Marketing lessons to be learned from Pokémon GO.

Interesting lessons to be learned from Pokémon GO.

You can barely set foot outside at the moment without literally bumping into someone (people of all ages, might I add) glued to their phones. They are not watching videos or sending texts, as that was still the case last week.

They are actually catching Pokémon, yes that game we played 20 years ago, that one. Pokémon GO is the hottest app to be released in many months, since Candy Crush, Subway Surfer etc., and has taken over phones by storm. As infuriating as it may be for some employers to see the productivity levels of their employees decline, the benefit for the staff personally is an increase in activity.

Nostalgia

The first Pokémon game was released 20 years ago in 1996. I was 4 years old by that time. Even then, it took over our play time. We would rush home not to miss Pokémon, which would come on, on SABC 2. We would line up on the floor in front of the television and not move for half an hour. This meaning, that those who enjoyed Pokémon back then are the right age to enjoy it now.

Marketer, entrepreneur and author, Gary Vaynercuk says: “I’m a big believer in nostalgic intellectual property. It is one of the most underrated value propositions in business and marketing. Nostalgic IP matters and it’s valuable and massively underpriced. While it’s not nostalgic for me personally, Pokémon just celebrated its 20^th anniversary so you can easily see why it hits that 25 to 35-year old demographic.”

Timing is everything

The game was initially released in the US, Australia and New Zealand. It’s the height of summer in the US and its school holidays in all these countries. That makes it perfect timing for them to be running around catching Pokémon, collect items at Pokéstops and conquer gyms. In South Africa, being in the middle of winter, we are not quite as lucky. Fortunately the weather has not been terrible for much of the country in the past week (the rain downfall only recently started), so Pokémon enthusiast have been able to get outside.

Advertising

How much advertising did you see for the game before its release? Probably not much. That is because Nintendo and Niantic Labs, the app’s creators, likely realized a massive budget is not necessary for an effective marketing campaign for this product, particularly fort his demographic. All that was necessary was a nostalgic connection with people who can relate to Pokémon – something Nintendo has in spades.

Fun 

Sometimes we all just want to have a little bit of fun, especially as the world becomes an increasingly dangerous place to live in for many people. Pokémon GO gives people the opportunity to let loose and have fun with their friends. In a complicated world, we sometimes need a distraction. This can be quite the compelling reason to join the craze.

Community and competition

At level 5 of the game, the players are given a choice of three rival fractions, Mystic, Valor and Instinct. This allows players to support their own team and root for the demise of others in the same way sports fans feel about their teams. This sense of community is incredibly important for people to feel connected to the game and strive to achieve better results.

Finally, the game is extremely easy to get involved in, and somewhat addictive as well. All players really need to do is walk around with their phone in hand, which everyone is doing anyway, and what for vibrations which alert them to the presence of a Pokémon.

We can all learn a lesson from the convenience of the game.