in real time. We don't need to invent a new game. Our partners already create content that people want to lean into and interactive with. We let them do that instantly by giving them a chance to predict the outcome of pop-culture events, express opinions and challenge their knowledge on topics they care about. Reach out to find out more about how we can be your secret weapon in the competition for your audience's time, attention and loyalty. https://lnkd.in/gtwcbPcE

The FTC is about to make it easier than ever for people to cancel their streaming subscriptions. Which means it's more important than ever for streamers to give people reasons NOT to cancel. That starts with great shows, of course, but it also includes the overall experience. Which is why we're focused on working with entertainment and media companies to deepen engagement and loyalty by creating a more fun, interactive and rewarding fan experience. As The Hollywood Reporter notes, "Subscriber retention has emerged as a critical figure" as streamers seek to reduce churn. So as new federal rules create fewer steps for people to cancel subscriptions, streamers have to give them more reasons not to. https://lnkd.in/gK-hw2A5

Two of our favorite takeaways here: "Consumers don’t just want products; they crave experiences that captivate and engage." "AI is transforming how brands engage with consumers across every touchpoint." We couldn't agree more, which is why our technology is designed to engage and captivate audiences to turn them into fans. Reach out to learn more about how we work with the world's leading publishers and media companies to transform passive products into fun, rewarding interactive experiences. https://lnkd.in/g-2kYZkq

On the heels of the success The New York Times has seen in growing audiences and engagement through popular games such as Wordle and Connections, just about every media company from local newspapers to national media outlets to global streamers has been experimenting with adding games to their content mix (with varying degrees of success).   Often these games are simplified versions of puzzles, trivia and arcade classics with little or no connection to the other content produced by those companies. They can be fun diversions. But imagine how much more powerful the effect would be if those games were directly related to the content (and fandoms) those companies are already spending millions or billions of dollars to produce. Imagine if those games transformed passive content into interactive experiences to get audiences to spend more time and come back more often.   You don’t have to imagine it, actually, because that’s exactly what we do.   Versus’ proprietary technology gamifies articles, TV shows, podcasts and any other form of content — when and where it’s being consumed. If you’re viewing an article on Oscar nominations, our tech might instantly create a game asking you which film will win Best Picture. If you’re reading about a quarterback sidelined by a season-ending injury, our game might ask whether you think his team can still make the playoffs. Watching your favorite TV show? We’ll let you predict the outcome of the murder trial coming up in the next episode, and win badges, points and prizes if you get it right.   Games are fast becoming an important part of the mix in driving audience growth, engagement, retention and revenue. We believe games that are contextually relevant, can be created & delivered instantly (at scale) and reward fans have the greatest potential to unlock growth.   It’s why we’re working with the world’s biggest and best media brands, and it’s why we want to work with you. Let’s get engaged.

"By engaging authentically with fan communities, brands not only connect but enhance consumer loyalty." Couldn't agree more

There's a steady drumbeat of bad news echoing out of the media space, in particular around the future of more traditional and linear media models. Advertising is in decline. Audiences are shrinking. Margins are razor-thin. Layoffs seem like a daily occurrence as publishers try to reconcile legacy cost structures and current revenue realities. The challenges are real and while there's no one solution, there are opportunities being overlooked amid all the hand-wringing. Innovative publishers and streamers are experimenting with new ad formats and audience membership models. They're using AI and other emerging tools to change how content is created and shared. They're also reimagining their businesses from the ground up rather than trying to preserve aging models. As Netflix's Ted Sarandos said last week, "These are businesses; these are not religions." At Versus, we have these conversations every week with companies across the media ecosystem: digital publishers, streamers, broadcasters, social, newspaper, magazine and audio giants, among them. The themes are often the same. They urgently need to find new ways to drive growth. By opening new revenue streams and acquiring new audiences, yes, but increasingly by finding new ways to engage and retain the audiences they already have. Driving growth for partners is our obsession at Versus. We get users to spend more time, engage more deeply and return more often by making our partners' content interactive at the time of engagement. That creates daily habits that drive retention and revenue. We're the only ones who do what we do the way we do it (for now) but we're not the only ones driving innovations in engagement and monetization that will help define new growth models for media. Yes, it's tough out there. But focusing on solutions rather than problems is the best way forward. Reach out if you want to learn more about how we're driving growth and engagement for some of the biggest and best brands in media and entertainment.

Welcome to the Age of the Participant. "The customer is not a moron. She's your wife." David Ogilvy famously said that back in 1955. His goal was to remind writers to respect the intelligence of those reading their copy. But the sentence had a secondary effect, encouraging marketers to keep in mind that words such as customer or consumer were cynical, impersonal ways to refer to complex humans with hopes, dreams and desires. People don't think of themselves as consumers, so why would companies reduce them to a label based on a behavior? I'd argue the word "user" today is as cynical and broadly generic as consumer, and equally reductive. I propose instead that we think of those who interact with our products and services as "participants." This word implies that they are taking part in an experience, and, more importantly, contributing to it. That they are collaborators and co-creators rather than passive absorbers of news, information and services. People aren't proud to be identified as users but they can find a sense of belonging in being participants. It conveys pride of ownership and the sense that their actions have meaning. Bring people into your fold and make them feel like active participants in a community. It's as wise a move as remembering that customers aren't morons. They're people you know and care about. Forget users. Long live the age of the participant.