There is a new craze out there and it’s name is Pokemon GO. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram newsfeeds are filled with people posting screen shots, memes, and stories. You can drive just about any neighborhood and see people wandering around with phones in hands – often in groups.
In my own playing, I have encountered entire families out with excited kids – excited that their parents are playing with them. I’ve had discussions with teens and college students – even adults in my own age range. There seems to be a spirit of cooperation and friendliness that even goes beyond which “gym” people are playing.
And I’ve also seen the detractors. I keep seeing people (mostly adults) who insist on putting down anyone playing – making fun of them. These people will denigrate the idea that people are getting up and moving – being outside – in a way that implies that doing it to play a game on their phone is somehow less noble than going outside for any other reason. Technology has been trying to make being physically active more interesting for years – treadmills that have a video screen so you can pretend to be somewhere else – games like Dance Dance Revolution to get people moving their feet in a specific pattern – shortly after the video recorder was invented Jazzercise tapes took off. This is just the latest fun way to be active.
A lot of the things I’ve heard about Pokemon GO were the EXACT same things I heard when Instagram first hit the scene. The same thing goes for Snapchat. From a business standpoint, we are told that we should create as complete of a picture of your ideal client as possible – Where do they shop? What social media do they use? What music do they listen to? What TV shows and movies do they watch? What do they do for recreation?
Well, Pokemon GO is what my ideal client is doing for recreation right now. And I speak Pokemon.
