Mobile rewards platform Kiip has announced a new partnership today with developer ZeptoLab, which will effectively be bringing their unique digital rewards to all games in the ZeptoLab catalogue, like the hugely popular Cut the Rope and Pudding Monsters. Kiip first began in 2010, working with mid-tier and indie developers to put special rewards into games that players could receive and enjoy just by playing. I recently had a chance to chat with Kiip Co-Founder Brian Wong, and to find out some more about how the Kiip rewards platform actually works, and what it was like to partner up with ZeptoLab in this exciting new manner.The entire basis of Kiip rewards is founded on one simple principle: to own and reward every single "achievement moment" that a user can experience. Kiip strives to capture that special moment of player happiness at the time of reaching a certain milestone in a game, such as leveling-up or completing a stage, and then acknowledges that uplifting emotion by offering rewards. But the best part about it is that players don't have to do anything extra to earn these rewards: they are simply gathered through regular gameplay, and as Wong tells me, "When you get a reward, you feel like you earned it.""But what's really interesting about the foundations of Kiip's innovative rewards program is that it can be seen as more of an actual technology, as there are never any specific title-to-brand integrations to be found here. Instead, Kiip uses their highly refined style of "precision moments targeting" to provide mobile users with unique rewards that will be relevant to them. And this process extends well beyond the gaming realm as well, with Kiip rewards already being implemented in everything from music and workout apps, to productivity and "to-do list" apps.
Providing players of games with external rewards has become a prosperous business in recent years, and companies Kiip and Raptr have emerged as the frontrunners of the concept. As I learned over the course of a panel featuring Brian Wong (Kiip) and Dennis Fong (Raptr), they tend to approach the model in very different ways.
Most hyped gaming start-ups are full of hot air, but Kiip may be onto something. As reported in Techcrunch, Kiip offers real life rewards for in-game achievements. So, let's say you are playing your favorite mobile game, and you just annihilated 20 zombie pigs in a row. Kiip has partnered with big brand marketers like Sephora, popchips, Dr. Pepper and the like to offer you a voucher for free lipstick, bag of chips, a can of pop (you get the picture).