Pokémon Go and its Important Lesson for Real Estate

Pokémon Go, the latest craze sweeping 23 countries has sparked such a massive interest that it has helped Nintendo Co’s stock surge more than 20%, and according to David Ingles of Bloomberg, Nintendo had their best one-day move since 1983. In an unprecedented rate of growth, Pokémon Go has overtaken most well-known mobile apps such as WhatsApp, Instagram and Snapchat in usage time. That is a huge feat! With over 21 million active users, and now the biggest mobile game in U.S. history, it is clear that the company behind the game, Niantic, are on to something.

 

It has even almost matched the daily active users of one of the most prevalent social media platforms, Twitter, in its very short lifespan since the beginning of July 2016.

 

That’s great, but what is it?

For those who do not yet know, Pokémon Go is essentially an interactive cross between google maps and the childhood Pokémon game franchise. The player launches the game and proceeds to walk around and try to find and catch the digital monsters. There are also, PokéStops that appear on landmarks in the area which players can collect items, as well as “Gyms” where you can fight the Pokémon and take over the landmark for your team. You can see their promo video here.

They have even added a dash of Augmented Reality (where you can see digital creations in real life through your camera) where you are able to catch Pokémon literally anywhere in the world. This could mean on your bed, lawn or local restaurant. If you haven’t seen it already, there have been some very funny instances of this.

Get to the lesson bub…

“Ok, ok, so some app just went viral, but what does that mean for me?”

If you’re thinking this, I think you are missing the point. As Sales Professionals in a predominately relationship-based service, our method of communication and connection should always be open and adapting to new trends. Who follows trends? People. Who are our clients? Those same trend-following people. The moral that Pokémon Go teaches us is the importance of finding, adapting and taking advantage of the current trends. Pokémon Go may stay for good, or fade away, but there will always be a “Viral Trend”.

Don’t know what to do? Check out how these agents used the Pokémon Go trend to their advantage.

 

 

The Final Word

I had the fortune to attend Inman Connect in San Francisco this year (thank you Dan and Linda), and one of the major takeaways was the recurring line, “Be ahead of the curve, and don’t be left behind.” Whether we are speaking to technology as a whole, or just the latest trend, we need to recognize that these mass events of interest are a chance for us to connect with others we may have not known, or connected with in the first place. Let’s all have an open mind and stay ahead of the curve, so we won’t be left behind.

 

Article written by James Halpern, Digital Marketing Specialist for the Select Group. He is also currently obsessed with Pokémon Go.