Pokémon going, going, gone: Firms rethink marketing campaigns after Pokémon Go loses lustre

Companies’ spending may not be recovered.

As fast as the acclaimed augmented reality app from the popular Nintendo game gained traction among Singaporeans, it also rapidly lost its appeal after a span of a month or two.

With the app’s vast popularity, companies have quickly cashed in on the opportunity, but it seems like firms may have invested too much and banked on the game’s long-term appeal.

In an exclusive interview with Singapore Business Review,  Alan Cheong of Savills said Singaporeans in the early to mid-20s have either stopped playing, or their friends have similarly stopped playing.

Cheong also agreed that there are now considerably less people playing Pokémon Go on the streets.

But what does this mean for building a whole marketing campaign around apps? Cheong said this suggests that app games may garner shorter attention spans even smaller than those borne out of other old school or traditional feeds.

“The ultra-short attention span should make telco and retail firms start to rethink if these are desirable vehicles for their marketing campaign for the amount spent may not be recovered,” Cheong warned.

While he agreed that there will always be a need for augmented reality anywhere in the world, Cheong said the use of augmented reality as an app or game may also turn passé as fast as tech is turning old school business models upside down and inside out.

“In other words, within the tech world, the rate at which the next winner starts to fail and collapse into singularity is probably as fast or even faster than how tech kills off the established way of doing businesses,” he added.