The other day I came across a meme on Pokemon Go, and burst into a hysteric laughter. It read “2006: In 10 years, we will cure cancer, populate the moon, and will achieve world peace. 2016: Don’t Pokemon and drive.” While the meme was undoubtedly funny, but I would still say that we can learn considerably from Pokemon Go.
Don’t be shocked, tag along and I’ll explain why.
Look around you. The game has taken the world by storm, and to be honest, it really doesn’t depend on how educated you are, or what fancy degree you boast of. Regardless of any limitations, Pokemon Go has emerged as the biggest development to transform the world in 2016.
So, why exactly has Pokemon Go done to hook almost every human on the planet? The simplest of the answers is that it has played by the rules of customer engagement that dominate the world as we know it, in present times.
We have enlisted the top 5 lessons in customer engagement that any brand can learn from the game.
1. Create an Engaging Experience on the Smartphone
The entire world revolves around the smartphone these days. This can be substantiated with the fact that 87% of adults in US own a smartphone. Great smartphone presence is a must for any product that hopes to make it to the big league, and no one has realised this better than Pokemon Go. The important lesson here is to build a customer experience on the smartphone that can be accessed by anyone on the move, from anywhere. Also, it must be said that the game was launched on both iOS and Android platforms simultaneously, thereby exposing a greater number of audience, and widening its horizon from the first day. Another factor that has aided in its massive success is that it uses most of a smartphone’s built in capabilities like camera, GPS, and mapping system.
2. Adopt Omnichannel Customer Experience in the Best Manner
Pokemon Go has utilised the Omnichannel customer experience in the best possible manner by effectively bridging the gap of the virtual and the physical world. It makes optimum use of the smartphone by integrating social sharing built in extensions and plug-ins. Omnichannel translates into one seamless experience across all mediums. This game has made people move from one PokeStop to another, and go to multiple stores to catch hold of a Poke Monster. This also means that any business can pay Niantic (parent company of Pokemon Go), and make their spot a PokeStop, thereby drawing footfalls, and ultimately increasing sales. And this process has already begun – Pizza store Long Island has observed a 75% increase in daily sales, after it paid to become a PokeStop.
3. Virtual Reality plays a Crucial Part
People are heavily dependent to technology and therefore, their attention span has reduced drastically. Mediocre customer experiences easily add to their frustration, or make them defect to a competitor. Pokemon Go has provided users with a very real time experience by adding virtual or augmented reality to its interface. The game puts together Poke monsters on top of various objects and thereby, provides us a glimpse in to the future and as to how virtual reality can create overwhelming customer engagement. Thus, brands should jump into the virtual reality bandwagon, before it becomes commonplace.
4. Customizable Content is the Way Ahead
To make your business a grand success, you have to offer customers with incredible freedom to create experiences of their own. This means that your customers should have the liberty to create customizable content and elastic configurations. This way you will be able to keep them coming back for more. Pokemon Go has realised this and it lets its users choose to personalise their avatar, name their own Pokemons, and join a team. Thus, allowing customers to stay devoted in the game by creating something of their own.
