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:

1. Iconic brand/Nostalgia
2. Viral photos
3. 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.

We’ve all heard about streaming music, movies or even live streaming. However there has been a phenomenon going on where not only famous artists or big companies make a profit from streaming but regular people like you and me do too.

I’m talking about live streaming your hobby or talent. Since the rise of youtube personalities and the whole –make a living from your passion – hype we have seen a lot of the younger generation recording their hobbies and passion. However the landscape of video on demand is currently very saturated, it’s even hard for people to get 100 views after a month nowadays.

So a lot of the creative artists have turned to live streaming. One of the best examples is Twitch.tv. Founded in June 2011, Twitch is the world’s leading social video platform and community for gamers, video game culture, and the creative arts. Each day, close to 10 million visitors gather to watch and talk about video games and more than 2 million streamers play the game for these viewers (Bean, 2014). The concept is simple, people that are good at the game make an account, play the game, turn on their camera and talk to their viewers (these people are called streamers).

The people that come to watch have the opportunity to donate and or subscribe to their favorite streamers and so the streamers can make a living of whatever they choose to stream.

Not only playing a game and talking with viewers is popular on Twitch.tv, you can also choose categories like ‘social eating’, ‘drawing’, ‘woodworking’ or ‘music’.

Social Eating actually has roots in South Korea. Muk-bang, or “eating broadcast,” is a live stream where the host eats a big batch of food while folks watch (Davidson, 2016). Apparently there are quite some people watching this and as long as there are views, there are donations, subscriptions and ad revenue to make.

Go and take a look at Twitch.tv and go plan your own online streaming career now, there is a viewership market for everyone!

Cited:
Davidson, J. (2016) ‘Twitch now has a category for watching streamers eat’ available at: http://www.technobuffalo.com/2016/06/30/twitch-social-eating-muk-bang-livestreams/, 13-10-2016.

Bean, D. (2014) ‘What the Heck Is Twitch, and Why Does Google Think It’s Worth $1 Billion?’ available at: https://www.yahoo.com/tech/what-the-heck-is-twitch-and-why-does-google-think-its-86224528319.html, 13-10-2016