Pokémon Go is the latest mobile gaming craze, which within a week had gained more daily active users than Twitter and added roughly 7 billion euro to Nintendo’s stock prices. The game keeps its huge user base moving around through the real world attempting to catch all of the different types of Pokémon through augmented reality (you see the Pokémon in the real world through your phone).
However it’s not just Nintendo that can make a profit from Pokémon Go. One feature of the game is that there are fixed real world locations for “Gyms” and “Poké-Stops”. These fixed locations are actually at real locations such as landmarks or shops, which means there are some ways to make the game an asset to your business. Firstly you will have to find out if your business is a Poké-Stop or a Gym. If it isn’t, don’t worry you are never too far from one nowadays. Here are 3 ways for Cork businesses to profit from Pokémon Go.
1: Lay Down A Lure
A lure in Pokémon go is something that attracts a large amount of wild Pokémon to your nearest Poké-Stops location for half an hour at a time. Chasing the Pokémon, are the customers, potentially in their droves. You will have to download the game for this to work, but the game is a free download. However lures are available to purchase in-game. All you have to do is open it up, tap the red Poké Ball at the bottom of the screen, tap shop and then purchase your lures. You can then use the lures one at a time by tapping on the Poké Ball again and going into the items section and tapping on the lure icon. It’s an effective way to get people to arrive in their numbers and it’s incredibly cheap. You can get roughly 84 hours worth of lures for no more than €100. Start off small and see how it goes.
2: Host A Pokémon Hunt
If you aren’t close to a Gym or a Poké-Stop you can always host a family friendly Pokémon hunt that begins and ends at your storefront. A small amount of advertising will help to bolster the number of the participants that show up. Wearing clothes branded with your logo will help keep your business visible at all times while you and your potential customers hunt for Pokémon. Ask staff if they would be interested in coming along with you (in branded clothes), you might be surprised by how good the reaction is.
3: Gym Battle Days
If your business location is close to or indeed is a Gym in Pokémon Go, then you have the opportunity to host Gym battle days. Advertise a day that you want to run the event and offer prizes or discounts to whichever team is currently winning. To see which team is currently winning, just look at the colour that represents the Gym when you open up the Pokémon Go game.
Make the most out of Pokémon Go for your Cork business by laying down lures if you are near a Poké-Stop, hosting family friendly Pokémon hunt events and hosting Gym battle days if you are closer to a Gym.