Gamification helps global bank BNP Paribas grow knowledge at branch level

2 minute read

To increase understanding of its products at branch level, BNP Paribas Asset Management turned to a digital learning solution. Sylvie Vazelle-Tenaud, head of marketing for individuals, advisors and online banks, and Camille Lafon, e-marketing manager, outline the journey

BNP Paribas Asset Management Rome office

The Challenge

BNP Paribas Asset Management is the investment management arm of BNP Paribas, one of the world's major financial institutions.

The marketing team’s role is to promote BNP Paribas Asset Management products within the BNP Paribas group’s distribution networks and towards individual clients, as well as to provide our sales teams in different countries with innovative digital marketing solutions to help them conduct efficient training and provide the right information for branch advisors. Learning and development support of this aim is key.

The marketing team’s Sylvie Vazelle-Tenaud, head of marketing for individuals, advisors and online banks, and Camille Lafon, e-marketing manager, wanted to increase the expertise of branch advisors on BNP Paribas Asset Management products. The large number of employees targeted, nearly 12,000, meant they needed a solution that would complement the training and information provided by BNP Paribas Asset Management sales representatives in the field.

What BNP Paribas Asset Management did

The most efficient way to accelerate the upskilling of branch advisors and, says Vazelle-Tenaud, to “deliver durable returns on investment for our customers in the long term” was through a digital solution and thus Digit’learning was born.

The bank decided to approach the challenge in two ways. Firstly, it helps its branch advisors build this expertise through either hands-on training in the field or web-conferences with BNP Paribas Asset Management sales teams in every country where BNP Paribas has a distribution network.

Secondly, it uses Digit’learning to deliver remote content. The company chose Coopacademy’s learning experience platform (LEP) to offer new digital functionalities, such as gamification and mobile learning, the latest teaching innovations including reverse pedagogy and five-minute targeted ‘micro’ pedagogical videos, individualised learning paths and multiple forms of content via a catalogue of over 1,000 courses deployed across the entire network worldwide. Courses offered include ‘on the challenges for building virtual allocation portfolios’, for example.

Gamification has featured large for the firm. The marketing team is careful to present the platform as a tool for gaining expertise with a gaming aspect. In its communication, it highlights the functionality of ‘lives’ and the fact that to complete a level, an employee has three lives, represented as hearts on the platform. One wrong answer and they lose a heart/life and after three wrong answers, they must start again with a new quiz.

Employees can earn stars which reward the completion of a course. The ranking of employees is ultimately defined by the number of stars earned.

The results

The leaderboard functionality enables us to generate emulation between employees and make them want to take the courses again.

We didn’t communicate very much about battles (a functionality that lets a player challenge another one on a course, with stars to win for the player with the most correct answers) but the employees discovered that functionality on their own and loved it. Learners are receptive to playing and using the gaming functionalities, with over 70,000 battles being initiated.

Once people are connected, the activation rate is high, the courses are often taken to the end, and the employees are asking for more programs. The gaming functionalities are highly used and have a strong part in the enthusiasm surrounding the platform.

User feedback is a good indicator, with comments such as: “Great digital initiative! Very good pedagogical approach,” “The platform is user-friendly thanks to the battles, much better than traditional online learning” and “A way of revising that is quick and efficient, very succinct content, congenial platform.”

We have found this approach offers flexibility in learning without being time-consuming, as the average duration of an entire learning journey is 20 minutes. Employees are building their expertise in record time while having fun!

Sylvie Vazelle-Tenaud (pictured) is head of marketing for individuals, advisors and online banks, and Camille Lafon is e-marketing manager at BNP Paribas Asset Management

Sylvie Vazelle-Tenaud BNP Paribas Asset Management

Published 19 September 2019
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