Pokemon Go — Why its Worth Understanding the Hype Behind it
Pokemon Go is absolutely one of the biggest phenomenons to ever grace iTunes and Android app stores. In under a week’s time, the game, which combines one of Nintendo’s best-loved franchises with augmented reality technology, has surpassed Twitter in terms of active users. Everywhere you walk, there are people paused in the middle of a sidewalk, holding their phones out, desperately trying to catch a Charmander or Squirtle.
The popularity of this game is surpassing all reasonable expectations, and it already has businesses and companies looking to capitalize. Pokemon are being used in marketing campaigns, and it should not be too long before popular locations are marketing themselves as verified Pokestops. McDonald’s is reportedly partnering with the makers of the game, and whatever agreement is reached, Mickey Dees will benefit from increased foot traffic. The Golden Arches are not the only ones looking to monetize Pokemon. Minor league baseball teams in America are opening their gates and charging admission on off days. For a few bucks, wanna-be Pokemasters can wander around empty stadiums catching Pokemon.
The levels this game has reached in such a short time are unfathomable, but it’s more interesting to me to watch the reaction as other companies scramble to capitalize on the Poke-boom.
The game itself is definitely a fad, just like the original Pokemon game was in the late nineties. It’s the hot new iPhone game, and that could easily change as soon as millions of users begin to get next month’s cell phone bills and see how far past their data limits they have charged in the quest to catch ’em all. That said, everyone is going to jump aboard the bandwagon and find a way to squeeze a dollar out of our love for Pokemon wherever possible.
Augmented reality could very easily become the future of marketing. Print and media advertisements are going to lose some of their power. Newspapers and magazines are being replaced by tablet readers and websites. Many members of the Millennial generation are eschewing cable television and going with streaming services like Netflix and Hulu. Netflix does not air ads at all, and Hulu only shows a few per episode. Cord cutting will never fully encompass the entire population, but it will certainly diminish the reach of a 30-second TV spot.
The exact terms of the McDonald’s-Pokemon tie-up are not yet public knowledge, but this will serve as an interesting test case. The prospect of catching a coveted character could very well attract more visitors to a store than a brief ad on television that many viewers are tuning out on in the first place. If this proves successful, expect AR and marketing to go hand-in-hand in the future. There’s also the slightly unpleasant, but probably overlooked thought as to what is being done with all of the location-based data being collected while we blissfully play the game.
Pokemon Go also plays on the nostalgia trend. In my opinion, the popularity of the game affirms the power of reminiscing on childhood than it does point to an AR takeover in the gaming sector. This game would be successful whether or not players had to walk all over their cities to find Pokemon to catch. Before charging ahead into an AR startup, one really needs to determine what exactly made Pokemon such a pop culture smash. Augmented Reality has been around for years, and is certainly not a mainstream technology. Pokemon Go could signal a rise in prominence for the technology, or it could be riding an entirely different wave to reach these levels of success.
It’s very easy to look at a trendy product and fall into the trap of thinking it can be easily duplicated. There are certain aspects of Pokemon Go that should be carried into the future, especially the marketing angle. That may be the best avenue for an aspiring startup to pursue rather than making efforts to create the next hot game. Smart phone games come and go quickly — rising quickly like a phoenix and fizzling out with hardly any notice. Before rushing into this trend, step back and look for a way to have a more lasting impact. There’s money to be made in the here and now, but much more further down the road.
