Gotta Catch ‘Em All: business lessons you can learn from Pokémon GO

There are instances when an app is much more convenient than a website. This is especially true if you run a business that is delivery-based because it is more user-friendly. As such, it can potentially improve sales, with IBM Holiday Benchmark Reports recording a 15% increase in traffic on Black Friday from mobile purchases alone.

Creating an app for your business is also useful for your clients, too, allowing them to access your products and services across a variety of gadgets. Through this, you can potentially reach more customers: especially with more people relying on their smart phones.

It goes without saying that customers are more likely to trust a company or brand if they feel protected. For example, when they have to reveal sensitive information (e.g. credit card number, account information, personal background), you can take measures to make sure such details remain confidential.

Niantic learned this the hard way when Pokémon GO mistakenly requested users for full access to their Google accounts, alarming various security experts. Since updated, it only requires basic profile information, and the company were quick to reassure fans that no confidential information was compromised.

Niantic has announced that it will partner with several brands through sponsored locations in Pokémon GO. The idea behind this is that businesses can sign up as sponsors and be registered as “gyms”.

These sponsors are charged whenever a player enters their store or headquarters. Although it sounds costly, this move is beneficial to them because it attracts more people to their stores.
If you are thinking about pairing up with another business for a promotional scheme, make sure the move could benefit both your companies. Also, consider teaming with a more established brand to help boost your company’s reputation.

One of the reasons the game is successful is because the Pokémon brand already has an established and loyal following. It had humble beginnings as a RPG in Gameboy and eventually expanded in manga, anime, and even toy collectibles.

Cultivating your brand is important so you know what to market. For this to happen, you should know how consumers perceive your business and what sets you apart from your competitors. From there, you can determine how to expand and develop your brand. In the case of Niantic, it first toyed around with their augmented-reality system with Ingress before implementing it on Pokémon GO.

What sets Pokémon GO apart from other games, like Ingress? It caters to players’ desire to catch Pokémon for themselves. Through the game, players almost get to experience what it is really like to catch a Pokémon in the real world.

The game’s creator, John Hanke, got the idea in 2014 when he was working on Google Maps, and was involved with its now-infamous April Fool’s Day prank. Google made an announcement regarding a new training tool that was created in cooperation with Pokémon and Nintendo. The company even went so far as to invite “savvy risk takers” who can “navigate through tall grass to capture wild creatures.”

This is another reason for the game’s success. Although the idea started out as a joke, Hanke took note of people’s reaction and decided to capitalise on it. If you are stumped with what to sell or offer, you could take a cue from Pokémon GO‘s creators and cash in on something that started out as unintentional. The point is to think outside the box.