SOJO INC.
Joy For the World
Overview
Sojo’s mission was to incorporate charitable giving into every transaction.
The company believed that if people knew that a percentage of what they were spending would go directly to a worthy cause, not only would they they increase the number of paying users, they would also create strong relationships with philanthropic organizations and celebrities. Sojo would do well by doing genuine good.
The Goal
The company’s long-term goal was to use that success to create a giving platform, and ultimately develop an SDK allowing any project to integrate giving directly into their application. But first, the company would need support in improving their launch title, “WeTopia”.
My goal was to not only focus the gameplay, but fully integrate giving into every aspect of the player experience.
The Strategy
I designed a participation currency called “Joy” that would reward every player (paying and non-paying) for every collection action in the game.
The in-game store, called “Joy Central”, allowed players to spend their Joy on currently supported causes. Integrated pictures and video revealed the good that the player was doing simply by playing the game!
The result was so successful that the company renamed itself Sojo (short for “social joy”) to align itself with the new economic model!
The Outcome
Joy increased player time and attention while also improving conversion and monetization.
By creating a message that spoke to players, investors, and developers, we were able to forge powerful relationships with sponsors, NGOs, and top-tier marketing partners, including Tide, Dippin’ Dots, and Save the Children.
The Joy economy transformed the direction of the company, both internally and externally. It allowed Sojo to partner with numerous companies and celebrities, including Ellen Degeneres, who featured “WeTopia” numerous times on-air.
