Pokémon Go's Success Explained

UNDERSTAND TODAY. SHAPE TOMORROW.
What is happening, why is it happening and why does it matter
CASE STUDY:
POKÉMON GO
LHBS // CASE STUDY: POKÉMON GO
1

INTRODU
CTION.
Welcome to the next edition of our Case Study Series.
This time, we looked closer into the phenomenon of Pokémon Go.
This report seeks to identify the variety of factors that go into
Pokémon Go’s massive success. Understanding the logics
behind this global phenomenon is key to determining whether
or not this success can be replicated, and if so, at what
opportunity cost.
LHBS is an unconventional strategy firm that helps clients to
better understand today and successfully shape tomorrow. LHBS
has extensive experience & expertise in business development,
brand building and customer experience. The firm works across all
major industries for clients from the FT Global 500, German
Mittelstand and fast growing startups.
http://www.lhbs.com
Adam
Badrawi
Consultant
lhbs.com |
ab@lhbs.com
INTRODUCTION
2
Fabiola
Lewandowska
Consultant
lhbs.com |
fl@lhbs.com

The Pokémon Go phenomenon cannot be ignored. The latest
installment of Satoshi Tajiri’s original creation has been
downloaded over 100 million times worldwide, is the fastest
game to reach the 10 million downloads mark, and has added,
despite recent dips, nearly $12 billion to Nintendo’s market value.
The game, which allows players to virtually find and capture wild
Pokémon interspersed throughout the real-world environment,
has firmly proven the potential of augmented reality products.
Indeed, Pokémon Go players, or “trainers”, are spending more
time on the game than Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter or Instagram.
16% of players spend four hours a day playing the game, 64% of
players are women, and a whopping 43% of players have seen
fitness benefits with an average weight loss of 1.45 kgs.
This chapter will explore the reasons behind Pokémon Go’s
seemingly universal draw before touching on its cultural, societal,
and business impacts.
3
POKÉMON
GO.
WHAT IS HAPPENING // POKÉMON GOLHBS // CASE STUDY: POKÉMON GO

REPORT TITLE // IMPLICATIONS.
Pokémon Go sends zero push
notifications
Pokémon Go does not ask to upload your
address book to find or invite friends
Pokémon Go does not have any (virtual)
social mechanics
Pokémon Go has a shop, but it never asks
you to buy anything
Pokémon Go does not have any concept
of game stamina or fatigue
And finally…Pokémon Go is not stable
and crashes constantly
4
THIS
DESPITE…
WHAT IS HAPPENING // POKÉMON GO
Source: Sara Haider on Medium

UNDERSTAND TODAY. SHAPE TOMORROW. 5
Nostalgia
Thanks to excellent timing, Pokémon Go is likely riding a wave
of 90s nostalgia consumerism.
Social Fulﬁlment
Pokémon Go encourages interacting with and befriending
others. Further, its team structure and emphasis on collection
also feeds into preexisting competitive social dynamics.
Augmented Reality and the Perfect Match
The Pokémon franchise has always been about exploring
unknown environments and using mobile devices.
Neurological Rewards
The design of Pokémon Go’s reward delivery system, coined
with AR factors, guarantees an addicting cocktail of
neurochemical payoffs.
THEN WHAT
MAKES IT
POPULAR?
POPULARITY EXPLAINED // POKÉMON GOLHBS // CASE STUDY: POKÉMON GO

NOSTALGIA.

40 %
60 %
UNDERSTAND TODAY. SHAPE TOMORROW.*Source: 7Source: IGN
In 1998, the Pokémon franchise exploded in
popularity, resulting in a video game series, a TV
show, a trading card game and more. 
 
The original fanbase are now in their twenties and
thirties and are highly susceptible to
90’s nostalgia consumerism.

40 %
60 %
UNDERSTAND TODAY. SHAPE TOMORROW.*Source: 8Source: CBC, IGN, Eurogamer
Indeed, most Pokémon Go players are in their 20s
and 30s, leading some to claim that the game is
built on a “wobbly foundation of nostalgia”.
Dr. Clay Routledge: “…there is good reason to
suspect that gaming-related nostalgia is made all
the more potent because the experience of gaming
is so immersive”

40 %
60 %
UNDERSTAND TODAY. SHAPE TOMORROW.*Source: 9Source: Gamespot
The developers of Pokémon Go, Niantic Labs, ﬁrst
developed an extremely similar game known as
Ingress. 
 
The location mapping from Pokémon Go is
partially lifted from Ingress. Ingress, however, has
a user base of less than a million. Perhaps this
disparity shows the importance of nostalgia-
induced brand loyalty.

40 %
60 %
UNDERSTAND TODAY. SHAPE TOMORROW.*Source: 10Source: Tech First Post, Al-Monitor
 
However, with 35% of players having reported
never previously playing Pokémon games or cards
prior to this app, nostalgia can only explain part of the
greater picture.
Further still, Pokémon Go is seeing popularity in
places where the franchise hadn't previously
branched out, such as Turkey, a country that banned
the TV show in 2000.

40 %
60 %
UNDERSTAND TODAY. SHAPE TOMORROW.*Source: 11Source: Tech First Post
Nostalgia can perhaps explain why many players pick up the
game, but it doesn't explain the user retention rate.
7 out of 10 people who try Pokémon Go return to it the
next day. For other popular mobile games, this number
usually is 3 out of 10.
Pokémon Go players are returning to play the game at
unprecedented levels. There must be more to the story.

SOCIAL
FULFILLMENT.

40 %
60 %
UNDERSTAND TODAY. SHAPE TOMORROW.*Source: 13Source: IGN
Pokémon Go allows players to meet new people and
actively encourages them to work together to
succeed.
“Lures” can be dropped by players to attract Pokémon
to a certain area. Other players tend to gravitate
towards these areas, as more than one player can
capture the same discovered Pokémon.

40 %
60 %
UNDERSTAND TODAY. SHAPE TOMORROW.*Source: 14Source: CBC
Further, a huge part of Pokémon Go’s appeal is the ability to
participate in the larger cultural movement surrounding it.
 
The ability to screenshot various Pokémon in humorous
situations or places actively encourages sharing.
Massive communities on Twitter and Reddit have already
formed and developed several memes and in-jokes.
 
The three teams that players join in-game have resulted in
genuinely competitive rivalries with organized efforts to
capture territories in the form of “gyms”.

40 %
60 %
UNDERSTAND TODAY. SHAPE TOMORROW.*Source: 15Source: Forbes
Pokémon Go also plays into the human need to compare
oneself to one’s peers.
It’s not about “catching them all”.
Professor Russell Belk:
Collecting Pokémon is a form of “Taxonomic” collecting.
This type of desire to collect isn’t driven by a need to
complete a collection.
“You’re not striving for that closure as much as striving for
bigger and better collections,” he says. “That implies some
social comparisons — that your collection is in some
sense better than theirs.”

AUGMENTED
REALITY AND
THE PERFECT
MATCH.

40 %
60 %
UNDERSTAND TODAY. SHAPE TOMORROW.*Source: 17Source: Vox
The mix of a game and the real world interacting is
known as “augmented reality”.
Augmented reality offers an escape from the dullness
of day to day life.
A simple walk down the street becomes a mission, a
park becomes a battleﬁeld, a stranger becomes an
friend or an enemy, etc.

40 %
60 %
UNDERSTAND TODAY. SHAPE TOMORROW.*Source: 18Source: Phys, Vox
Augmented reality is a perfect match with the Pokémon
franchise.
“Pokémon is uniquely suited to the mechanics available to
an AR game like Pokémon Go, since it’s always literally been
a game about wandering a world and collecting things
found in random locations with pocket -devices.”
 
“Pokémon Go fulﬁls a fantasy Pokémon fans have
had since the games ﬁrst came out: what if Pokémon
were real and inhabited our world?”

NEUROLOGICAL
REWARDS.

40 %
60 %
UNDERSTAND TODAY. SHAPE TOMORROW.*Source: 20Source: LA Mag
“Pokémon Go is hijacking your brain’s reward systems.
You know, those little neuron groups that make you
experience pleasure and positive reinforcement?”
“Pokémon Go players have quit their jobs, broken into
homes, and fallen off cliffs while trying to catch the elusive
animated creatures on the augmented reality game.”

40 %
60 %
UNDERSTAND TODAY. SHAPE TOMORROW.*Source: 21Source: NCBI
UNPREDICTABLE PAYOFFS
Like gambling, Pokémon Go relies, to a degree, on random
reinforcement conditioning. Users cannot perfectly
predict when and where a Pokémon will appear. Users get a
small dose of happiness each time their phones vibrate.
 
Study: Dopamine release “seems to reﬂect the
unpredictability of reward delivery rather than reward
per se”. The motivation to gamble or play video games “is
strongly determined by the inability to predict reward
occurrence”.

40 %
60 %
UNDERSTAND TODAY. SHAPE TOMORROW.*Source: 22Source: Motivations Game, Mobify
COMPULSION LOOPS & ENDORPHINS
Compulsion Loop: “A habitual, designed chain of activities
that will be repeated to gain a neurochemical reward: a
feeling of pleasure and/or a relief from pain”.
 
In games, the compulsion loop usually relies on a mix of
anticipation, action, and reward.

40 %
60 %
UNDERSTAND TODAY. SHAPE TOMORROW.*Source: 23Source: Motivations Game, Mobify
COMPULSION LOOPS & ENDORPHINS
Pokémon Go’s Compulsion Loop comprises three stages,
each of which enhances the next. Players are driven to
keep improving thanks to hits of endorphins that come with
video game achievements. 
1. Collect items needed to catch Pokémon
2. Collect Pokémon
3. Level up Pokémon

40 %
60 %
UNDERSTAND TODAY. SHAPE TOMORROW.*Source: 24
THE AR COCKTAIL
Players aren't just getting neurochemical hits from
randomly appearing, chain linked, video game
achievements.
The augmented reality aspect of Pokémon Go gives users
an additional “double hit of the good stuff”, as both
exercise and social interaction can increase endorphin
levels.
Source: Mobify

40 %
60 %
UNDERSTAND TODAY. SHAPE TOMORROW.*Source: 25Source: LA Mag
THE AR COCKTAIL
AR integration may increase the potential for stimulation
and addiction.
Theory of Embodied Cognition: we process and
understand things not just with our brains, but with our
bodies and environments.
Dr. Barenholtz: I think you’re going to buy [into illusions]…
more deeply now, so that should make the reward that
much more compelling and that much more addictive.”

IMPLICATIONS.
One Nostalgia is a massively important
but is likely not linked to user retention
Two Social interaction and comparison
fuels competition and a desire to
continue collecting and playing
Three Pokémon’s concept meshes
perfectly with augmented reality, which
keeps the experience relatively seamless
Four The game’s random reinforcement
mechanism is highly addictive, and
augmented reality likely makes the effects
more powerful
26

REPORT TITLE // IMPLICATIONS.
HOW ARE
PEOPLE
RIDING THE
WAVE?
One Small businesses are using Pokéstops to
draw customers to their locations
Two Larger franchises are clamoring for
sponsorships
Three Many businesses are offering incentives
that improve the gaming experience
Four Many parties are trying to use Pokémon
Go-themed content on social media
Five Several third-parties are producing
products that augment the gaming experience
Six Companies are organizing trips and events
using Pokémon Go
27
SIGNS // POKÉMON GOLHBS // CASE STUDY: POKÉMON GO

Small Businesses Use
Pokéstops like “Lures”
and “Gyms”
Drawing new customer bases to locations
Explore Sign
“Lure modules”, which can be purchased and dropped
at speciﬁc places on GPS maps, and “gyms”, which are
permanent locations where trainers can do battle,
attract hordes of Pokémon and players trying to both
catch and battle Pokémon.  
 
For the cost of $1.19/hr, L’inizio Pizza Bar in New
York City has increased business by 75% thanks to
the placement of day-long lures on their property. 
 
Some food trucks have also reported seeing a 7,000%
increase in business when they’ve placed lures on
their location or operated near a Pokémon gym.  

Pokéstop Sponsorships
Sponsored-locations business model for games
Explore Sign
Franchises are clamoring for a streamlined method to
take advantage of Pokéstops.  
 
Niantic recently struck a deal with McDonald’s Japan,
making all 3,000 Japanese locations into “gyms”. The
market responded well, rewarding the Japanese arm
with a 23% jump in its share price, the biggest daily
gain since 2001.
Niantic is already talking with several other
companies interested in similar sponsorships.

Incentive Offers
Extra services offered by major companies
Explore Sign
Companies are trying to offer things that Pokémon
Go players “need”.
Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank, has begun offering
free injury insurance to Pokémon Go players. All
players have to do is provide their nickname and
mobile phone number. 
 
Telecommunications giant T-Mobile is offering
unlimited data for the Pokémon Go app, as well as a
competition for a free Pokémon “hunting” trip
anywhere in the world. 

Social Media Content
Pokémon Go-themed content on social media
Explore Sign
Brands have attempted to leverage the popularity of
the game within the social media space.
Research indicates that in terms of volume, tech,
retail, travel and restaurant brands have been
pushing out the most content on social media, but
the ones garnering the most engagements are sports
teams. 
 
Political and social movements have also attempted
to capitalize on the game’s popularity. American
presidential candidate Donald Trump released a
parody video of a player “capturing” his political
opponent. Syrian artists have juxtaposed images of
suffering war victims with sad-looking Pokémon. 

Third Party Products
Thematic products enhancing the experience
Explore Sign, Explore Sign
Companies are scrambling to make products that
augment the Pokémon Go experience.  
 
Tech brand TRNDlabs were quick to spot the
popularity of the game, and created miniature drones
that players could use to access Pokémon in difﬁcult
places.  
 
London-based design studio RamzanVong has
created a portable USB charger inside a Pokéball that
allows users to extend their playtime.
Designers at agency R/GA Portland have launched a
project that crowdsources Pokémon shoe designs
using NikeID.
Restaurant review aggregator Yelp has added a ﬁlter
to its mobile app to show which restaurants have
Pokéstops nearby.

Co-opting Adventure
Pokémon events
Explore Sign
Big brands and small businesses are planning journeys
and branded treasure hunts in order to excite players
and maximize the “relevant and cool” image.
For example, Comic-Con recently held a Pokémon Go
bar crawl, while the Chargers NFL Football team
recently held a Pokémon Go meet-up at their home
stadium.
In Denver, Colorado, a simple Pokémon Go bar crawl
Facebook event among friends grew into a several
thousand person event, which eventually led to the
formation of The Very Best Crawl company.
Marriott Hotels is sponsoring one lucky winner with a
paid trip around the world so that he may collect the
rarest Pokémon.

NYC’s Pokémons
Captured in a Music
Video
Re-purposing the Pokémon “craze” into something
interesting and new
Explore Sign
Okay Kaya is one of the New Yorkers trying to get the
Poké-population off the streets and captured the
creatures in her video for "Keep on Pushin" song.
"So goes the narrative for the “Keep On Pushin'” video
—we follow Kaya across New York’s crosswalks and
under its bridges as she sings alongside all manner of
beasts."

IMPLICATION // POKÉMON GO
IMPLICATIONS 
What some of the companies and businesses are currently
doing is successfully integrating themselves within the social
movement of the Pokémon game.
How might you cleverly re-imagine the fundamental concept
of the game to make a new kind of social and shareable content
that your audience would be interested in?
How might you use it to advertise your brand in a non-cliché
way?

IMPLICATION 
Pokémon Go has mastered the way by which players are
induced to return to the game and continually engage with it.
How might you make sure you keep your content narrative
challenging and rewarding?
How might you make experience with your content emotional
and memorable?

IMPLICATION 
By its nature, Pokémon Go allows players to design and deﬁne
the way they use the game according to what they want and
need at the time.
No matter how immersed and on which level the player is,
there is always a way to succeed and attain satisfaction with
the outcomes of the game.
How might you make sure your audience can make their own
story out of the content you give them, and also at their own
pace?

IMPLICATION 
Pokémon Go has proved that the concept of augmented (or
even mixed) reality is a powerful tool when used together with
solid design and interesting reward systems.
The AR experience Pokémon is providing to their players is just
a start of how we can seamlessly “embed” digital into real-
world environments. How might you take this on further?

LHBS Put the Title of the Report here
HUB.
The LHBS Inspiration-Hub systematically tracks changes in
culture, markets and technology.
It is a digital platform that brings customized insights and
inspiration to the heart of your organisation.
http://www.inspiration-hub.com
ABOUT
INSPIRA
TION-HUB.

Discover Define Develop Deliver
We are an unconventional strategy firm that helps clients to
better understand today and successfully shape tomorrow. LHBS
has extensive experience & expertise in business development,
brand building and customer experience. The firm works across all
major industries for clients from the FT Global 500, German
Mittelstand and fast growing startups.
http://www.lhbs.com
ABOUT
ABOUT
LHBS.

IMPRINT
Die in dieser Präsentation dokumentierten Gedanken und Vorschläge sind geistiges Eigentum der  
LHBS Consulting Berlin GmbH und unterliegen den geltenden Urhebergesetzen. Die unauthorisierte Nutzung,  
die ganze oder teilweise Vervielfältigung sowie jede Weitergabe an Dritte ist nicht gestattet.
LHBS Consulting Berlin GmbH
Köpenicker Straße 154
10997 Berlin Germany
www.lhbs.com
THANK YOU
41

Pokémon Go's Success Explained

Empfohlen

Empfohlen

Weitere ähnliche Inhalte

Was ist angesagt?

Was ist angesagt? (20)

Ähnlich wie Pokémon Go's Success Explained

Ähnlich wie Pokémon Go's Success Explained (20)

Mehr von LHBS

Mehr von LHBS (20)

Kürzlich hochgeladen

Kürzlich hochgeladen (20)

Pokémon Go's Success Explained