Although fresh, the gamification movement within the insurance industry is already proving to be a powerful tool for insurers to adopt customer-centric business models.

Game mechanics such as leaderboards, points and prizes can drive more meaningful levels of engagement among agents, transforming otherwise onerous tasks into interesting and fun experiences while delivering educational material along the way. Although the insurance industry has traditionally been a more conservative field, the emergence of gamification has brought with it new opportunities for the insurance eco-system.

Gamification, which taps into users' sense of competition and achievement, applies game mechanics and game design techniques to spur engagement. Earlier this year, American Modern conducted a poll of its agents, which found that a majority (73 percent) had never seen or participated in a sales campaign that uses gaming techniques in the context of insurance. Due to these survey results and because of gamification's proven success in other industries, the insurance provider began an initiative to leverage a gamification strategy that would engage its agent base in a new way.

Educate agents

The result was the creation of American Modern's "Most Confident Agent" (MCA) campaign, which aimed to educate agents on its specialty residential insurance solutions — vacant, seasonal, rental, owner-occupied and manufactured homes. Participating agents across 35 states are currently playing to earn points and compete against each other to win prizes, including a cash prize and the chance to be named the Most Confident Agent in the World.