Pokemon Go: In Time
Pokemon Go is everywhere! The numbers that this little game has already achieved are quite staggering. Biggest mobile game ever in the US, more daily users than Twitter, higher engagement than Facebook, more installs than Tinder. All in just under one month since launch!
The main reason for this huge success dwells in the cleverly designed game mechanics. It gathers all key components such as great engagement, retention, monetization and social (with more of these probably coming soon).
But it is not the game mechanics that caught my attention - it was the time spent on it. Everywhere I go, I see LOTS of people looking at their phones, swiping a finger, capturing a Pokemon or battling with other players. When thinking about competition in the entertainment industry, we shouldn't limit ourselves to a given segment (in this case, gaming) or even device. Competition is, actually, a fight for consumers’ time. Time is a limited resource and, despite a few cases where multitasking may be an option, it is used on an exclusive basis... and all entertainment businesses are fighting for it.
So, in this case, Pokemon Go is stealing entertainment time from other mobile games. But that's just a piece of the puzzle. Is Social Media, among other segments, suffering from Pokemon Go's huge success? How many Pokemon players have stopped posting something on Instagram or checking their Facebook feed as frequently as before, because they have decided to spend their limited time on Pokemon Go?
The good news is that there is a lot of entertainment time in a given day. You may be surprised with how much, actually. A study by Common Sense Media shows that American teens spend a total of 9 hours per day consuming some form of entertainment (that’s more time than they sleep!). But an extremely successful game like Pokemon Go has the power to not only shift dynamics inside that entertainment pie (from time spent on social networks to playing the game, for instance), but also to make the pie grow as a whole, stealing time from other activities beyond entertainment - shopping, socializing, eating, walking the dog, exercising, etc.
In a way, all businesses compete for time. Car manufacturers compete for your commuting time (Uber too). Restaurants compete for your eating time. Social networks, games, TV channels, streaming media, movie theater chain, sports teams… all of them compete for your entertainment time.
When thinking about potential moves from your competitors, ask yourself “who are REALLY our competitors”? Often the most dangerous moves come from a different industry... and they will take you by surprise!
PS: Just have to leave this here. If Pokemon Go is not taking all your entertainment time yet, then I would recommend checking out the new Netflix show Stranger Things. It's a wonderful ode to '80s Hollywood!
Netflix's Stranger Things