Pokémon? Catch! - unexpected business opportunities.

The world went crazy. Everyone is catching Pokemon. And that's despite the fact that Pokémon Go, the augmented reality smartphone game, has only been around for a few weeks. Even members of the governments of the leading countries have spoken about this game in one way or another. Indeed, 15 million downloads in 2 days is something. But this is just someone else's success, the success of a Google startup, Niantic. That's just domestic marketers may well use it for their direct goals - increasing sales. After all, Pokémon Go has its own local map that helps Pokémonologists move from one point to another. The map shows all the "evil places" where Pokémon gather. If you are lucky, and your store or office is indicated on the map, then you just need to install a special sign for pokemon hunters, and that's it - a guaranteed influx of customers is guaranteed. The first companies to do so are boasting fabulous attendance!

But what to do if you did not have time to react immediately and are generally far from the gaming industry? There are several steps and they are all very simple.

How can a real business integrate into Pokémon Go?

You need to start by downloading the game. You should know what you have to "work" with. And of course, study the map to understand what objects near you are indicated on the Pokemon habitat map. If the "residence" of Pokémon belongs to you, be sure to hang a sign about it! And think about how to attract visitors with your product. For example, they can be offered to charge their phone and get acquainted with your assortment while the game is “paused”. By the way, some companies have already added the ability to search for business offers by PokeStop filters - this helps those who catch Pokemon not to be distracted from an exciting game even when you go on business.

Invest in the game. While you can't buy ads in Pokémon GO, you can buy Poké Coins, Pokécoins. Yes, for quite real money you buy game currency and use it to activate baits for "wild" Pokémon. Each bait is valid for half an hour. And you can buy them in bulk - for $ 99 14,500 poke-kopecks. Lures are activated in batches, which means that your point will be attractive to Pokemon hunters for a whole 72.5 hours! At night, by the way, they can be turned off. Keep in mind that many of our compatriots have already become fans of pokemonology, but still ahead. After all, as you remember, the game is not even a month old, and it has already made a splash all over the world.

It is logical that soon Nintendo and Niantic will develop a high-quality advertising platform for the game. It is possible that businessmen will sponsor Pokemon habitats or pay for their “place” in the geolocation of an augmented reality game. Whether it will be similar to advertising in search engines or the developers will follow a different model is not yet clear.

But you don't have to wait for specifics. You can evaluate how profitable it is for your business to attract Pokémon hunters right now. Download the game, invest in Poké currency, scatter baits around and wait for Pokémon and Catchers to visit. Just remember that there are no internal analytics in the game, and you will have to independently evaluate the cost and benefits of such investments.