GO Pokemon GO's marketing strategy: Bringing back older fans?

[The Outrage]

Compared to ORAS' trailer, which features a child as the predominant character, Go's cast is almost exclusively adults, except for one child--and even then, its the child's (I assume) parents who are playing Go.

And here's the thing, they're not just adults. They are adults who look like they're going to work. They are adults who have a family. In terms of functionality, you can catch and battle (and I presume trade) Pokemon on not just the Go app, but also connect with the 3DS.

I think more than anything, this game's goal is to recapture the old audience it lost over the years and reel them back in. I've seen criticisms that the trailer focused on the original 151, but if you were a fan that left long ago, these Pokemon are not only the most familiar, but also the most likely to create a nostalgic yearning. And Nintendo isn't presenting this as just a game--they're showing adults who work and raise families playing this. And what's most important is that they're showing connectivity to the 3DS.

Yes, there's a large focus on Gen I, but I think TPC's goal here is to hook former fans in with the Go app and tempt them to continue their adventures from the real world back in the Pokemon world by buying the 3DS games. I've seen people (in other forums) argue that it would have been smart to have a cross-platform release with the 3DS, but strategically, those who are no longer fans may not even own a 3DS, but they may own a smart phone. Building a game for a 3DS is different than building it for an Android or iOS and while there may be a chance for a 3DS app, their prioritizing smart phones suggests to me that they are prioritizing this game at catching the fans they've lost rather than the fans they've retained.

I think its a smart strategy on TPC and Game Freak's part. They aren't only trying to target new, younger fans, but also trying to encourage older fans to return. What I think is a crucial part of their strategy can be seen at approximately one minute into the video, where you see a family sharing their experience of Pokemon with each other--but most importantly, it is the parents sharing their experience with their child rather than the other way around. I've said this before regarding how Pokemon can weather the competition they are receiving from Yokai Watch, and its to use their older fanbase to their advantage--unlike Yokai Watch, Pokemon have adult fans who may now be aunts, uncles, or even parents themselves. If they still love Pokemon, then their children will grow up in a Pokemon household. Pokemon will transition from being a product marketed as "family friendly" to an actual family friendly product.

 

[Fig]

This is definitely an ad that target the 20 years worth of old fans.

And that's very interesting in and of itself.

 

[Almonds]

Growing into a family product seems like a new and nice idea. That part where the father takes the child and points to a wild Charizard, and showing how to capture it was one of the most heartwarming scene in the ad.

 

[Fig]

It does make me look forward to introducing my nieces to Pokémon by taking them Pokémon hunting

 

[Life]

The family-bonding aspect is also stated through the fact that the game is for smart devices, and considering most kids wouldn't have their own (I'm sure there are, but that's besides the point), it will not only get kids involved with the game, but parents to as they learn about it from their children who'll ask for their parents to download it. For fans who considered themselves to have left the franchise, this is indeed a good way to bring them back considering how tech and travel savvy the younger generation is today.

In my opinion, their marketing strategy was planned out quite well.

 

[lovandra]

In my opinion they target older audience because as we predicted this game will be freemium or in app purchased game. And adult will have better buyer power and control.

Or at lease that was one of the reason to choose older generation.

The other maybe there will be a limitation about how many pokemon could be shown on the game. And they want to focus to the first generation and expanded to newer generation...

 

[SUP3RN0VA]

It's possible that's what they were aiming for. I loved this trailer, and part of it was because they featured plenty of adults. It shows that it is okay for anyone to play, no matter your age. Plemnty of people I'm sure still consider it something only kids should enjoy, but why? Why do they get to decide that? Pokemon is there for anyone to enjoy, and this trailer helps show that.

 

[Almonds]

RogersBase, The Pokemon Company International and Nintendo...

This is pretty much false but really funny. I am not taking any political sides, but finding Garbador at a political event sounds witty in many ways.

 

[Piplup]

This is basically the same thing as they already did with XY. The shoved gen 1 down our throats, from giving us the Kanto starters and giving them mega evos (with the popular Charizard and Mewtwo getting TWO), to having Mewtwo and the birds, rehashing of the Viridian Forest, having a Snorlax blocking the way and a Lapras given to us as a gift... and of course, Pokémon Origins.
This entire game is pandering to gen 1 fans, or rather to people who as you said aren't fans anymore but may be affected by nostalgia.

I don't really like that, maybe cause it's a bit of too much gen 1 focus at once for me, but I do totally understand why they're doing that. Smartphones are used by pretty much everyone these days and some of the ex-fans who keep being all "lolz pokemon is boring i only love the first gen!!111" will possibly be tempted to try this thing. I doubt most of them will actually get back into Pokémon just due to this though. I can see this being super popular at its early days but quickly dying off.
If they didn't like Pokémon enough to stick with it, they'll probably keep the same "gen 1 only" mentality, play this thing for a bit, then forget about Pokémon again.
Of course I'm generalizing right now and there IS a potential to possibly bring back some of them... but I think the main goal is making money from Go's micro-transactions by non-fans who will get this simply cause they have smartphones and cause gen 1 is iconic and nostalgic and "everyone knows it", rather than make them buy 3DS systems and get back into the Pokémon main series. I just can't see the average person being SO affected by playing Go. Again, it's possible, but probably not the result that will come out of most of them, but while they're playing Go they'll waste money on the micro-transactions and that's how playing off the nostalgia factor will pay off for TPCI/Nintendo.

Actually, this whole gen 1 thing started even a bit before XY.
Remember how BW was new pkmn only? (which in itself seems like they tried to re-capture gen 1, further supported by the anime trying to rehash the original series' group dynamics)
Then BW2 came out and made a big deal of brining back old gens, which the anime did too with a blatant focus on gen 1, see: Ash's Charizard being back complete with reanimated gen 1 anime flashbacks, Iris catching Dragonite (one of the most popular gen 1 Pokémon), the final BW movie starring Mewtwo (although they tottally missed the potential of bringing back the ORIGINAL Mewtwo there...), and then all of that kinda lead us into Origins and then XY.
ORAS also kind-of plays on the nostalgic effect although to a much smaller degree since the gen 3 demand mostly came from people who are still fans who just favored and missed that gen, but I swear the franchise seems like it became one huge "fanservice" ever since BW2's release... I can only hope gen 7 will have more of its own identity rather than further playing off gen 1's "success"...

 

[lovandra]

1. The whole gen 1 idea just a speculation.
2. Video game is business. They invest for lots of things including servers, time, and etc. They not magically make the game appears out of no where so if some strategy better for survival of the whole series why dont focus on that first and try another one later....
3. If they just want to please only the old generations gamers, why they even bother to create new game? We have 6 generations before XY and there r enough material to just keep remake and remaking games to new consoles.
4. The one who maybe nostalgic to gen 1 maybe not only the 'fans' but also the developer staff.
5. It's not like they focus only to gen 1 and ignore the rest of generation pokemon. They not only make mega form for only gen 1 pokemon. They need to start from something and what's wrong about starting on oldest generation..?

Back to topic. I truly sure they actually will focus on gen 1 and oldest 'fans' for this Pokemon Go * with reason that stated before*. But I believe that they will expand to new and newer generations in the future, depend on how high the demand and how much money this project can make. One thing that good about freemium game is, they are evolved pretty fast cause the devs would have cash fast and if the devs r good they will keep expanding the game...

 

[BlackButterfree]

Making Pokémon from a children's game into a family game gives me hope. I obviously don't expect to see this become the new Call of Duty or Grand Theft Auto (surprisingly, they're family games as well), but hopefully now they'll make the games a little more thought provoking like Black and White if they're going to try to lure back adults.

 

[The Outrage]

If they didn't like Pokémon enough to stick with it, they'll probably keep the same "gen 1 only" mentality, play this thing for a bit, then forget about Pokémon again.

And this is based on what, exactly? Because I've known people who left after Gen II, bought HgSs when it came out, and then continued to play every game since.

An app like Pokemon GO will still attract the same amount of its core fans regardless of which generation is focused. Focusing on Gen I (at least in the advertisements; I wouldn't be surprised if there were Gen II+ Pokemon to tempt old fans to buy new games) actually has the potential of bringing old fans back due to nostalgia--its not something that will hurt the game.

 

[Piplup]

If they didn't like Pokémon enough to stick with it, they'll probably keep the same "gen 1 only" mentality, play this thing for a bit, then forget about Pokémon again.

And this is based on what, exactly? Because I've known people who left after Gen II, bought HgSs when it came out, and then continued to play every game since.

An app like Pokemon GO will still attract the same amount of its core fans regardless of which generation is focused. Focusing on Gen I (at least in the advertisements; I wouldn't be surprised if there were Gen II+ Pokemon to tempt old fans to buy new games) actually has the potential of bringing old fans back due to nostalgia--its not something that will hurt the game.

I'm going to assume these HGSS players already had a DS system. You can have as much faith in this as you want, and heck you might even be right, but right now my personal view is that the average adult who doesn't really care about Pokémon and only view it as that "nostalgic thing" will only play Go for a while (if even that) and eventually abandone it... that seems the most likely result rather than having them SO affected to the point of buying a 3DS system just for this franchise they don't really care about... in my opinion the main goal is to benefit from these people wasting money on micro-transactions before they end up abandoning it, rather than get them to buy a 3DS.

 

[The Outrage]

I'm going to assume these HGSS players already had a DS system. You can have as much faith in this as you want, and heck you might even be right, but right now my personal view is that the average adult who doesn't really care about Pokémon and only view it as that "nostalgic thing" will only play Go for a while (if even that) and eventually abandone it... that seems the most likely result rather than having them SO affected to the point of buying a 3DS system just for this franchise they don't really care about... in my opinion the main goal is to benefit from these people wasting money on micro-transactions before they end up abandoning it, rather than get them to buy a 3DS.

So what if that winds up being the case? This app likely doesn't come close to the amount of resources it takes for a full game, and regardless of its marketing focus, will attract the same number of its core fanbase. So they had two options--appease fans like you and only show new Pokemon when there's a good chance that their choice of advertising wouldn't have greatly swayed your opinion, or appease a wider potential audience of adult fans feeling nostalgic.

I don't understand the cynicism in your post when one path would lead to X (i.e., core fans) while the other would lead to X + Y (core + ex-fans). Yeah, sure, they may not stay, but you'll never know if you don't try. And its not like this app took away from the development of the core series. Given what Nintendo wants to do with the NX in terms of cross-platform gaming, this may be The Pokemon Company and Game Freak's way of getting ahead of the game, which is refreshing considering how slow they were with making full use of wifi.

In my opinion they target older audience because as we predicted this game will be freemium or in app purchased game. And adult will have better buyer power and control.

Or at lease that was one of the reason to choose older generation.

The other maybe there will be a limitation about how many pokemon could be shown on the game. And they want to focus to the first generation and expanded to newer generation...

Businesses know teenagers generally have more buying power than young adults. The former may have part time jobs and allowances, but no real responsibilities, and while the latter may earn more, a lion's share of that income goes to paying down bills and student loans. If they wanted an older audience because of more money, they overshot it.

Then there's the fact that Pokemon already has Rumble, Shuffle, and PTCGO that are surviving just fine without pandering to adult audiences. If anything, something so close to the main series in terms of game play (i.e., catching, battling, and possibly trading) should fair even better regardless of the target so I don't think its just because "adults have more money". Yes, they have more money, but less of it can go to superfluous things.

 

[Piplup]

So what if that winds up being the case?

I just reacted to the claims it may bring back ex-fans stating my opinion on it.

appease fans like you and only show new Pokemon

Or they could show old and new Pokémon together.

appease a wider potential audience of adult fans feeling nostalgic.

I already stated a few times that I completely understand why they're doing what they're doing. I don't have to personally like it though.
I understand this is a logical business step, they need to get into smartphones, gen 1 is iconic to the general public, etc...
I still don't really like the idea of smartphone games, the whole micro-transactions thing, and the over-love for gen 1 which I feel was already shoved down our throats enough lately. You can feel the opposite of me and that's ok, it's your opinion, and that's my opinion. I'm not really trying to convince anyone to agree with my views.
I'll probably download and play it once it's out, I'll probably at least mildly enjoy it. I still don't feel too excited over this and I still fear the future of this franchise with the current smartphone mentality. It's cool if you disagree.

 

[Almonds]

I just reacted to the claims it may bring back ex-fans stating my opinion on it.

appease fans like you and only show new Pokemon

Or they could show old and new Pokémon together.

appease a wider potential audience of adult fans feeling nostalgic.

I already stated a few times that I completely understand why they're doing what they're doing. I don't have to personally like it though.
I understand this is a logical business step, they need to get into smartphones, gen 1 is iconic to the general public, etc...
I still don't really like the idea of smartphone games, the whole micro-transactions thing, and the over-love for gen 1 which I feel was already shoved down our throats enough lately. You can feel the opposite of me and that's ok, it's your opinion, and that's my opinion. I'm not really trying to convince anyone to agree with my views.
I'll probably download and play it once it's out, I'll probably at least mildly enjoy it. I still don't feel too excited over this and I still fear the future of this franchise with the current smartphone mentality. It's cool if you disagree.

This is pretty much an introductory feature to appeal to a wider audience - giving people a chance to enjoy the core aspects of pokemon. Maybe the majority will delete this app after ten minutes of playing, but there willl be some who develops and keeps an interest in Pokemon. It's like those catchy ads - say, a Coke ad. Those red and white canned beverages that appear on TV every day. Trying to appeal to as many people as possible. Not all of them will buy Coke after watching an ad of it or after a sample taste, but there will be people who will grab the product and line up at the cashier. And there will be people who will at least keep an eye on it.

GF is basically advertising pokemon through this app. Same thing.

 

[The Outrage]

@Piplup;
At the very least, Pokemon's taking a more interesting approach to the mobile market. Rather than just allowing their brand to be placed on knock offs of existing games, they seem to be integrating the mobile market with their current model rather than simply switching over. Game Freak's given us random devices for our games before, but now they're allowing us to integrate their product with something useful most of us have.

I'd be more worried about the smartphone mentality too if they didn't take such a unique approach to this.

 

[Piplup]

@Piplup;
At the very least, Pokemon's taking a more interesting approach to the mobile market. Rather than just allowing their brand to be placed on knock offs of existing games, they seem to be integrating the mobile market with their current model rather than simply switching over. Game Freak's given us random devices for our games before, but now they're allowing us to integrate their product with something useful most of us have.

I'd be more worried about the smartphone mentality too if they didn't take such a unique approach to this.

I guess my main issue with smartphone games is micro-transactions. I'd rather pay a set price once and enjoy a full game rather than get it "for free" yet have way too many limitations that basically force you to pay a little every now and then (that would eventually probably end up wasting more than a full game price) in order to properly play it. And these games, even if you pay for them, often feel like mini-games more than a serious game. Which leads me to the fact I really prefer games with some sort of story to follow. If this is just seeing a Pokémon and tapping the screen to catch it I find it hardly more interesting than performing the same act in the main series game. Sure, "Pokémon in real life" is cool in theory and I'd be super excited if what's shown in the trailer would be how the game truly is, but it's far from being that and ends up just seeing a Pokémon on a screen and tapping to catch it in a ball... it's really hardly seems innovative to me. The concept is cool, but what we know so far at least leaves me not too excited.
Maybe I'm too negative and I guess sorry if I'm the "party pooper" for some people here, but right now I can't feel good about this.
If we had to go into smartphones, I'd be more interested if they had some unique game that involves an interesting story (see: Mystery Dungeon, at least back when it was first released, I guess now after it became its own little series it's not so "unique" anymore) and that was sold to me for a fair price as a full game without any of that "micro transactions" thing.
But that's me. Whoever's happy with this development, cool for you. I guess I can't properly judge it until it's out and I could potentially change my mind for the better, but we'll see about that...

 

[lovandra]

Smartphones just platforms. What make game 'fun' are the developers.

 

[The Outrage]

@Piplup;
I've never spent a dime on Pokemon Shuffle or PTCGO (except when I bought a pack of cards because I just wanted cards) and played the games just fine. Yeah, sometimes you have to wait longer but being forced to put something down isn't a limitation. The only thing the microtransactions in these games would do is speed up my progression--it doesn't mean I don't progress at all.

Sure, "Pokémon in real life" is cool in theory and I'd be super excited if what's shown in the trailer would be how the game truly is, but it's far from being that and ends up just seeing a Pokémon on a screen and tapping to catch it in a ball... it's really hardly seems innovative to me.

I've taken down that "tap a screen" criticism once today so I'll just have you read how dumb an argument reducing a game to its controls is. Even more ironic since that's the basic control scheme of the DS/3DS during battles/contests/Pokeathlon unless you prefer to navigate menus with buttons because buttons are hardcore.

Its innovative because of how the franchise is approaching mobile gaming. Rather than releasing more games like Shuffle, The Pokemon Company has licensed a title that integrates with the main series games--essentially it is adding onto the experience of our handhelds. TPCi isn't seeing mobile games as as something they have to fight directly, but instead, using it as a tool to broaden the experience of the main games.