technology and entertainment: a new approach to financial

Technology and Entertainment:

A New Approach to Financial Education

Global Financial Literacy Summit

14 November, 2012

Eye Film Institute, Amsterdam

©2010 D2DFund, Inc.©2012 D2DFund, Inc.©2012 D2DFund, Inc.

Doorways to Dreams (D2D) Fund

Mission:Strengthen the financial opportunity and security of low

and moderate income consumers by innovating, incubating

and stimulating new financial products and policies.

– US (Boston) based not-for-profit

– Focus on scale, sustainability

– Record of linking private sector capabilities to public & non-profit ideals

– Co-founded in 2000 by Peter Tufano, Harvard Business School, now Dean of the Said School at Oxford


D2D Supporters & Collaborators


Financial Education Poses Challenges

Supply• Limited availability

• Expensive to deliver


Financial Education Poses Challenges

Supply• Limited availability

• Expensive to deliver

Demand

• Doesn’t “taste good” (not fun)

• Consumers may not know they need it

• Facing finances produces anxiety

Impact• Does it work? (change behavior?)

• Does impact last?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PEG4wK5umY


A Different Approach

– D2D’s vision is Financial Entertainment

Taking cues from business and entertainment, we need to work with

and for consumers in the development of engaging, interactive new

media that teach them how to better manage their money.

– Financial Entertainment characteristics:– engaging vs. earnest

– targeted vs. comprehensive

– interactive vs. static

– accessible vs. restricted


Why Games?

• Games teach as adults learn:

– Learn-by-doing (trial & error)

– Instant feedback / reward

– Repetition (practice)

– Pride of accomplishment (puzzle solved!)

– Social dimension (share scores, strategies)


• Popular– 72% of Americans play video games

– FarmVille has over 69 million active users

• Accessible– Casual games can be learned quickly,

played for minutes or hours

– Inexpensive form of entertainment

– Play on mobile devices growing fast

• Non-traditional player– Average social gamer is 43-year-old female

– 74% of casual game buyers are women

Sources: NPD Group, August, 2008; ESA, 2009; Tech-Crunch

Why Casual Video Games?


A Library of Games

On www.financialentertainment.org:

– Celebrity Calamity: Manage credit & debt

– Groove Nation: Dance budget game

– Bite Club: Vampire retirement savings

– FarmBlitz: Manage resources to build savings

– Refund Rush: Make the most of a tax refund

– Celebrity Calamity Mobile: App Store


Celebrity Calamity Mobile

• Most popular FE game title redesigned for mobile– Play anywhere (e.g., bus stop,

subway, doctor waiting room)

– Built for iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch)

– Now 3 exciting mini-games

– Built for unique mobile device features (e.g., touchscreen, motion control)

– Elements modeled on popular games (e.g., Fruit Ninja)

+ Development sponsored by USAA

– Six month exclusive distribution with USAA branding


– Channels & Partners

+ Financial institutions

+ Employers & Plan Sponsors

+ Schools / Universities

+ Government

+ NGOs

+ Military

Distribution Testing


EngageConsumers

CultivateSelf-

Efficacy

Enable Action

Support Behavior

Realize Outcome

• 350k plays in 22 months

• Average player stays 15-40 mins

• 90k hours of financial ed.

• Double-digit increases in knowledge, confidence pre/post play

• Post-play action taking greater than after written info by >9%

• Offers embedded in-game: players taking action

• Hypothesis:environment is engaging enough that consumers will return

• Hypothesis: On-going play,engagement supports new financial behaviors

Results to date


Example of on Player Confidence

Rate your degree of confidence in doing the following (1 to 5): PRE POST % Change

Not take on more debt than I can handle. 3.37 3.85 14%

Start saving money. 3.73 4.12 10%

Follow the directions of my boss or supervisor. 4.68 4.68 0%

Avoid finance charges. 3.56 3.76 5%

Pay my debt on a regular basis. 3.59 4.07 14%

Save money regularly. 3.24 3.93 21%

Manage my finances. 3.76 3.93 5%

Perform job-related tasks. 4.56 4.44 -3%

Use savings to pay off debt. 3.49 3.95 13%

Allow savings to grow by not taking it out. 2.93 4.05 38%

Avoid high interest debt. 3.61 4.02 11%

Save for financial emergencies. 3.20 4.05 27%

Preliminary Results in Financial Skills Self-Confidence in Areas Game Teaches


And Player Knowledge

% Correct % Correct

Knowledge (True/False Questions) PRE POST % Change

The interest rate (sometimes called APR) determines how fast

money will grow. (T) 41% 66% 59%

Over long periods of time, the amount of money earned by

compound interest can exceed the amount of money originally

invested. (T) 68% 90% 32%

Some banks have penalties for taking money from a savings

account. (T) 51% 63% 24%

A loan (debt) with a 3% interest rate is a better deal than a loan

with a 20% interest rate. (T) 71% 90% 28%

The length of time your savings is left to grow is one of the

most important factors in determining how much your savings

will to be worth in the future. (T) 78% 90% 16%

Finance charges on debt typically grow faster than interest

earned on savings. (T) 59% 85% 46%

Money in your savings account should not be used if you have a

financial emergency. (F) 71% 83% 17%

Finance charges are fees charged to the borrower to use

someone else's money. (T) 44% 73% 67%

Compound interest is when your interest earns interest. (T) 54% 83% 55%

Source: Questions adapted from the NEFE Evaluation Toolkit.


Case Study: Staples Stores

• Staples

– World's largest office products company

– $25 billion in annual sales

– 2nd in the world in eCommerce sales.

– 90,000 employees in 26 countries

– Defined Contribution plan provided by New York Life Retirement Plan Services

• Approach– Created a Staples “portal”

– Customized Bite Club Game to include in-game links to retirement plan

– No required play, not on company time

– Creative Postcard Mailings

– Two District Pilot – Breakroom Posters

– “Spirit Days” launch w/ Retail Associates


Staples: Innovative Communications


Case Study: Results

• Results– 3.5-4.5% response rate to postcards

– 80% response rate in two District pilot

– 5,000 visits (from 38,000 retail associates) in “Spirit Days” first week

– Players trying out other games – Farm

Blitz, Celebrity Calamity

• Learnings– Revealed employee demand for financial

entertainment with prompting from in-store marketing, non-required play

– Continued deployments will increase take-up across stores

– Staples pleased with FE deliver system; investing in game to teach employees about Health Savings Accounts (HSAs)


Beyond Games: “Gamification”

– Gamification

+ Use of game mechanics & game design techniques applied to non-game contexts

+ May use intrinsic (satisfaction, pride) and extrinsic rewards (prizes)

– Examples+ foursquare: gamified, social platform where

players earn points for visits & partners offer rewards (and market to players)

+ Save to Win: credit union product that offers chances to win prizes for savings deposits

+ SaveUp: web site that offers chances to win for saving money, paying debt down


Case Study: SummerQuest Birmingham Pilot

– “Gamify” college readiness+ Sponsored by Regions Bank &

Mayor of Birmingham, AL

+ 20 financial literacy & college readiness “quests”

+ Badges, incentives, Alternative Reality Game (ARG) narrative

– Results & Implications:

+ Response: 279 FB likes, 200+ registered participants

+ Engagement: 937 game plays, 578 quests completed

+ Analyzing learnings, further opportunities


SummerQuest Screen Shot


Looking Ahead

D2D’s agenda moving forward:

• Change behavior – leveraging the duration of play times, link game play to real world action-taking, thereby improving consumers’ financial capability

• Extend reach – bring this innovation to many more players via platform extensions, especially into mobile and onto Facebook

• Expand library – continue to develop games that address timely, important topics of relevance to financially vulnerable consumers

• Pursue sustainability – test scale strategies via distribution in military, private employer and community college channels

• Innovate - explore the application of game mechanics in the real world (e.g., “gamification”), the next frontier of financial entertainment innovation


Contact Information

Timothy Flacke

Executive Director

D2D Fund, Inc.

[email protected]

617.541.9064

www.d2dfund.org

www.financialentertainment.org

technology and entertainment: a new approach to financial

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