Pokemon Go: Catching Fake Monsters and Making Real Money

If you’ve recently noticed a bunch of people walking into walls, bumping into fellow pedestrians, or roaming the streets in packs wearing baseball caps with noses glued to their mobiles, you’re not alone.

Pokemon Go is swiftly taking over the globe. A whopping 5% of American Android users (roughly 6 million people) have downloaded the GPS-based game and it only launched in the US 6 days ago.

What Is It?
Pokemon Go is an App released by Nintendo that allows users to create an avatar and find Pokemon (fictional creatures that were pretty darn popular in the 90s) in real locations. The game uses GPS and animated versions of real-life maps to walk user avatars through a world filled with Pokestops (locations that give items), Gyms (locations where users can “battle” each other), and “wild” Pokemon (creatures waiting to be “caught”).

The trick to the game is that you have to actually be close to a pokestop, Gym, or “wild” Pokemon in order to interact with it. This is where the GPS connection comes in. If you’re too far away from something, you’ll be unable to interact with it in the game.

How Does This Affect Businesses?
Pokestops and Gyms are supposed to correspond to real-life landmarks and historical or tourist destinations. However, users have noticed that this isn’t always the case. Some Pokestops are pretty arbitrary businesses. And users are so keen to interact with the game that they’re looking up from the app and realizing they’re in a Dairy Queen, cinema, or art gallery.

And maybe they’re now hungry, ready to see a film, or keen to purchase some art.

Half of a sale is getting your consumer in front of the product or service you’re selling. Pokemon Go is making that easier than ever for businesses. Consumers that would normally pass on by this Dairy Queen, for example, are rushing in to grab Pokemon or items at the Pokestop.

How Can Businesses Leverage on the Trend?
Two Words: Lure Modules. There is an item in the app called a “lure module” that makes a 500 meter radius a hot-spot for Pokemon for 30 minutes. If businesses really want to attract the Pokemon Go enthusiasts to their venue, all they need to do is download the game themselves and use lure modules near the premises.

Alternatively, businesses can offer real-life monetary incentives for other users to use lure modules near their venue.

Like these guys:

This is how you do business #PokemonGO pic.twitter.com/2t5c4nGabh

— Phil™ (@philthese) July 10, 2016

And then there’s spreading the word about Pokestops, Gyms, and rare Pokemon that are naturally close to your business.

Like these guys:

I know where I’m eating. #PokemonGO pic.twitter.com/DlGC1jfWJO

— Catch Em All (@CatchthemalI) July 12, 2016

Even libraries are getting in on the action:

Loving the #PokemonGO library ads (even if we have to add a new section on privacy). Who else has one? pic.twitter.com/b0PgbLRLek

— Scott Walter (@slwalter123) July 11, 2016

Finally, A Friendly Reminder to Users:

Don’t break the law as you try to catch ’em all!#pokemongo safely. pic.twitter.com/yuMM68pg1z

— Phoenix Police (@phoenixpolice) July 11, 2016