I’ve never seen anything catch fire as quickly as Pokemon Go! Everywhere I’ve been for the last few days there are people running around playing it. There are key lessons we can learn from the success of this augmented reality game that we could apply to the marketing world:

#1) Offline + Online = Win. The game wouldn’t have been this viral if it was only digital. Since it involves real world activity it became more contagious. Your marketing needs offline promotions in the REAL world to help supplement your digital strategy. The combination makes it more shareable with others.

#2) People like belonging + identifying. In Pokemon Go players are divided into teams. For example; I saw a video where someone made a sign for “Yellow Team!” so that they could congregate. What sort of offline promotions, or partnerships, can you create that would make individuals identify and belong to a tribe? What sort of statement does that make about your brand since it is associated?

#3) The market may surprise you. Nintendo sparingly mentioned Pokemon Go when talking about its mobile future recently. Surprisingly, this may have been just a niche licensed product that they didn’t expect to be a mega-hit. Are you making hidden assumptions about a product or service offering you have that can also be contagious and shareable? I have a feeling you might! 

Pokemon Go copy