Pokemon Go - Revenge Of The Nerds' Lesson In Small Business Marketing?

INTRODUCTION:

Most people would be aware of the current Pokemon craze that's going on at the moment. My sons have participated in it and can't understand that I don't get what all the fuss is about the game itself. I have though been extremely interested in how this could be a wonderful marketing opportunity for many businesses. Whilst it maybe a fad that has a very limited lifespan, many businesses have quickly jumped on board to take advantage and drive up sales.

I think that it is an interesting lesson for marketing and one that any small business accountant should take note of in terms of understanding the basic principles in order to get business growth. Here is a brief summary of what it is and how it works.

Figure 1: Pokemon Go is causing a massive stir in gaming and small business.

1. What Is Pokemon Go?

Pokemon Go is an app that uses GPS to guide players, known as “trainers”, to the real-life location of Pokemon, which they collect via their mobile device. Players also head towards “PokeStops”, usually located at local landmarks, to collect rewards, and “gyms” to train their Pokemon to fight other users’ Pokemon. In many cases over the last few weeks several hundred players, most of whom are adults, have converged on a location such as parks, the Sydney Opera House and thousands of businesses where the Pokemons exist in cyberspace.

About 15 million people have downloaded the "augmented reality" game, in which players battle to capture cute monsters that pop up in the real world on a user's smart phone. It's thought that its developers are making approximately $1.6million a day.

2. How Can Business Take Advantage?

Anyone can pay $8 for 30 minutes which will attract Pokemons to their location. Shopping centres, parks, restaurants and small business can cash in on the increased foot traffic.

Woolworths took advantage by giving its Facebook followers tips on catching Pokemon in store. A restaurant in Melbourne "Lost Heaven" has offered discounts for customers with particular Pokemons.

Figure 2: Is that Pikachu or Barry? In terms of attracting people he is a real life Pokemon! 

Photo courtesy Balmain Baz & Lara Scolari Gallery Balmain

3. What Lessons Are To Be learned?

Well there are a number of things that can be learned from this and not just the fact that businesses can get extra sales if they act. As small business accountants Sydney and Dubbo we should be looking at how clients can gain knowledge from this phenomenon and apply the principles to other marketing methods. My takeaway is as follows:

• Move quickly - this mightn't last forever but what a great and cheap way to drive customers to your business who will hopefully continue to come back long after Pokemon Go is finished. When an opportunity like this occurs, do you actually take the time to look at it and understand it so you can jump on board or do you dismiss it as something that looks like a silly game?;
• Developers thinking outside the square - wow! They have sat down and thought "how can we drive foot traffic to a particular place who will then pay us a fee for doing so?". They have then used a game with GPS to achieve that objective. In hindsight it is so clever! For a business that wants to get more people to their store, what are some other ways that could achieve this? Getting a famous person to sign books is often used as an example but at what cost? You need to think laterally and you need to do something different.
• Never underestimate technology - another great example of how quickly the world is moving and those that ignore change and technology do so at their peril. Are you using technology to help your enterprise or are you still just trying to get by with old systems? 

CONCLUSION:

The Pokemon Go game itself still baffles me as to its appeal to those that play it. However, the fact is they do and the developers have been very clever in producing a product that people will want to buy, because it cheaply increases foot traffic to their businesses.

What are you doing to attract people to your business? It mightn't be Pokemon Go but the principles are still exactly the same.