Pokemon Go Monetization: One Size Doesn't Fit All | TechTree.com

Pokemon Go Monetization: One Size Doesn't Fit All

While Pokemon Go can get publicity, it might not be the best choice for brands, which don't have a similar youthful image as the game itself.

 

Ever since the Pokemon Go  phenomenon came in July, there has been much ado about it; from different accounts of personal experience to the game becoming a marketing phenomenon and a sporting event, Pokemon Go has indeed been multi-dimensional in its impact. With the marketing impact the game is said to have on local businesses, monetization methods started and a lot of local business did benefit, but if one wants to look at the slightly longer term scheme of things, it may not be the best option to look at to increase customer footfall. It is actually about having the right target customer for whom something like a Pokemon Go would make a difference.

To go deeper, one has to look into the image of the game, which is youthful and fun, and would perhaps go well with something like a new local fast-food joint. In this case, the businesses would benefit from having the location with Pokemon Go, either for cashless transactions, or giving the customers a distraction while they wait for their orders to be delivered to them. Or perhaps something like the Mobimon Go, which is about using the same platform, but as a cashless mobile payment utility as well. But change this to another brand, something like a local bank; while it would certainly have more people visiting the branch, but the core customers might find it not very amusing to see people chasing around virtual gaming characters around the premises of the bank! Hence, it is about matching the brand and core identity of the the business, with the phenomenon of Pokemon gaming, to effectively monetizing it.   

The next perspective is that of the data collection for user data. Since Pokemon Go is a successful application which collects data about the physical whereabouts of users, it is thus a lucrative avenue for businesses to get information about where their customers are and adjust their servicing model accordingly. Also, the makers of Pokemon Go could make a ton a of money from collecting and selling out the data to businesses that could make use of it for furthering their business, but then the game is not the only app which serves that utility. Waze, a real-time traffic app which helps track users in their vehicles, or Foursquare which users use to inform their peers about where they are shopping or dining, or even Facebook for that matter, where users keep posting 'check-ins', that speaks of their locations from time to time.

Pokemon Go can indeed be a success, provided the right mix of customer segmentation and comparison of other apps with similar utilities is done properly, before banking on the Pokemon Go for marketing and monetization. It is, in the end, about finding the 'right fix' for business.


TAGS: Pokemon GO, Pokemon Update

 
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