Membership Geeks Podcast with Mike Morrison · Membership Geeks

439 - Gamifying The Membership Experience with Kimba Cooper-Martin

September 2, 2025·57 min·4 clips

Mike Morrison merges his geeky love for video games with membership expertise to explore gamification with specialist Kimber Cooper-Martin.

Gaming meets membership strategy here. Mike opens from genuine enthusiasm, owns the geek angle, and ties games to membership design without pretending they fix everything. Then the useful cautions come in. The operator's job is to watch whether members complete the right things, get value, and give honest feedback. Not everyone will play along. One person said the gamification stuff was not for her, which mattered because she could say that and still need other parts of the membership. That is feedback, not failure. The conversation pushes back on the idea that gamification has to win over everyone or solve every engagement problem. Some people hear games and check out. Mike names the concern from more sober membership owners who think their practical topic has no room for play or game like structure. The answer is a careful yes. There may be scope in every membership, but only when the design comes from feedback instead of a vague question about gamification. That question can throw people off. Members may not know what the word means, or they may assume it means fun people, children, men, younger people, board games, or video games. The better move is simpler: ask whether the experience helps them complete what they joined to do and get what they need. Mike keeps the focus on running the membership well. This is not about making a serious business seem wacky. It is about using game mechanics only when they serve the member experience. The warning is plain. Gamification is not the answer to everything, and it becomes noise when completion rate, member conversations, and outcomes get ignored. The Membership Academy mention keeps the wider frame in view: roadmaps, training, tools, discounts, and community for people starting, growing, and running memberships.

As heard by us

A clear, practical look at whether gamification fits a membership at all.

The episode takes on a practical question for membership owners: whether gamification actually helps people stay or just adds noise. Mike Morrison keeps the focus on what operators need to notice, from completion rates to whether members are getting real value, while making…

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Why you'd press play

If you want gamification ideas without the hype, start here.

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