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Viveat Susan Pinto, Business\nStandard\n<\/i><\/p>\n
Viveat Susan Pinto, Business\nStandard
\n<\/i><\/p>\n
Mumbai, 17 July 2016<\/i><\/p>\n
Viveat Susan Pinto, Business Standard Mumbai, 17 July 2016 A week from now, the fans in this city of Pok\ufffdmon GO, the augmented reality (AR) mobile game, propose to converge at Churchgate, at the southern end, for a ‘Pokewalk’. The idea, according to die-hard fans, including children and college-going youth, is to “together” hunt down […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-quotes"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"..\/images\/pokemon-go.jpg\")
A\nweek from now, the fans in this city of Pok\ufffdmon GO, the augmented\nreality (AR) mobile game, propose to converge at Churchgate, at the\nsouthern end, for a ‘Pokewalk’.
The idea, according to die-hard\nfans, including children and college-going youth, is to “together” hunt\ndown Pok\ufffdmons, basically virtual creatures hiding in public places.\nThese creatures then help the users continue with the game.
As\nthe craze for Pok\ufffdmon GO grows worldwide — it is already the largest\nmobile game in the US within 12 days of launch — it has opened a\nplethora of branding options. The biggest, explains Anjali Hegde, chief\nexecutive officer, Ansible Mobile, the mobile marketing arm of IPG\nMediabrands, is for retailers.
“Bars, pubs and pizza joints in\nthe US that fall within the digital map of the game are giving special\noffers and discounts for Pok\ufffdmon GO fans to drive footfalls. Many of\nthem are seeing sales improve, as a result,” she says.
Indian\nretailers, especially the global quick-service restaurants and cafe\nchains, are watching the space closely. Ravi Jaipuria, chairman of\nGurgaon-headquartered RJ Corp — whose group company, Devyani\nInternational, is a franchisee of international brands such as Pizza\nHut, KFC and Costa Coffee — says interest among Indian retailers is\nhigh. “The game hasn’t been officially launched in India, so many are\nin wait-and- watch mode. But, if it can help drive footfalls, retailers\nwill come on board,” he says.
Riyaaz Amlani, restaurateur and\nmanaging director of Mumbai-based Impresario Entertainment &\nHospitality, says he’d be keen to know if his joints — Smoke House\nDeli, Mocha, Salt Water Caf\ufffd, etc — fall within the digital map\nof the game. “I think most retailers and restaurateurs, especially in\nthe big Indian cities where the game has already become a rage without\neven officially launching, will be ascertaining how they can tap into\nthis phenomenon in some way. I am already doing it,” he says.
Jasper\nReid, director at Sierra Nevada Restaurants, which brought the US\nburger chain Wendy’s and celebrity chef Jamie Oliver’s restaurant\nbrand, Jamie’s Pizzeria, to this country, says the company only last\nweek ran ads on Facebook, inviting Pok\ufffdmon GO fans to sample its\noffering at a new outlet it was opening in Mumbai.
“I expect\nmore of these marketing and promotion activities by retailers,” Reid\nsays over telephone from Delhi. “The fact that people are stepping out\nto find Pok\ufffdmons opens branding options not only for those retailers\nwho fall within the digital map of the game but also for those in the\nvicinity. So, if a certain spot like, say, a school, temple or park is\na PokeStop, a place where you can find Pok\ufffdmons, food & beverge\njoints in the vicinity are likely to benefit if they are able to market\nthemselves well to this audience. We tried doing that last week,” he\nsays.
Experts, however, caution of the health risks attached due\nto excessive usage, including the danger of road accidents and fans\nbecoming addicted to the game.
“At\nthis stage, the engagement level is high,” says Devangshu Dutta, chief\nexecutive, Third Eyesight, adding, “This is typical of games that\nbecome an overnight sensation. Over time though, this will plateau,\ngiving stakeholders a chance to objectively evaluate their prospects.”<\/span>
What\nmost don’t deny, though, is that Pok\ufffdmon GO has driven significant\ninterest among Indian advertisers for AR, a technology that has been\nused in a limited way in the country so far.
“I find clients\nnow more open to the idea of augmented reality and what it can do,”\nsays Ashish Bhasin, chairman & chief executive officer, South\nAsia, Dentsu Aegis Network.
He further added, “While it\nremains an expensive exercise, AR and robotics will get cheaper with\nthe evolution of technology, challenging conventional forms of\ncommunication. Markets such as Japan, the US and UK are already seeing\nusage of AR in out-of-home media, with good results.”
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\n<\/span>(Published\nin Business Standard<\/span><\/a>)<\/i>\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"