PUG NEWS
Announcements, Accomplishments, Awards, and Accolades
ZDNet Paul “Godfather of CRM” Greenberg features PUG’s Net Engagement Score
April 6, 2021 Vancouver, BC -- Paul Greenberg wrote recently about PUG Interactive, CEO Steve Bocska, and our innovative Steve's Net Engagement Score methodology in his regular ZDNet column Social CRM: The Conversation. From the article: Steve is the CEO and founder of PUG Interactive -- a company that is focused on providing the technology to substantially increase the
Webinar: Advanced Engagement & Gamification
March 31, 2021 Vancouver, British Columbia -- PUG Interactive's CEO Steve Bocska and The Loyalty Academy present this informative seminar. Watch it here. OVERVIEW Engaging customer communities today is the single biggest competitive driver keeping the world’s most successful companies ahead of the pack in their categories. But oversimplified “gamified” approaches by digital marketers have largely fallen flat, with
PUG CRO Lisa Brown Recognized by Microsoft Among Top Influential “Women in Cloud”
Toronto, Ontario -- PUG Interactive's CRO Lisa Brown was recognized by Microsoft's #BuildFor2030 program for International Women’s Day 2021 in celebration of women-led solutions accelerating digital transformation and advancing solutions for a more inclusive world. Among solutions featured are those aimed at empowering customer success in areas such as data management, network security, supply chain analytics, cross-functional team collaboration, digital
Breakable Loyalty – The High Cost When Customers Don’t Feel Appreciated
Toronto, Ontario -- PUG Interactive's CRO Lisa Brown has delivered a powerful presentation entitled "Breakable Loyalty - The High Cost When Customers Don't Feel Appreciated" as part of the Women in Cloud Digital Summit 2021. From the overview: There exists a great disconnect between many businesses and their customers. That disconnect is called the transaction. Businesses that drive solely towards
PUG Featured in Financial Post as Top “Game Changer” Company
Toronto, Ontario -- PUG Interactive was featured in a Financial Times article looking at top Canadian "game changer" companies. Highlighting PUG's partnership with Microsoft, the article revealed how PUG leverages gaming industry experience of CEO Steve Bocska, to transform initial consumer engagement into brand advocacy. It also described how PUG's award-winning Picnic™ Customer Engagement Hub, built on the backbone of Microsoft
Steve Bocska from PUG featured on CRM Playaz Podcast
CRM Playaz, with Brent Leary, Paul Greenberg, Steve Bocska Steve Bocska, CEO of PUG Interactive, joined Brent Leary and Paul Greenberg on their wildly successful CRM Playaz podcast to talk about customer/fan engagement, video game design, and what not to wear to an NFL post-game interview. You can watch the archive here.
PUG CEO Steve Bocska on iGamingBusiness “Sharing and Shared Experiences” Webinar
Moderator: Karolina Pelc, Basic Strategy LONDON, UK — On September 14th 10am EST, PUG Interactive CEO Steve Bocska joined a panel on a global iGamingBusiness webinar entitled "Sharing and Shared Experiences." The online casino has instead been a solitary experience, which, unsurprisingly, doesn’t appeal to the younger demographic. But the world of gambling is slowly adopting the inspiration from
Microsoft recognizes PUG in Great Canadian Innovators 2020 Yearbook
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — PUG Interactive is honoured to be selected as a Microsoft "Great Canadian Innovator" for 2020. According to Harp Girn, Microsoft's Vice-President, Small Medium & Corporate Sales, "To celebrate our SMBs, startups, and partner communities, we’re releasing a 2020 version of Great Canadian Innovators yearbook. The new edition features a collection of 15 remarkable, technology-driven Canadian companies
PUG’s Steve Bocska Speaks at i-Gamify Global Summit
CAIRO, Egypt — PUG Interactive CEO Steve Bocska participated in a panel discussion at the i-Gamify Global Virtual Summit under the topic, "Gamification for Solving Problems." Joining Steve were esteemed panelists Betty Adamou (Research Through Gaming), Will Stuart-Jones (3radical), and i-Gamify host Moamen Said. Listen to an archive of the entire session here.
Employee Engagement In A New Era
by Steve Bocska Intrinsic Motivators For Higher Performance Back in 2019, a Gallup study famously concluded that companies with low employee engagement demonstrated lower productivity, poorer retention, more accidents, and 21% lower profitability. One can only imagine the dramatic amplification of these effect as many unprepared businesses have been forced to shift their working models to ones where employees
PUG’s Conservation Pays Wins 2019 Vega Digital Award
BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. - The Vega Digital Awards has selected PUG Interactive's “Play Conservation Pays and Win!” in the category of Games Related Social Campaign & Series. The “Play Conservation Pays and Win!” program challenged Broward County residents to win up to $5,000 by testing their knowledge of conservation, climate change and sustainability. About PUG Interactive PUG Interactive is a leader
INTERVIEW: Hear PUG’s Steve Bocska On DM Radio
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — PUG Interactive CEO Steve Bocska will be interviewed by Eric Kavanaugh on DM Radio about Steve's Net Engagement Score. The segment topic is "Big Data 2.0 -- Getting a 360-Degree View of Everything" and will air on February 6th, 2020 at 3ET, 12PT. You can listen here. DM Radio is a weekly, one-hour live radio
Case Study: AgedOut Community Engagement
“...a gamified approach that makes learning fun.” VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Our partner Adoptive Families Association of BC has just published an overview on our long-running community engagement program, "AgedOut.com." Powered by PUG's award-winning Picnic™ Engagement Platform, AgedOut.com sets a new standard for delivering timely, relevant, accessible content and engagement to a challenging target audience. You can read the
INTERVIEW: PUG’s Steve Bocska Talks to Professor Game about Customer Pyramids
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — PUG Interactive CEO Steve Bocska was recently interviewed on the Professor Game Podcast by Rob Alvarez Bucholska about his upcoming webinar about Total Touchpoint Engagement. You can listen to the entire interview here. ===== Overview Steve is CEO of Pug Interactive, a technology & design leader in engagement, retention, and community activation. He has 17+
WEBINAR: How Total Touchpoint Engagement Drives Customers Up the Pyramid
Wednesday, January 22, 2020 (Archived -- watch here) OVERVIEW The world’s most successful brands today are adopting strategies to fully leverage their customer touchpoints, moving their customers “up the customer pyramid” towards greater loyalty and engagement. This highly informative 45-minute session will explore why these strategies are so important and will uncover the secret techniques and leading-edge technologies that
RIP : The End of Reward Points As We Know It
A very insightful article was posted recently at PYMNTS.COM discussing the slippery slide down the slope for loyalty points programs. Some highlights: Points-based programs aren’t very effective at building loyalty because they don’t provide what customers say they need to become loyal. According to a recent Mastercard/Harvard Business Review study, 72 percent of survey respondents say optimizing customer loyalty
PUG Interactive Awarded CanExport Growth Funding
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, [October 15, 2019] -- PUG Interactive Inc. is pleased to announce that it has been selected by the Trade Commissioner Service of Global Affairs Canada to receive international funding through the CanExport program. The CanExport program delivered by the Trade Commissioner Service (TCS) of Global Affairs Canada, in partnership with the National Research Council Industrial Research Assistance Program
WED Awards $550k Business Scale-Up Funding to PUG Interactive
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, [August 12, 2019] -- PUG Interactive Inc. is pleased to announce that it has been selected by Western Economic Diversification Canada to receive $550k in funding through the Business Scale-up and Productivity (BSP) program. Federal minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Navdeep Bains made the announcement along with Terry Beech, MP for Burnaby North-Seymour. The objectives
PUG Interactive Selected by Government of Canada For Technology Acceleratation
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, [August 7, 2019] -- PUG Interactive Inc. is excited to announce that the Government of Canada has selected it as one of the high-potential technologies companies chosen to participate in the 2019 Canadian Technology Accelerator (CTA) in Silicon Valley. Participating CTA companies are given focused assistance to take advantage of what the local market has to offer,
OpenPicnic 1.0 Update Offers Wide Enterprise Integration With Picnic™ Customer Engagement Hub
PUG Interactive releases OpenPicnic 1.0 Enterprise Integration Services to support widespread connectivity for its gamified Picnic™ Customer Engagement Hub platform VANCOUVER, British Columbia – PUG Interactive announces the launch of OpenPicnic 1.0 Enterprise Integration Services for its award-winning Picnic™ Customer Engagement Hub. OpenPicnic provides a flexible data model for representing enterprise data from sources such as CRM, Real Time Marketing,
WEBCAST: (PUG Archives) Predictions That Came True!
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — From the “I told you so” files… back in 2014, PUG Interactive CEO Steve Bocska made a number of bold predictions at the DELF Summit in Hong Kong. He pictured a future where broad backlash and disenchantment would result from the overuse and abuse of thin badges & points loyalty schemes in the initial wave
PODCAST: From Triple-A games to Engagement Hubs with PUG’s Steve Bocska
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — PUG Interactive CEO Steve Bocska was recently interviewed on the Professor Game Podcast by Rob Alvarez Bucholska about how the lessons he learned making triple-A video games has helped him solve challenging problems in community engagement, loyalty and gamification. You can listen to the entire podcast here. ===== Overview Steve Bocska is CEO of PUG
Update To Picnic™ Customer Engagement Hub Delivers Powerful Customer Insights
Update to gamified Picnic™ Customer Engagement Hub platform gives enterprises real-time insights into the engagement levels of large scale customer communities VANCOUVER, British Columbia – PUG Interactive announces a major update to Picnic's™ Enterprise Reporting Services module to provide enhanced visual reports that allow campaign designers and administrators drill down into engagement data for greater insight and metrics. This major
UPDATED e-Learning Case Study: Conservation Pays
***UPDATED TO INCLUDE USER E-LEARNING OUTCOMES*** “I loved this game/program. It was engaging and gave me an excuse to learn about and change my behavior regarding so many new things about conservation, sustainability and climate change.” ~ZT VANCOUVER, British Columbia – PUG Interactive has just published a case study on its recent award-winning e-Learning program, "Play Conservation Pays and Win!".
NEW: Interactive Challenges Added To Picnic™ Customer Engagement Hub!
PUG Interactive updates Interactive Challenge and Advanced Questing capabilities for its gamified Picnic™ Customer Engagement Hub platform VANCOUVER, British Columbia – PUG Interactive announces the release of Interactive Challenges, a major update to the Advanced Questing module found in Picnic™ Customer Engagement Hub. Interactive Challenges allow for deeper community engagement by giving customers content-rich interactions such as quizzes, photo/video upload,
PUG’s Conservation Pays Wins National Association of Counties Achievement Award
BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. - The National Association of Counties (NACo) has granted a 2019 Achievement Award for PUG Interactive's “Play Conservation Pays and Win!” in the category of County Resiliency: Infrastructure, Energy and Sustainability. Due to its exceptional results and unique innovations, the program has been chosen to receive the honor of Best in Category. NACo recognized 616 entries from counties
PUG Interactive Partners with Leading Italian Lottery Sisal
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 10, 2019 – PUG Interactive, a leader in gamified engagement solutions for enterprise, today announced that Sisal Entertainment S.p.A. (“Sisal”) has selected PUG Interactive’s Picnic™ to develop an innovative fantasy game which will offer a selectable mission based engagement system for players to craft their own personalised journey. Sisal has built a relationship of trust and
Adaptive Questing Update Launched for Picnic™ Customer Engagement Hub
PUG Interactive releases Game & Quest Services 2.0 update for its gamified Picnic™ Customer Engagement Hub platform VANCOUVER, British Columbia – PUG Interactive has released Game & Quest Services 2.0, part of the Picnic™ Customer Engagement Hub. This update brings advanced capabilities for enterprise companies seeking to create adaptive, complex, multi-step challenge/activity quests for their large customer communities. This update
PUG Interactive Launches MISSION: ASTRONAUT for the Canadian Space Agency
The Canadian Space Agency Invites Children to Play “Mission: Astronaut” to Learn More about Living and Working on the International Space Station VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 1, 2019 – PUG Interactive, a leader in gamified engagement solutions for enterprise, today announced a new PUG-powered activity developed for the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) as part of David Saint-Jacques' mission to the
PUG Interactive Wins Global Excellence Award
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 29, 2019 -- PUG Interactive Inc. is excited to announce it has been given the 2019 Global Excellence Award for Best in Gameplay-Based Online Engagement & Loyalty Solutions. Global Excellence Awards are an annual program to recognise and reward the firms and individuals whose sustained outstanding performance has seen them leading the way in their industry. Global Excellence
PUG’s Steve Bocska Gamification Europe 2018 Keynote Video
Getting the "Game" Back Into Gamification: Veteran Video Game Designer's Perspective Gamification hit the scene a decade ago amidst great hope, hype and promise of bringing a revolutionary new approach to compelling community engagement. But far too many projects have failed to deliver anything more than fleeting, short-term results. Video game industry veteran Steve Bocska draws on his extensive experience
PUG Interactive Launches Gamified Florida Conservation Program
BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. - Broward County residents can win up to $5,000 by playing a new online game created by PUG Interactive called "Conservation Pays." Players will test their knowledge of conservation, climate change and sustainability. "For the past seven years, the Broward Water Partnership has been developing unique and fun ways to promote conservation and engage residents," said Jennifer
PUG’s Steve Bocska to Speak at European Conference
(2018/09/03) (Vancouver, BC) – Gamification Europe 2018 has announced that Pug Pharm president & CEO Steve Bocska will be speaking at the conference in Amsterdam, Netherlands November 26-27, 2018. The session, entitled “Getting the ‘Game’ Back Into Gamification,” draws on Steve’s extensive experience producing and designing blockbuster video games for Disney, Electronic Arts, Sega, and Ubisoft – games that tens
Pug Pharm Receives BCIP Award
@pugpharm received a #BCIP contract today! Its #CdnInnovation, the Picnic™ Community Platform, allows organizations to create digital gamified experiences! https://t.co/gFWdtkJr0L pic.twitter.com/ALWuxn3Rkh — Public Services (@PSPC_SPAC) December 8, 2017
What is Gamification And Is It Effective For You?
What to know about Gamification? Is it effective for you? The term Gamification in a business context typically means adopting the principles of video game design mechanics and technologies to solve challenging business problems like customer retention, engagement, and loyalty. These approaches motivate the users or customers to be more motivated, spend more money, respond to calls-to-action, or follow through
Customer Audience Engagement 101
Customer Audience Engagement Measuring Success Through Engagement Metrics PUG Interactive PICNIC™ Platform -- The Amazing Audience Engagement Maximizer When the world's top brands are looking for ways to anticipate and meet the real-time needs of customers, they choose the PICNIC™ technology platform to drive better customer engagement, in turn building brand loyalty and improved retention rate. The PICNIC™ Customer Engagement
Net Promoter Scores and Gamified Engagement
Net Promoter Score: What is it and how can you benefit? If you are in the business world or have a good interest in the industries then you might have an idea about NPS. Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a concept dealing with customer loyalty. It is the metric that companies use to measure how their customers think and feel
PUG PHARM CALLS AUDIBLE ON “1st&5″!
(2017/05/16) (Vancouver, BC) Former Florida Gator and Tampa Bay Buccaneer wide receiver Alexander Willis has partnered with Pug Pharm to launch “1st&5,” a first-of-its-kind gamified corporate coaching activity/contesting platform. Dedicated to working with organizations to improve their leadership culture, Alex Willis is a nationally recognized expert on leadership development and keynote speaker. He has motivated thousands to pursue greatness in their
GOLD RUSH CHALLENGE EXPANDED!
2017/04/15 (Vancouver, BC) – Pug Pharm Productions Inc., a world leader in applying gameplay design & technology to engage visitor communities and make life in general more fun, is bringing a major expansion to the one-of-a-kind digital visitor activity Gold Rush Challenge.With new collections, quests, challenges, and prizes, the online game allows visitors to the region to play a fun,
“WHO NEW” PUG PHARM COULD MAKE PROCUREMENT FUN? WE DID!
2017/03/25(Vancouver, BC) When the Government of Canada approached Pug Pharm to add a bit of pizzazz to their online content focusing on helping businesses seeking government contracts, our canine teeth were chomping at the bit!Dubbed “Who Knew?”, the activity makes it easy and fun to collect fascinating factoids from some of the country’s top advisers around doing business with the government
PUG PHARM POWERS WINE TOUR PASSPORT
2017/02/15 (Vancouver, BC) This summer, PUG Interactive in partnership with British Columbia Wine Tour launches an innovative new take on visitor engagement. Powered by our Picnic™ Engagement Hub, “Wine Tour Passport” will engage visitors before, during, and after their visit with an ongoing, fun, flexible scavenger hunt for promo codes spanning both digital & real worlds that unlocks a themed “virtual postcard” collection
Government of Canada Invests $700,000 into “Game-Changing” Pug Pharm
2016/12/09An innovative British Columbia interactive marketing company will get its product to market faster and more efficiently with the Government of Canada’s investment of $700,000.The Honourable Hedy Fry, Member of Parliament for Vancouver Centre, on behalf of the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, and Minister responsible for Western Economic Diversification Canada, made the announcement today
Janartha Garage Shatters Performance Records
2016/09/15 (Vancouver, BC) Pug Pharm Productions Inc., a leader in premium community engagement solutions and busting sweet dance moves, has shattered platform performance records with Pycker’s “Janartha Garage” project.During a 2-week span, Pug Pharm’s Picnic™ Engagement Engine SaaS platform processed over 4 million API calls – that’s 40 lahk! – for the Janartha Garage contesting activity with peak loads pushing over 25,000 requests
Pug Pharm Goes Wild for Bollywood with Pycker
2016/08/1 (Vancouver, BC) Pug Pharm Productions, experts in using gameplay design to make the world a more joyful planet, is oh-so-excited to announce a partnership with Pycker to “do the needful” in delivering a super-cool digital fan activity to the fanatic and fantastic Bollywood film audience. ‘Janatha Garage’ is an online contesting activity that allows fans to play trivia quizzes, treasure
VICTORIA ROYALS SET FAN ENGAGEMENT RECORD WITH PUG PHARM
2016/07/5 - Pug Pharm Productions, experts in using gameplay design to make fans titter with delight, has just crunched the numbers on the second season metrics for the Victoria Royals hockey club’s True Blue Challenge fan engagement activity. This sequel to the original fan contest was chock full of refinements, improvements, and hidden secrets. Fans participated by playing a fun, interactive contesting
TOURISTS TO HIT IT BIG WITH GOLD RUSH CHALLENGE CONTEST
2016/06/5 (Vancouver, BC) – Pug Pharm Productions Inc., a world leader in applying gameplay design & technology to engage visitor communities and make life in general more fun, has been selected to to deliver a one-of-a-kind digital visitor activity to the historic Gold Rush Trail in central British Columbia.Launching in summer of 2016, the online game will allow visitors to the
VICTORIA ROYALS LAUNCH v2.0 OF TRUE BLUE FAN LOYALTY ACTIVITY
2015/11/28The Victoria Royals hockey club, powered by Pug Pharm, have launched a massive update to last season’s highly successful fan engagement contesting activity at GoRoyalsGo.com.Called True Blue Challenge, this new edition promises a wider range of content, more sponsored prizes, and a variety of ways to play and win throughout the season. With this launch, the team establishes a new
3-PART SERIES FEATURING PUG PHARM ON GAMIFICATION.CO
2015/10/20Leading community engagement webisite Gamification.co has published an in-depth 3-part feature highlighting Pug Pharm’s recent success with the “Mis Momentos” program for Kimberley-Clark’s flagship Kotex brand. The series highlights the history of the program, core philosophy, evolution of the design, challenges faced and their solutions, key metrics and outcomes.Part I of the series can be found here.
PUG PHARM POWERS CRUCIAL YOUTH SUPPORT PROGRAM
2015/09/14Pug Pharm’s award-winning Picnic™ engine has been selected to power the launch of AgedOut.com, an online engagement platform with information, resources and links to services for young adults who are, or were, in government care in BC. The site aims to help these youth equip themselves with the skills and information they will need as they leave care. AgedOut.com is
PUG PHARM ULTIMATE DIGITAL FAN EXPERIENCE TO DEBUT AT JON BON JOVI CONCERT
2015/06/12 (Vancouver, BC) – Pug Pharm Productions Inc., a leader in applying gameplay design & technology to engage fan communities and generally rocking out, has partnered with Urban Forest Concerts to deliver a one-of-a-kind digital fan activity at the upcoming An Evening With Jon Bon Jovi and the Kings of Suburbia outdoor concert August 22nd in Vancouver’s historic Stanley Park. Full
FANS HAPPY BEING BLUE IN LEADING-EDGE DIGITAL ACTIVITY
2015/06/2Victoria Royals WHL hockey club in partnership with Pug Pharm Productions has concluded a pilot fan loyalty activity that has forever modernized the sports fan club into the digital age – setting a new standard for sponsored sports fan interaction in the process.The “Be Royal Blue Challenge” is a themed, sponsorable online fan contesting activity that extended throughout the Royals’
Board Game Fridays: Make Sure It FITS Without Throwing A Fit!
2015/05/22FITS (Fill in the Spaces) is just like playing Tetris, but with 2-4 players. Now, although it’s multiplayer, it’s not like Tetris variations such as Tetris Friends where you battle with a friend online and send lines to your opponent by clearing combos of lines. It’s not as fast-paced as the original Tetris either, but you’ll be spending time trying
Board Game Fridays: Strategize with Whiskey for Your Scottish Clan in Glen More!
2015/04/24This week we played one of the more complex board games we have played: Glen More. As you may have gathered, it’s a Scottish-themed game where each player represents a clan that is trying to expand its village…with sheep, land, and whiskey! As game & gamification designers, we love to see the full breadth of games out there, from simple-yet-fun
¡Excelente! Pug Pharm & Kotex México Shatter Records with Engagement Campaign!
2015/03/23Pug Pharm Productions Inc., experts in using gameplay design to heap generous helpings of engagement onto the world, has just concluded the sequel to its beloved Mis Momentos customer loyalty activity & contest for Kimberly Clark Mexico’s flagship Kotex product line. After carefully analyzing the successful initial project from 2014, Pug Pharm and Kimberley Clark Mexico re-teamed for a
Board Game Fridays: Build Fireworks and Telepathic Links With Your Friends in Hanabi!
2015/03/20This Friday’s board game at Pug Pharm is Hanabi (“Fireworks” in Japanese), a cooperative card game where players work together to build fireworks by laying down cards in a specific order, like playing Solitaire. But here’s the catch: you can’t see your own hand and can only give certain hints to your friends! Each player holds their cards so they’re
Demystifying Intrinsic & Extrinsic Motivation: Rewarding Rewards & Incenting Incentives
2015/03/12Applying game-design thinking into non-game situations to make them fun and engaging is what some people call “gamification.” On the surface, it sounds like a great idea—turn boring interactions or information into something that feels fun and game-like! What’s not to like? But here at Pug Pharm where we design community engagement solutions to solve challenging business problems for a
Board Game Fridays: You Think This Game is a Piece O’ Cake?
2015/02/27Our Board Game Friday this week was another delicious adventure! Piece O’ Cake is a collection game heavy on analysis for 2-5 players, based on this simple premise: whoever slices the cake chooses last! The game involves dividing a series of cakes each made of 11 triangular flavoured slices. Players take turns dividing the cake into pieces, where each piece consists
Pug Pharm Helps Shrink Couch Potatoes with Fitaborate!
2015/02/26Pug Pharm Productions Inc., experts in fusing gameplay and customer engagement together, have joined forces with Fitaborate, a fast-growing home fitness personal training site, to create the most ab-crunchin’, bicep-pumpin’ trainee engagement activity!With their recent February 2015 beta launch, Fitaborate delivers a one-of-a-kind online fitness experience with fun, interactive loyalty rewards for trainees. Fitaborate trainees do video workouts with live
¡Más Rosa! Pug Pharm & Kotex Mexico Bubbling with Excitement for Second Engagement Campaign!
2015/01/26Pug Pharm Productions Inc., experts in engaging the world of consumer packaged goods with achingly enjoyable activities & contests, has launched the second round of customer loyalty activity & contest for Kimberly Clark Mexico’s flagship Kotex product line.After the incredible success of Kotex’s 2014 “Mis Momentos” (“My Memories”) campaign – with 385,000 community brand/customer interactions created over the 3 month
Pug Pharm Aims to Score Big with Victoria Royals Fan Engagement Activity
2015/01/05 Pug Pharm Productions Inc., a leader inapplying gameplay design & technology to engage & entertain the world, has once again got its stick on the ice with the launch of the Victoria Royals’ new fan engagement activity! “The Be Royal Blue Challenge,” launched January 2015, is powered by Pug Pharm’s FanGage™ platform and supported by developers who wear nothing but polyester double-knit 1970s hockey jerseys. This fun, team-themed experience brings fans & premium sponsors closely together through an interactive contesting activity. To
Board Game Fridays: Fight Together or Die Together in Flash Point!
2014/12/23We cross-collaborate everyday, so what better way to unwind and have a team-building activity than playing a cooperative game? This Friday, our board game gang played Flash Point: Fire Rescue, where your mission is to work together as firefighters to rescue victims from a burning building at risk of collapsing! There are a number of scenarios, but all boards are
PUG PHARM HIGHLIGHTS INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AT GDC NEXT CONFERENCE
2014/10/28Pug Pharm Productions Inc., a leader in creating premium community engagement solutions, announced that Steve Bocska, CEO of Pug Pharm, will present at the Game Developers Conference® (GDC Next) taking place in Los Angeles, CA from November 3-4, 2104. GDC Next will also feature the App Developers Conference (ADC) - serving the non-game and enterprise app developer markets - with
Board Game Fridays: Build Meaningful Choices in 7 Wonders!
2014/10/19It’s Board Game Friday at Pug Pharm again! This week six of us played 7 Wonders, a pick-and-pass card drafting game where players compete with each other as they make meaningful choices and gather resources to build their Ancient Wonders. So what’s 7 Wonders like? Each player is assigned an Ancient Wonder to build (think the Pyramids, Petra, Gardens of
PUG PHARM’S PICNIC™ PLATFORM: TWO MILLION USER INTERACTIONS… AND GROWING!
Success of Clients Projects Doubles Numbers Since Last Quarter 2014/10/10 Pug Pharm Productions Inc., a leader in creating premium community engagement solutions and brushing after every meal, has announced that their flagship Picnic™ customer engagement platform has doubled its user interactions since June 2014 – reaching 2 million user interactions across its growing portfolio of customer projects. Driven by the
Board Game Fridays: Try New Ways of Winning with the Competitively Collaborative Carcassonne!
2014/09/21This week, team Pug Pharm had another fun Friday afternoon playing the classic tile-laying board game, Carcassonne. It’s a straightforward and competitive game for 2-5 players, but there’s also room for collaboration! Each player takes turn taking a tile from the overturned pile and tactically placing it on the board to form a map of Carcassonne. These tiles may contain
Vancouver Sun Features Pug Pharm in Article – “Cultural innovation: Gamification makes even mundane companies more engaging”
2014/08/28 “The problem of engaging communities of people is complex,” said Bocska, who has a background in video game design. “Just slapping badges and points on to an experience isn’t going to magically resuscitate a disengaged online community.” Read full article
CITY TRAVELER: WORLD’S MOST SOPHISTICATED HOTEL GUEST LOYALTY ACTIVITY (STAY AWHILE. STAY… FOREVER!)
2014/08/06 Pug Pharm Productions Inc., experts in customer engagement and eating chocolates off of hotel pillows, have joined forces with one of the world’s fastest growing hospitality chains, CityExpress, to create the most advanced guest loyalty contesting activity. Launching in Q3 2014, City Traveler was built in collaboration between Team Pug Pharm’s oddball gameplay designers and the hospitality geniuses at
PUG PHARM’S PICNIC™ PLATFORM CELEBRATES SURPASSING ONE MILLION USER INTERACTIONS
2014/06/18 Pug Pharm Productions Inc., a leader in creating premium community engagement solutions and writing witty news releases, has announced that their flagship Picnic™ platform has created over 1 million user interactions across its customer projects since launch. Driven by the success of powerhouse clients – such as Kimberley Clark, History Channel, Primaris, and Vancouver Giants – Picnic™ continues to
Board Game Fridays: Rampaging Robots Running ‘Round RoboRally Race Routes
2014/7/24One game we recently played in the Pug Pharm office was RoboRally, a game that bills itself as “A frenzied race filled with computer-driven chaos!" What is RoboRally? Think of Snakes-and-Ladders but with more strategy. Each player operates a robot and has to be the first one to navigate it through all the checkpoints to win. The twist is that each
Board Game Fridays: Strategize Your “Dining” Experience Playing Sushi Go!
2014/05/5Board Game Fridays! The Pug Pharm team had fun wrapping up another busy week by playing the mouth-watering board game, Sushi Go. Sushi Go is a pick-and-pass card game for 2-5 players, where each player needs to make strategic sushi combinations when each card passes by them as if they’re dining at a conveyor belt sushi restaurant! Since each sushi
“Kotex: Mis Momentos” Campaign Video Reaches 350K+ Views!
2014/05/01 Powered by Pug Pharm’s Picnic™ Community Engagement Engine, Kotex Mexico Mis Momentos campaign has launched to incredible community interest, driven in part by a snappy promo video that has already hit 350k+ views: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJ21eo_dXJc No habla español? No problem! You can still look at the pretty pictures and bask in the warm pink glow.
AYE CARUMBA! PUG PHARM DRIVES MUCHO GRANDE CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT FOR KOTEX MEXICO! (OLÉ!!!)
2014/04/21 Pug Pharm Productions Inc., a leader in applying gameplay design & technology to engage & delight the world of feminine hygiene, has launched a premium customer loyalty activity & contest for Kimberly Clark Mexico’s flagship Kotex product line. Team Pug Pharm (yes, even the boys) combined their awesome creative powers with their superhuman technical capabilities to deliver “Mis Momentos”
STUDY: MALL SHOPPERS LIKE HAVING FUN, GETTING FREE STUFF
2014/01/15 Pug Pharm Productions Inc., a leader in applying gameplay design & technologies to engage & delight the world, has completed a month-long, jingle-tastic analysis of Christmas shopper engagement at Calgary’s renowned Sunridge Mall. Pug Pharm’s “Secret Santa” online activity offered mall shoppers a fun, colorful holiday contest that rewarded high-value actions (visiting stores, purchasing gift cards), social media activity
PUG SCORES BIG WITH VANCOUVER GIANTS HOCKEY!
2014/12/15 Assists to: PUG Interactive Inc., a leader in applying gameplay design & technology to engage & delight the world, has hit the ice with a season-long fan engagement activity for the Vancouver Giants hockey club. “Fill the Net,” powered by PUG’s Picnic™ customer engagement hub platform, is a fun, ongoing, online experience that brings fans &
Pointless (and Badgeless) Gamification
2013/06/06 Steve Bocska’s op ed piece “Pointless (and Badgeless) Gamification” has been published by Gamification.co and on Gaming Business Review. Deciding on how to “gamify” your next project, community, or application? Think very carefully about what you’re hoping to accomplish, and start by reading this article.
MAKING VOTING FUN
2013/05/03 Pug Pharm’s Picnic™ supports innovative voter engagement tool The inaugural launch of the groundbreaking new software platform Ethelo today is enabling British Columbians to voice their level of support for different policies that impact the province, from pipelines to safe injection sites to corporate taxes. BC Mandate has been enabled by a unique social purpose partnership between three Vancouver-based
Pug Pharm Secures $1m Loan Facility With Goal Holdings
2012/10/30 Best-in-Class Technology Platform and Large Market Potential Attract Investors VANCOUVER, BC – October 30, 2012 – Pug Pharm Productions Inc., a technology leader in customer gamification, retention, and activation, announced that it has secured a $1.0 million loan facility to fund business expansion. “We are pleased to partner with our lead investor, Goal Holdings. This injection of capital will
Pug Pharm Selected Amongst Top Tier Companies to Present at WBT Innovative Marketplace in San Diego
2012/10/22 VANCOUVER, BC – October 22, 2012 – Pug Pharm Productions Inc., a technology leader in customer gamification, retention, and activation, announced that it has been selected to be a presenter at the tenth annual WBT (World’s Best Technology) Innovation Marketplace presented by Northrup Grumman taking place October 24 – 26, 2012 at the San Diego Convention Center. Pug Pharm
“IT in Canada” publishes article about Pug Pharm
2012/09/16Read Rachel Levy Sarfin’s article, “Pug Pharm Releases Gamification Platform" that was published by IT in Canada.
Gamification Pitfalls: Badge Fatigue and Loyalty Backlash
2012/09/12Read Steve Bocska’s op ed piece “Gamification Pitfalls: Badge Fatigue and Loyalty Backlash” that has been published by Gamification.co and on Gaming Business Review .
Pug Pharm Announces World’s First WordPress Gamification Solution with its Picnic™ Customer Engagement Engine
2012/08/28 Pug Pharm Productions Inc., a technology leader in customer gamification, retention, and activation, today announced that it has extended its PicnicTM Customer Engagement Engine to support integration with websites built using WordPress. Building upon Picnic’sTM existing support for Javascript, Flash, and mobile platform integration launched last year, Pug Pharm has now extended Picnic’sTM suite of developer tools and libraries
Pug Pharm Joins the Canadian Technology Accelerator in San Francisco
2012/07/23 Pug Pharm Productions Inc., a technology leader in customer gamification, retention, and activation, today announced that it has been selected into the Trade Commissioner Service of Canada’s Canadian Technology Accelerator program. “As a participant in the CTA@SF program, Pug Pharm will have access to potential customers, partners and investors, as well as networking events and mentors connected to the
Pug Pharm in the News: “Gamification The Next Generation: Introduce, Engage, Retain”
2012/07/09 Read a recent post from tech blogger, Andrzej Marczewski, who writes about the stages of brand engagement and his thoughts on Pug Pharm’s Picnic™ Customer Engagement Engine after receiving a demo… Full article here.
Pug Pharm Receives Funding from the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program
2012/06/29 Pug Pharm Productions Inc., a technology leader in customer gamification, retention, and activation, today announced that is has received funding from the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP). This contribution will support further enhancements to Pug Pharm’s Picnic™ loyalty & engagement engine. “This funding from NRC-IRAP comes at a key point in time as we
Pug Pharm Named as One of Metabridge’s “15 Top Startups from Across Canada”
2012/06/06 Pug Pharm Productions Inc., a technology leader in customer gamification, retention, and activation, today announced that it has been selected by Metabridge as one of the top 15 startup companies from across Canada and has been invited to attend the 4th Annual Meeting held in Kelowna, BC on June 7-8, 2012. “Pug Pharm was honoured to be named on
Pug Pharm Enters Into Strategic Collaboration with Bitzio, Inc
2012/05/29 Pug Pharm Productions Inc., a technology leader in customer gamification, retention, and activation, today announced a strategic alliance with Bitzio, Inc. (OTCBB:BTZO), which will span multiple projects and include reciprocal advisory positions on the respective boards of the two companies.‘Pug Pharm’s partnership with Bitzio - a leader in media, mobile games and the gamification of mobile apps - will
Joint Team Solution Named a Winner in the Badges for Lifelong Learning Competition
2012/03/29 SAN FRANCISCO, CA – An international team entitled: “Robotics and STEM Badges Using NASA Content” was selected as a winner in the Badges for Lifelong Learning Competition. The winning pitch from the joint team – comprised of Khal Shariff of Project Whitecard Inc., with content focused on the official NASA Massively Multiplayer Game; Pug Pharm Productions Inc., a Canadian
Pug Pharm is Awarded Funding from BC Film + Media and the BC Arts Council through 2012 Interactive Fund
2012/02/28 Pug Pharm Productions Inc. (Pug Pharm), a Canadian leader in gamification and social engagement, announced that it is a successful recipient of the 2012 Interactive Fund in a unanimous decision by the jury. “We are excited that Pug Pharm’s leading gameplay technology has been recognized by BC Film + Media and the BC Arts Council. This funding will support
Pug Pharm’s CEO Participates in The Great Gamification Debate
2012/01/09 Pug Pharm Productions Inc. (Pug Pharm), a Canadian leader in gamification and social engagement, announced today that its CEO, Steve Bocska, will participate in “The Great Gamification Debate” hosted by Ayogo Games on Thursday, February 2, 2012 starting at 7:00 pm PT. Moderated by Joe Nickolls, Executive Producer at Microsoft/Big Park, Steve will participate in a debate with Michael
Pug Pharm Closes Financing Round to Support Next Generation of Social Networking Technology Platform
2011/12/19 Pug Pharm Productions Inc. (Pug Pharm), a Canadian leader in gamification and social engagement, today announced it has secured capital from a network of private investors and key employees. Funds will primarily be used for product development and early marketing efforts for Pug Pharm’s online engagement and gameplay technology platform, Picnic™. “The completion of this financing round is an
Pug Pharm’s Picnic(tm) Platform Enters Space with NASA’s MMO Game
2011/11/17 Pug Pharm Productions Inc. (Pug Pharm), a Canadian leader in gamification and online social engagement, announced that its gameplay platform will power the official NASA game, Astronaut: Moon, Mars and Beyond. Pug Pharm has entered a strategic partnership with Project Whitecard Inc., which is one of three companies that won a contest sponsored by NASA to work together on
Pug Pharm Powers Online Engagement and Social Connectivity for History Channel’s Ice Pilots NWT
2011/10/26 Pug Pharm Productions Inc. (Pug Pharm), a Canadian leader in gamification and social engagement, announced that its social networking gameplay platform Picnic™ will power the History Channel’s Ice Pilots NWT website. “We are excited that Pug Pharm’s ‘Collect, Connect, Reward’ gameplay technology is enabling fans of Ice Pilots NWT to win prizes by collecting show-themed virtual items and connecting
PHARM NEWS: Social Networking Game Company, Pug Pharm Productions Inc., Receives Financial Support Through Telefilm’s Canada Media Fund (CMF)
2011/03/13 Pug Pharm Productions Inc. (Pug Pharm), a Canadian online developer focusing on social networking games, announced that it has received financial support from the Canada Media Fund (CMF) Experimental Stream administered through Telefilm Canada. “This current investment will allow our team to focus on taking our social networking game prototype to full launch with a sophisticated user interface, advance
Pug Pharm Smoked Out
2010/09/20 Some high drama unfolding at the Pug Pharm offices as a chemical fire and toxic fumes have kept our team away from their desks for the past few days. See CBC news story here. Fortunately, all Pug Pharm workers are provided with Hazmat suits upon signing their employment agreements, and undergo gene splicing making them genetically resistant to hydrogen cyanide.