Total Engagement, by Byron Reeves and J. Leighton Read

When looking at community management, the game dimension is key ; emotions are not enough.

Some books examine this issue, like the rather descriptive Game-Based Marketing ; others offer solid theoretical background, like Total Engagement, by Byron Reeves (Stanford professor) and J. Leighton Read.

They describe and define the 10 elements that are necessary for a good game and the ways to apply them to a work situation. That’s right, Total Engagement bases its theory specifically to work as a motivating factor. From there, it is easy to transfer the theory to other frameworks, such as advertising, marketing, developing customer loyalty, etc.

I think that the role of 3D is a bit overrated—this might be the influence of Philip Rosedale, the founder of Linden Lab. If you take foursquare as an example, you can see that its success is based on game theory, not on 3D.

A great read for those interested in community management or brand culture.

On amazon.com: Total Engagement