Pokemon Go! “Gotta Catch ’em AR”
Niantic has recently announced that it will use augmented reality in its popular Pokemon Go game, which would make the blending of animation and the real world more realistic and exciting. Pokemon Go is a game about catching and collecting Pokemons, small, fictional creatures. The Pokemon are pinpointed on a real world map, and when you get to the location, you use your camera to see them in the ‘real world’ via your phone screen, and catch them.
The game, while seemingly simple, is extremely popular and has generated enormous amounts of revenue, allowing the company to heavily invest in this AR technology. The average user spends more time per day using this app than any other, including Facebook. This means there is a huge, engaged audience out there, so advertisers need to figure out how to reach them. The use of AR does just that!
In Pokémon GO, users visit PokéStops, which represent real-world places such as a mundane mailbox, beautiful fountain, or even a historical monument. Pokémon Go’s landmark database has gotten much bigger over time. One of the new features of of using AR is that Pokemon Go players can now contribute to the 3D map of the world. Previously, agents of the company needed to scan hundreds of thousands of points of interest for inclusion in building the map for the game.
Now players, who reached level 40, can be involved in this aspect through an opt-in new feature called PokéStop Scanning. This not only improves the games AR experience but it also allows for the dedicated pokemon community to feel like they themselves are contributing the building of Niantics “real world metaverse.” This helps build the tribe and increases brand loyalty by offering their best ‘consumers’ more perks.
Another feature that Pokemon Go utilizes is reality blending. Reality blending allows for the interface to look better in the real world and to interact with the real world in a more seamless way. Pokémons will be able to hide behind a real object or be blocked by a tree or table blocking its path, just like if you would see a Pokémon in the physical world. Players are also able to photograph, walk, and play with their AR monsters.
The use of AR is also helpful to reaching a target market that is typically difficult to market to, age 18–24. This age bracket is known to be oblivious to banners and usually installs add blockers on their devices thus making any way for the app to charge for advertisements useless. Therefore, the app doesnt actually have any ads displayed in the traditional sense. The way they will make money is by allowing brands to sponsor locations. The idea is that Pokemon will appear at their selected location and draw users there. Then they can access exclusive offers and hopefully spend money with the brands involved.
AR is the wave of the future. If brands can effectivley incorporate this new and cool tehnology into their already made business model then they can truly tap into a new market and continue to build their customer base.
