We’ve all somehow heard about the Pokémon Go phenomenon a while ago. Whether you played it or hated it, people talked about the app everywhere. The way the game took off was something that has never happened before. What made the app popular and how can you use these strategies to promote your own AR app?
What happened?
With little advertising Pokémon Go had already beaten the Tinder app in the number of downloads and surpassed Twitter in daily active users on Android (Johnsen, 2016). In just a few days after launch, Pokémon Go was able to outperform most social networks in the amount of time spent in the app:
(sensortower.com, 2016)
Pokémon Go has also been used by local businesses to drive up their sales. By becoming a Pokémon hotspot local businesses are drawing many players to go near or in their business. A pizza place in New York saw a 75% increase in sales by paying only $10 for a lure which attracted Pokémons to their location (Scott, 2016).
The reasons
The reasons for the success of the app can be explained in three key elements:
- Iconic brand/Nostalgia
- Viral photos
- Interactivity with virtual reality
Pokémon has been around for decades and generations grew up with a lot of love for Pikachu and the adventures of Ash Ketchum. It is a brand name that’s instantly recognized and loved by many worldwide. The application that it was launched with was also unique to most people, many have heard about virtual reality but never had the chance to try it out. The application has a very low barrier of entry. Instead of having to buy weird expensive goggles, players can just use their smartphone to play the game. Being able to capture photos of Pokémons sitting in the office, in the kitchen and or in public was a very new and exciting experience for most of its users. Because of the fact that Pokémons could only be found in certain locations and users had to physically go out and explore their neighborhood it was more satisfying for players to actually go and catch the monsters. Users were proud of their achievements and wanted to share this achievement with family and friends. Combine this with funny pictures and you have a recipe for a viral word of mouth product. The combination of these three key elements can be explained as the main reasons for the success of Pokémon Go.
Now before you go and start building your own AR app, take these three reasons into consideration. Will your app be as interactive and interesting as Pokémon Go?
Cited:
Johnsen, L. (2016) ‘In Less Than a Week, Pokémon Go Has More Than 6 Million Mentions on Twitter’ available at: http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/less-week-pok-mon-go-has-more-6-million-mentions-twitter-172464, 14-10-2016.
Scott, R. (2016) ‘The Marketing Power of Pokemon Go and Other New, Unsaturated Marketing Channels’ available at: http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/marketing-power-of-unsaturated-marketing-channels#sm.00001olx6juutcd31u9dqn89wwlhy, 14-10-2016.
