Published on the 14/07/2016 | Written by Rory Moss
If you haven’t heard about it, Pokémon Go is an augmented reality game, that requires trainers to go outside and seek out digital monsters. Goody Card’s Rory Moss looks at the game’s business applications…
Yes, I did it. I jumped on the bandwagon and I am fueling the biggest craze New Zealand has seen since Tamagotchi’s and Chatter Rings. Already, Google Play is listing an estimated 50,000,000 installs meaning it’s poised to surpass twitter – that’s huge! More importantly, New Zealanders have taken to it in full force and it’s not just the kids enjoying the walking. Businesses across New Zealand are seeing increases in foot traffic, with a few smart businesses taking advantage of people trying to “catch ‘em all”. Already, bars and clubs across the country are hosting Pokémon parties, like the one I found at Roxy bar, offering Pokémon lures — basically paying money to attract digital Pokémon for people to catch — all night long. While some business owners may argue it’s just a fad, we think it could be an opportunity for businesses to connect with consumers, while driving potential traffic to their stores. So the question is… how do you attract Pokémon to your store? A lure is something that attracts Pokémon to a spot for 30 minutes. By purchasing a lure, digital monsters basically migrate to the closest PokéStop. If you’re a business lucky enough to be close to one of these stops, then activating it will inevitably attract anyone playing within the area, looking to catch these critters. And trust me, people are looking. The closest one I found around the Goody offices, was the Bluestone Bar. I’d seriously be testing to see if it works if I were them. Pokémon Lures only last for 30 minutes or so. Consider trying one out at slower visitor times or maybe during lunch time while people are out walking. Let’s do the Pokémath: You can buy 14,500 Pokémon coins for $149.99. One lure only costs 100 Pokémon coins which buys you 30 minutes of Pokémon attraction. 14,500/100 = 145 lures for the price of $149.99 That’s 72.5 hours of potential foot traffic boost! This could be a serious opportunity for many businesses to increase foot traffic, have fun and while they’re catching Pokémon and who knows…maybe they will buy something. Rory Moss is the Marketing Manager at Goody Card.Attract passers-by with a Pokémon Lure
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I’ve never seen anything like it! It’s pretty much overtaken NZ. Yesterday I almost watched someone walk into a lamp post, his eyes were that glued to his phone.
I’d love to hear the results businesses are actually seeing – but what an interesting Rory! Seems like an incredibly cheap advertising model for stores which attract millennials.