Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Catch 'em ... Quick! Using Pokemon Go at your event

Gotta Catch 'Em All!
-Pokemon

It's taking the world by storm and now and you chance! The 6-day-old Pokemon Go strategy should be swiftly introduced to your event plans immediately... you never know how long it will last!

Okay, that might not be true or relevant to your event in any way, but let's get creative for a second and talk about how you might ride the coattails of this phenomenon at your event.

What is Pokemon Go?
Pokemon Go is an augmented reality game you play on your cell phone or tablet in which your GPS checks your surroundings and you are notified that a Pokemon is nearby. You point your device at it, and you throw a little virtual ball at it to catch it. It's like geocaching, but for Pokemon.

How can you use it at events?

Lure
There is a feature in Pokemon Go called a Lure Module. You purchase a lure and the likelihood of a Pokemon appearing there goes up. Yes, there's some bad press already about robberies and kidnappings from Luring kids to a Pokemon, but in the B2B and B2C world, you can purchase a Lure for your PokeStop (tradeshow booth or activation) and draw players over to you to catch them!

Build a Team
Invite attendees to join your Gym at your booth or activation. You'll have an entire army of devoted attendees playing with you throughout the event!

Run a Pokemon Pub Crawl
Whether it's an actual afterparty pub crawl, or an expo hall booth crawl, you can use Lures and PokeStops to get people to visit all of the places you want them to visit!

The Ultimate Booth Swag
iTunes or GooglePlay gift certificates will be sought-after event prizes now that people are using in-app purchases for more PokeCoins! But of course, anything themed Pokemon is going to be a huge hit with the crowd (be sure to get officially licensed merchandise, of course).

So get creative and share how YOU might use Pokemon Go at your next event.... and PLEASE share your metrics! The #eventprof world wants to know if it works!