Barely a week after its launch, Pokémon Go is already a worldwide hype. The app hasn´t even come out in most countries, and yet quite a few enthusiasts scour the streets, looking for virtual Pokémon.
Pokémon what? For those of you who have no clue what's going on and who completely missed out on the hype, we give a short explanation about that which is currently the latest craze. This app cleverly uses GPS and augmented reality. On your portable phone you will get to see a map on which you have to look for virtual creatures with your avatar, to then catch them and later use them to fight with. The nice thing is that this map corresponds with the real world. That means you have to go outside and look in the streets and parks.
Nintendo has stepped on a gold mine. Their stocks are skyrocketing and Pokémon Go dominates all social media giants (Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, …). They are the first who are making augmented reality accessible and popular to a large audience. And it is intensively used!
Companies are seizing the opportunity and are organising events for catching Pokémon in front of/in their shop. Pretty smart, and that after just one week.
Is it applicable in the events industry?
Certainly! Business to B2C, all options are possible. Trade shows are a nice example of this. With a similar app, you could let your attendees interactively look for 'treasures', hidden at the trade show among the stand owners. It's a good way to make the way you organise your hall a lot more interactive, and it makes it so that attendees visit the entire trade show, even the tiniest corners. The stand owners can completely customise and fine-tune this, which gives them a unique experience as well.
The concept is applicable at congresses as well. Networking can be even more fun, and rest assured that there will be many people talking about your interactive congress! Sponsors can give this their own twist and this way their numbers of attendees will skyrocket.
A Pokémon Go influence can also be productive at a team building. Exploring cities, organising treasure hunts or nightly walks: every such activity becomes a lot more exciting!
In other words: a nice piece of gamification. We recommend you to enthusiastically experiment with the app, since it's the future for interactive events. That's a train ride you don't want to miss!
