The Pokemon GO Fever: How Businesses Capitalized on the Poke Craze

Pokemon GO, a mobile game based on the worldwide hit cartoon of the same name, has soared to exceptional heights a mere few days after its release. The game works by using your phone's real-world location via GPS tracking, as well as augmented reality technology to make it seem like there actually are Pokemon lurking around near you. The goal is to go out, explore and catch these creatures, whose locations are scattered everywhere in the real world.

A restaurant offers an exclusive promo to Pokemon GO players.

As players of all ages - me, included - jumped into the Pokemon GO bandwagon, companies began to recognize the potential boost this could bring to their businesses. By combining an established brand with the wonders of technology (which fulfilled the childhood dream of many to "catch" a Pokemon in the real world), Niantic, Pokemon GO's developer, was able to create both an exciting game and a powerful marketing tool.

In the Philippines, for instance, shopping malls used Pokemon "lure parties" to pull in customers into their establishments. These lure parties made use of an in-game add-on, called the Lure Module, which attracts several Pokemon to an area for a limited number of time. Using a Lure Module inside their places of business, thus, would attract Pokemon players (aka potential customers) who would evidently want to catch more Pokemon to level up. Restaurants, on the other hand, used certain in-game features to offer customers and avid Pokemon GO players discounts and freebies.

Popular Philippine mall chain Ayala advertising a lure drop party to attract customers.

Using the Pokemon GO fever has been a wise move for various businesses, considering that a single lure module only costs a few dollars to purchase in-game. This marketing tool is ingenious in its approach - by utilizing the "pull" of an already popular game, combined with the wide reach of social media, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, to promote its offers, businesses were able to use an inexpensive yet effective marketing tactic to attract more customers to their establishments.