When Pokémon Go debuted in July, it instantly gathered millions of fans. In just over two months, roughly 500 million people downloaded the mobile game, beating out records set by Candy Crush and Angry Birds. A big part of the attraction for users was the way in which the game incorporated augmented reality to blend the real world with a virtual world. It got millions of people up and outside to play the game, sometimes leading to surprises such as huge crowds gathering together spontaneously.
But, the party may be ending. After being the top-grossing U.S. iPhone app for 74 days, it is now losing the top position to new games. However, estimates are that 1 in 10 smartphone owners are still laying in the U.S., but in Japan the number of players are 1 in 4. The 30-day retention rate is the second best in the Google Play store and it has earned as estimated $500 million in only a few months.
New features allow players to pair up with a Pokémon to earn game currency. There is also a new Apple Watch app along with a wearable device, named Pokémon Go Plus, which lights up and vibrates when the player gets near a Pokestop or a new Pokémon.
The question now facing the company is how to keep the game alive and on social networking.
Group Activities and Discussion Questions:
- Poll students: Who has played Pokémon Go? Who is still playing it?
- Show the Web site and note the product/country updates: http://pokemongo.nianticlabs.com/en/
- For fun, show a video of hundreds of people converging on a park to capture Pokémon: https://youtu.be/p-XnTDcQZjY
- Discuss the stages in the product life cycle. What are the marketing objectives in each stage?
- Where does Pokémon Go fit in the product life cycle? Why?
- Divide students into teams. Have each team draw a product life cycle and place various other gaming products and services into each stage.
- Next, have students brainstorm on how to reposition or revise Pokémon Go so that they can move into an earlier stage of the life cycle.
Source: Associated Press
