The Pokemon Go Phenomenon: How businesses can leverage it

In all of my years, I have never encountered a phenomenon like Pokemon Go. It all seemed to happen instantly – one moment we were all at home or sitting in queues playing our silly little games, crushing candy and building virtual cities, and then, suddenly…the Pokemons arrived. And we all flocked outside to catch the most and preferably the most rare Pokemons, to increase our CPs and beat up other Pokemons and Pokemon trainers. A week after the game launched, it seemed like it was more difficult to find people who weren’t playing Pokemon Go, than those who where. Two weeks in, and they are absolutely everywhere. Whenever there’s a large group of people staring at their phones, shouting “I got a new one!” chances are there is a module lure at a Pokestop nearby. In fact, if you go looking for a module lure in a park (any park, from what I’ve noticed), you don’t even need to look on your map to find the lure – just follow the flocks of people, whichever way they might be heading. [clickToTweet tweet="The #PokemonGo phenomenon and how #businesses can leverage it via @LilachBullock" quote="The #PokemonGo phenomenon and how #businesses can leverage it via @LilachBullock"] If you’re passing by someone with a phone in their hand, and assume they are probably texting or replying to some email – just take a closer look. They just caught another damn Pidgey or they’re struggling to catch another Zubat. There’s so many people playing, that people have had to put up notices such as this: There’s never been anything else with such a quick and huge impact. Not Candy Crush, not Angry Birds, not Flappy Bird and not even Facebook. It is such a huge hit, that at one point, there were over 47.3 million people trying to log in at the same time. Every time the game is released in a new country, their servers go down. Within hours of the launch in Canada, their servers were already at capacity. [clickToTweet tweet="The #PokemonGo phenomenon and how #businesses can leverage it via @LilachBullock" quote="The #PokemonGo phenomenon and how #businesses can leverage it via @LilachBullock"] I realize as I am writing this that it is almost impossible to put into words or even numbers how big this game is. The only way to truly understand its impact, is to get out of the house and look around. I’m sure not even the creators, Niantic Labs, expected even close to this type of success. They couldn’t predict that people would actually quit their jobs in order to become full-time Pokemon trainers (Yup, that really happened!), or that people would be so absorbed in the game that they would fall off cliffs. Pokemon Go is so popular, so engrossing, that even the biggest celebrities can play undisturbed. In fact, just a few days ago, Justin Bieber was walking around New York playing Pokemon Go among crowds of people, and nobody recognised him - because everyone was too busy looking at their own phones, searching for Pokemons. It’s an almost perfect game (aside from its technical issues) – you can play it constantly, but you can also pause it for as long as you like. It gets you out of the house, in fact it makes you want to walk everywhere so you can find as many Pokemons as possible, and so you can hatch your eggs. It also makes you stare at your phone for hours at a time, while you can also meet dozens of people everyday, and start talking to them instantly like you’ve been friends since childhood. If you want to make some new friends, just pick a Pokestop, turn on a module lure, and wait for people to come to you. Because they definitely will! When my daughter got the game and excitedly told me about it, I didn’t really get it. Days later, if not the next day, we were already going together on Pokemon hunting expeditions. Of course, as with every big cultural phenomenon, haters will pop up. Usually the bigger it is, the more haters there will be. Now, it will be interesting to see how long this will last, and if it will disappear as suddenly as it appeared. Until that happens though, there’s a lot of game to catch. Can businesses leverage it, though? Not only that they can, but they already are. From phone walkers that will walk your phone to hatch your eggs, to big businesses doing Pokemon Go promotions, and Pokemon Go-related startups, everyone is trying to use the game to their advantage. And probably so they can play while they work. While businesses can already leverage Pokemon Go, as the game evolves, and more updates are made, as well as deals with companies such as McDonalds (which seems like a sure thing), I’m positive there will be even more possibilities for sponsored Pokestops, in game location-based advertising, and much, much more. [clickToTweet tweet="The #PokemonGo phenomenon and how #businesses can leverage it via @LilachBullock" quote="The #PokemonGo phenomenon and how #businesses can leverage it via @LilachBullock"] One of the first startups to pop up in Europe is Pokemondo that basically helps you “get bounties for luring Pokemons to businesses all over the world.” The concept is very simple, and already gaining a lot of ground. All you have to do as a business is send the lure bounties to Pokemondo, who then send them to any Pokemon trainers nearby who have signed up. These trainers will then lure Pokemons to the physical location of the business, which means advertising, more clients and more sales. Pokemondo claim that most businesses get a 20% increase in sales, and some of them as much as 75%. You can also lure people yourself to your business. Pokestops are almost everywhere so you probably have one near your business location, and with a few strategic lures, you’ll get an increase in traffic that can lead to mare sales. Another idea is to set up Pokemon Go competitions. For example, you can start a lure, and announce on social media that the first people to catch a Pokemon at your location will receive a free voucher. Or, perhaps, the first few to catch a rare Pokemon will get a special prize. [clickToTweet tweet="The #PokemonGo phenomenon and how #businesses can leverage it via @LilachBullock" quote="The #PokemonGo phenomenon and how #businesses can leverage it via @LilachBullock"] Pokemon Go can help businesses increase their sales, as well as their exposure online and offline. And as I mentioned earlier, future updates of the game will probably bring even more possibilities to leverage it. The only losers will probably be Ubers, taxies and public transport – after all why take a taxi when you can hatch an egg and catch a few pokemons? What other ways can businesses use to leverage Pokemon Go? Is Pokemon Go a fad – and how long will it last? Leave your comments below and please share 🙂

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What I Saw When I Walked Into a Lure-Activated Cafe in Manchester Last Summer

I want to give you a real example rather than the theoretical advice most articles repeat. In July 2016, during the peak of the Pokemon Go craze, I visited a small independent coffee shop in the Northern Quarter in Manchester that had placed a Lure Module on a nearby PokeStop. The owner, Sarah, told me she spent 100 pence per hour on Lures, running them continuously from 11am to 3pm on weekdays. Her footfall during those four hours increased by roughly 40% compared to the same period the previous week. She had a small A-board outside that simply read: "Pokemon trainer? Come in, charge your phone, grab a coffee." That single sign cost her nothing. The Lures cost her less than 20 pounds for an entire week of lunchtime activation. She told me her average transaction value during that period was 3.80 pounds. The maths were not complicated.

What Sarah did brilliantly, and what almost no business advice article mentions, is that she tied the in-store experience to the game without being condescending about it. She printed a small laminated card for each table that listed the nearest PokeStops within a five-minute walk, which gyms were nearby, and roughly what types of Pokemon had been spotted in the area that week. She updated it every few days. Players felt welcomed and informed rather than cynically targeted. Several came back the following day specifically because of that card.

The practical steps she followed are worth spelling out clearly:

• Purchase Lure Modules in bulk from the in-game shop (eight Lures cost 680 PokeCoins, which at the time was roughly six pounds, making each Lure under 80 pence).
• Activate them only during your slowest trading hours, not your busiest ones, so the additional footfall does not overwhelm your staff.
• Create a physical reason for people to come inside rather than simply standing outside catching Pokemon on the pavement.
• Offer a small, low-cost incentive such as a free biscuit with a hot drink, specifically mentioning Pokemon Go on any signage, so you can track whether the campaign is working.
• Tell your staff what you are doing and why, because a confused or dismissive employee at the counter will undo everything instantly.

One honest caution I would give here: this only works if your business is physically close to an actual PokeStop or Gym. If you are not, placing a Lure draws players to a location that is not your premises, and you see none of the benefit. Before spending a single penny, open the game, walk around your immediate area, and check whether you are within roughly 40 metres of a PokeStop. If you are not, the Lure strategy is not your route in. Instead, focus on sponsoring local Pokemon Go community events on Facebook groups, where you offer your venue as a meeting point for organised walks. That costs you nothing but time and can bring in groups of 15 to 30 people who will almost certainly buy something.

The broader point is that Pokemon Go rewarded businesses that treated players as intelligent adults who happened to enjoy a game, rather than as a demographic to be herded. Sarah's cafe gained around 60 new regular customers during that six-week window who had never visited before. Not all of them kept playing Pokemon Go. Several of them kept visiting her cafe. That is the actual return on investment worth measuring.

The short version: Pokemon Go took the world by storm and handed businesses a rare, ready-made opportunity to drive real foot traffic without massive ad budgets. Smart businesses used lures, local sponsorships, and in-store promotions tied to the game to turn players into paying customers. The brands that moved fast and stayed creative saw some of the biggest returns from a single app trend in retail history.

Frequently asked questions

How can a small business use Pokemon Go to attract more customers?

Small businesses located near or at a PokeStop can buy lure modules for just a few dollars an hour, drawing players directly to their location. Pairing that with a simple in-store offer, like a discount for anyone who shows the game on their phone, turns curious players into real buyers.

Do businesses have to spend a lot of money to benefit from Pokemon Go?

Not at all. Lure modules cost very little, and much of the benefit comes from social media posts, signage, and word of mouth that costs nothing. The biggest wins have come from businesses that were quick, creative, and willing to lean into the fun of the game.

What type of businesses benefit most from Pokemon Go marketing?

Restaurants, cafes, retail shops, and any brick-and-mortar business that relies on foot traffic stand to gain the most, especially those already sitting near a PokeStop or Gym in the game.

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