You may have noticed a bunch of young people walking along the sidewalk, watching the screens of their smartphones intently.
It’s likely they were playing an augmented reality game, Pokemon Go, that Apple and Android recently released to their smartphone systems. It’s caught on like wildfire.
The Orlando Business Journal provided this nutshell description of the game:
Pokemon Go is a GPS-based game that allows players to use their phones to track down and “capture” digital Pokemon. They then can train those Pokemon and battle with them at gyms or gather with other players at points in their area called PokeStops.
Here’s a trailer for the game:
Because you have to walk to pick up these digital thingies, the game seems like a mad hybrid of geocaching and Fitbit.
And Pokemon Go turn out to be a fad, but it’s an easily noticeable fad. A guy I know told me he saw about 100 players walking around downtown at 11 p.m. Monday in the small city where I live (population: 30,000).
PokeStops often are found next to historical markers and landmarks. So a business in the main district of Route 66 towns such as Williams, Arizona; Chandler, Oklahoma; Pontiac, Illinois; to name a few, might do well to lure a few of these roaming Pokemon players inside.
Forbes posted a good guide for businesses wanting to cash in on the craze. In addition to being welcoming to Pokemon players and offering discounts on selected items, a business owner can do this:
Pokémon GO has a purchasable in-game item called a “Lure Module” which attracts Pokémon to a particular PokeStop for 30 minutes. Those Pokémon it attracts? They’re visible to and attainable by everyone in the nearby vicinity. Use it during a typically slow period of your day to get more foot traffic, and then use your creativity to turn them into a paying customer.
Alas, there doesn’t seem to be a way for a business or museum to apply to become a PokeStop or gym for the game. But if you bring hospitality, there’s a good chance you’ll become one — PokeStops often are recommended by users.
The game’s creators seem to favor prominent or well-known places to put Pokemon characters. You can bet there’s a PokeStop at the Blue Whale or Standin’ on a Corner Park in Winslow, Arizona.
Setting up a cellphone-charging station with a power strip and several chargers for iPhones and Androids would be a fairly cheap, easy way to bring people in. I don’t play Pokemon, but Geocaching, Google Maps and a run-tracking app I used for a while taught me the degree to which GPS will suck battery power, and unlike caching, the Pokemon game requires players to walk, which means they don’t have the benefit of recharging in the car between stops. With a heat wave going on in many parts of the country, the ol’ Wall Drug trick of luring customers with signs advertising free ice water wouldn’t be a bad idea, either. Put a sign in your window inviting Pokemon players in to cool down, have a drink, maybe use the restroom, and charge their phones, and you’re likely to reap some benefits with a minimal investment.