When Kendall Crosby embedded a jumbo likeness of a metal bolt into the side of his Ace Hardware store on St. Paul’s East Side, he figured his customers would be wild about it.
To the merchant’s disappointment, the visitors tended to overlook the art-like installation more often than not.
But recently, people have been flocking there by the dozens to see the bolt. That’s because the big, galvanized-steel prop is now a Pokestop.
A Pokewhat? Crosby, fifty-something and Internet-clueless, had no idea what this meant until younger and digital-savvy employees clued him in.
Crosby’s store, like many businesses across the nation, is caught up in Pokemon Go fever.
This is the smartphone-based game that is sending millions into their neighborhoods, parks, shopping malls and other physical venues in search of Pokemon characters. These critters are digital constructs, but tied to physical locations, and can be viewed on a phone screen only at that real-life venue.
Players ensnare the creatures using on-screen Poke Balls, and replenish their ammunition supplies at Pokestops. The stops can be anything. The St. Paul Hotel downtown is one such stop. So is a historic medallion embedded in the Robert Street Bridge.
Many a brick-and-mortar merchant has become a Pokestop, as well, which some regard as an annoyance and a liability. Businesses have been known to hang up signs urging Pokemon Go addicts to Go Away, suggesting they catch ‘em all somewhere else.
But Crosby, once he understood what the heck was going on, said he welcomed the attention.
“So now people are seeing the bolt,” he said. “That’s pretty damn cool.”
Rita’s Italian Ice franchises in Eagan and Bloomington have seized on Pokemon Go as a visibility builder. Spokeswoman Angela Ailloni said the players are more than welcome — especially if they end up spending money.
“We love that the game is getting people out and walking — and we’d love to be a stop on their path,” Ailloni noted. “It is a great time to visit us — hot after all the exercise and this toasty warm weather.”
Rita’s Italian Ice even participated in a Pokewalk Pokemon Go Walking challenge, a sort of meet-up sponsored by a nonprofit called This is Geek, which said the event drew 2,000 people to Centennial Lakes Park in Edina earlier this month.
This is Geek treasurer Shanna Hartzell said she heard from a number of local businesses, including a pizza joint and a juice shop, who wanted join in.
They participated “with one common goal in mind — it is about the guest just having fun,” Hertzell said.
A POKEMON PROFIT MOTIVE
There’s certainly also a profit motive, according to social media experts who’ve watched the Pokemon Go phenomenon unfold and are mulling what it all means for businesses and brands.
“From a marketing perspective, Pokemon Go could be a great tool for anyone who needs to draw people to their location,” said David Erickson, vice president of online marketing at the Minneapolis-based public relations agency Karwoski & Courage.
“In this respect, Pokemon Go is a much more engaging version of Foursquare,” the once-popular social app that encouraged its users to “check in” at physical locations, Erickson said.
But, for businesses looking to tap into Pokemon Go, “The trick will be whether (their) marketers are sophisticated enough,” he added. This, he said, partly involves “targeting the right audience with the right offer to convert them into customers” once they come in the door on creature hunts.
This also means having a somewhat intimate knowledge of how Pokemon Go works, Erickson and others said. One important game feature is the “Lure,” which can be dropped at a physical locale to draw Pokemon critters. This, in turn, attracts players.
Greg Swan, vice president of social engagement at the Space150 advertising agency, said he was recently, giddily, dropping Lures at his Minneapolis offices, with good results.
One day, “we averaged people walking by to play every two minutes,” he said. “Two minutes!”
Along these lines, the agency has been advising its clients about Pokemon Go best practices.
“For our clients with a physical footprint (stores, restaurants, entertainment destinations), we are focused on how to use Lures and Pokestops to bring players in,” Swan said. “Consumers are looking at social brands to be culturally aware and active, so it’s been fun to see companies experiment with joining in the fun.”
Chris Lower, co-founder of the Maple Grove-based Sterling Cross public relations agency, said he’s been pushing his clients in the culinary and hospitality industries to give Pokemon Go a look-see.
IS THE GAME A GOOD FIT?
Pokemon Go has been a particularly good fit for wireless carriers since their hardware is used to play the game. T-Mobile recently announced free data for Pokemon play.
Likewise Twin Cities-area Sprint stores are all over the Pokemon trend by offering gratis in-store charging, installing the game on display devices for visitors to try, and sending workers to nearby Pokestops and “Gyms” (virtual arenas for Pokemon tournaments) to offer battery power-ups while, of course, hawking their unlimited-data plans.
Sprint was one of the businesses that joined the This is Geek Centennial Lakes meet-up, where it raffled off several portable chargers, said spokeswoman Jennifer Alexander.
But not every business should align itself with Pokemon Go, said Matt Klein, a research analyst at M&C Saatchi Mobile, a marketing agency. Is it the right fit? Does the business cater to those obsessed with mobile messaging and gaming? Is its business conducive to such activity? Insurance offices or banks do not readily come to mind.
“You don’t see beauty ads on the pages of sport sites, and you don’t see car ads within the pages of teen magazines,” Klein said. “It is no different today with Pokemon Go. If this opportunity aligns with one’s brand, then no problem. But if it doesn’t — beware, as this opportunity can easily risk a brand’s hard earned image and message.”
Businesses also should be mindful that Pokemon Go could be a passing fad.
“There have been plenty of mobile or social games that shot up through the charts and became new hotness only to fade away,” Erickson, at Karwoski & Courage, said. “Can you say ‘Words With Friends’ or ‘Angry Birds’ or ‘Farmville?’ ”
Likewise, Swan of Space150 doubts the shelf life on this cultural phenomenon is incredibly long — “maybe 7-8 weeks of buzz before the game peaks in active users and engagement.”
At the same time, Swan added, Pokemon Go is a watershed moment for “augmented reality” — the tech with which digital constructs, such as Pokemon creatures, are layered on top of phone views of the real world to become parts of a whole.
“Pokemon Go has now surpassed Candy Crush as the biggest mobile game ever, and it underscores the ability for physical spaces to be augmented with a digital layer through accessible AR technology, like smartphones,” Swan said.
Now, “we’re excited for this technology to reimagine marketing, transportation, construction and other industries by knitting together virtual context with the physical world,” Swan added.
BIG COMPLEXES JOIN IN
Individual merchants are not the only ones embracing Pokemon Go. Giant corporations and sprawling commercial complexes are joining in on the action.
The McDonald’s fast-food chain, for instance, will become the first major corporation to work with San Francisco-based Niantic Labs, the makers of “Pokemon Go.”
Details of the deal weren’t released, but likely would be related to Pokemon Go gameplay at the restaurants. Niantic chief executive John Hanke has told media outlets that “sponsored locations” are coming to the app soon.
The Mall of America in Bloomington at recent count had 25 Pokestops and two Gyms, meanwhile, and this attracted players in droves.
Mall of America officials are welcoming Pokemon Go players with open arms. They even recently set up a lounge in the mall’s Rotunda area with handset chargers and Pokemon adornments.
“We’re excited,” said Chris Grap, the megamall’s senior manager of experiential. “We’re interested in people coming and having good experiences,” and Pokemon Go certainly qualifies, he said.
Pokemon Go was initially “a surprise for a lot of people,” said Grap, “and some retailers were caught off guard.” But now merchants are catching on and laying down Lures. To his knowledge, no merchant has shooed Pokemon Go players away.
Security guards at Best Buy headquarters in Richfield were at first turning away Pokemon Go players who showed up and asked for access to capture critters inside. The complex had two Pokestops and a Gym, at recent count.
But then the tech retail giant decided it should play along. For an hour one recent afternoon, it threw open its doors to let in dozens of players, who were invited to blend with employees in an indoor courtyard while searching for and seizing Pokemon characters.
Best Buy spokesman Bianca Jones said she’s seen “employees stuck to their phones taking pictures (of Pokemon) outside our Caribou Coffee.
“We thought this would be a good opportunity for those (outside the company) who are curious about what we might have here … want to catch ‘em all,” Jones said, evoking the Pokemon catch-phrase.
Best Buy even sweetened the deal: “We had over 60 people show up, and the first 50 walked away with Dynex portable battery packs,” Jones said.
GETTING USEFUL, CREATIVE
Lots of other individuals and organizations are scrambling to tap into Pokemon Go fever.
On Craigslist, a St. Paul motorist is offering himself up as a Pokechauffer for those wanting to hit the road in search of Pokemon critters without needing to worry about annoying traffic lights and stop signs.
Tech-product makers like the Anker purveyor of portable battery chargers have leaped onto the Pokemon bandwagon with complementary products.
The Yelp online restaurant and business finder has begun alerting users to Pokestops near venues of interest via an optional “Pokestop nearby” search filter.
A Pokemon-themed dating service called PokeDates has launched.
Meanwhile, back at Kendalls Ace Hardware, Crosby said he is more than grateful for the dozens of Pokemon Go players who congregate in his parking lot each day to complement the hundreds of customers who normally visit every day.
Steve Woessner, a regional manager for the Ace Hardware chain, is similarly bullish on Pokemon Go. It can’t hurt, he noted, and it might help.
“It is bringing people to the stores,” Woessner said. “And if they want to buy something, we’re glad to sell it to them.”
