No doubt by now most of us been caught by the Pokémon GO fever. People run or walk around to try to catch a rare character with their Smart Phones.
It is not unique in itself that games are popular. From the early PC games like Pong up to Mobile Games like Candy Crush we all played a game in some way.
Pokémon itself is not new the first Pokémon games, Pokémon Red and Green Versions, came to the Nintendo Game Boy system in Japan on February 27, 1996, which was the fulfillment of Satoshi Tajiri’s dream and allowed people of all ages to catch, train and trade 151 creatures and become a Pokémon Master. We had kids in our house that played these games over the years, and I am sure I will find both some of the games and trading cards laying around here.
The difference with Pokémon GO is that it takes advantage of augmented reality technology. Augmented reality is a live direct or indirect view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented (or supplemented) by computer-generated sensory input such as sound, video, graphics or GPS data. It is related to a more general concept called mediated reality, in which a view of reality is modified (possibly even diminished rather than augmented) by a computer. As a result, the technology functions by enhancing one’s current perception of reality.
It is no doubt this is a fun game, and it has got people to move around in large crowds. But one trend I have observed is that many business professionals and now Hoteliers have started to promote this trend as a sustainable business strategy.
A game is defined as a form of play or sport, especially a competitive one played according to rules and decided by skill, strength, or luck.
Let me repeat some of the primary findings I had from a survey I did about Social Media where several Hotels indicated their primary challenges was time, resources and cost.
Why should Hotels then focus on strategies that are built around a game? How likely is it that someone that came to your Hotel to catch Pikachu will make a new reservation at the Hotel to come back and catch Zapdos? Or tell their friends and family to check out the Hotel if they want to catch Pikachu?
I will say this I believe augmented reality will play an important role in the future of the Hotel Industry. When this new technology is implemented in a game it becomes a distraction that takes our eyes away from more important strategies.
As this technology evolve and improve there are some huge potentials for Hotels to add new values to the customer experience.
A strategy that focuses on a temporary hot mobile game might create a temporary spike in visitors at your Hotel. Will these visitors represent your Hotels demographics and targeted market segments? And will they just visit your Hotel temporary to catch a fantasy character? Will they come back?
I don’t know what the revenue per Pikachu caught at any given Hotels will relate to, but I know Nintendo will smile to the bank.
And I have no problem admitting that I play Pokémon GO myself, but if you ask me where I caught the different characters I would have a challenge sharing this info.
The kids became Pokémon Master, joined a team, and captured all the interesting characters. Now they are onto a new game. It will pass faster than the interest for capturing Foursquare swags.
Make a shift towards focus on the Micro-moments
Throughout the day in hundreds of micro-moments, people count on their mobile devices for information and inspiration. These I-want-to-know, I-want-to-go, I-want-to-buy, and I-want-to-do moments are big opportunities for your brand to win people over and influence their purchases and preferences. Explore this collection to understand the basics of what micro-moments are, why they matter, and how to think about winning four critical types.
Expect the micro-moment for your Hotels targeted market, and commit to being there to help. When you install the micro-moments then you can identify unique ways to use temporary trends like Pokémon GO.
This is the moment where you finally can make an impact on new and renewed customers. Learn how you can start to make a new shift today below here.
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About the author
Are Morch is the founder and owner of Are Morch – Hotel Marketing Coach. Get more from Are on Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn | Pinterest | Instagram| Podcast