Should your business jump on the latest trends? A great example of a current trend is Pokémon Go, a mobile app released a few weeks ago. In case you haven’t heard about it, here is the basic rundown: the game uses your phone’s GPS for your real-world location and overlays Pokémon (‘pocket monsters’) on your screen (on top of what you see in front of you in the real world). You can join a faction and level up as you find more Pokémon. It is essentially the world’s biggest scavenger hunt – which recently created chaos in New York’s Central Park as hundreds, or possibly thousands, descended to the area (Google “Vaporeon Spawns In Central Park” to see the video footage!).
The positives are that it has forced people who might normally be indoors, to go outside in their community and find Pokémon. People have praised its health benefits and its social benefits – players are in the fresh air and meeting other Pokémon Go players in real life. The negatives are some security and privacy concerns, and you may have seen some news items about the game causing traffic accidents and physical injuries when people have run into objects because they are looking at their mobile!
The game involves going to ‘Pokestops’, based on real-life landmarks where players can stock up on digital game gear. So some savvy businesses have paid for ‘lures’ which increases the chance that a rare Pokémon will turn up nearby, thereby drawing people near their shopfront. A delicatessen in San Francisco advertised their store as a ‘Pokémon charging station’ for drained phones (as the game tends to be hard on batteries).
It is great if your business is flexible and creative enough that it can quickly adapt in order to use a trend to increase traffic and sales. However, it is also important to consider how your business could be affected if the trend goes sour. You need to consider how your reputation might be affected by negative press or worse, if it is found to have serious negative consequences. It is also important to know when a trend is no longer ‘cool’ – you will be perceived as outdated if you jump on, or continue with, a trend far after it has run its course.
Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender