Skip to Content
  • Offices

    Offices

    North & Latin America
    • Atlanta
    • Austin
    • Bogota
    • Boston
    • Buenos Aires
    • Chicago
    • Dallas
    • Denver
    • Houston
    • Los Angeles
    • Mexico City
    • Minneapolis
    • Monterrey
    • Montreal
    • New York
    • Rio de Janeiro
    • San Francisco
    • Santiago
    • São Paulo
    • Seattle
    • Silicon Valley
    • Toronto
    • Washington, DC
    Europe & Africa
    • Amsterdam
    • Athens
    • Berlin
    • Brussels
    • Copenhagen
    • Dusseldorf
    • Frankfurt
    • Helsinki
    • Istanbul
    • Johannesburg
    • Kyiv
    • Lisbon
    • London
    • Madrid
    • Milan
    • Munich
    • Oslo
    • Paris
    • Rome
    • Stockholm
    • Vienna
    • Warsaw
    • Zurich
    Middle East
    • Doha
    • Dubai
    • Riyadh
    Asia & Australia
    • Bangkok
    • Beijing
    • Bengaluru
    • Brisbane
    • Ho Chi Minh City
    • Hong Kong
    • Jakarta
    • Kuala Lumpur
    • Manila
    • Melbourne
    • Mumbai
    • New Delhi
    • Perth
    • Seoul
    • Shanghai
    • Singapore
    • Sydney
    • Tokyo
    See all offices
  • Alumni
  • Media Center
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • Argentina | Español

    Select your region and language

    Global
    • Global (English)
    North & Latin America
    • Brazil (Português)
    • Argentina (Español)
    • Canada (Français)
    • Chile (Español)
    • Colombia (Español)
    Europe, Middle East, & Africa
    • France (Français)
    • DACH Region (Deutsch)
    • Italy (Italiano)
    • Spain (Español)
    • Greece (Elliniká)
    Asia & Australia
    • China (中文版)
    • Korea (한국어)
    • Japan (日本語)
  • Saved items (0)
    Saved items (0)

    You have no saved items.

    Bookmark content that interests you and it will be saved here for you to read or share later.

    Explore Bain Insights
  • Industries
    Main menu

    Industries

    • Aeroespacial y Defensa
    • Agroindustria
    • Químicos
    • Construcción e Infraestructura
    • Productos de Consumo
    • Servicios Financieros
    • Salud y Ciencias de la Vida
    • Maquinaria y Equipo Industrial
    • Medios y Entretenimiento
      Industries
      Medios y Entretenimiento
      • Media Lab
    • Metales
    • Minería
    • Petróleo y Gas
    • Papel y Empaque
    • Private Equity
      Industries
      Private Equity
      • Due Diligence
      • Exit Planning
      • Firm Strategy & Operations
      • Portfolio Value Creation
    • Sector Público y Social
    • Retail
    • Tecnología
    • Telecomunicaciones
      Industries
      Telecomunicaciones
      • Capital Expenditure
      • Telco Digital Transformation
    • Transporte
    • Viajes y Turismo
    • Servicios Públicos y Energías Renovables
  • Consulting Services
    Main menu

    Consulting Services

    • Customer Experience
    • Sustainability
    • Innovation
    • M&A
    • Operations
    • People & Organization
    • Private Equity
    • Sales & Marketing
    • Strategy
    • AI, Insights, and Solutions
    • Technology
    • Transformation
  • Digital
  • Insights
    Main menu

    Insights

    • Industry Insights
    • Services Insights
    • Bain Books
    • Webinars
    • Bain Futures
    View all Insights
    Featured topics
    • Tariff Response
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Thriving in Uncertainty
    • Executive Conversations
    • Macro Trends
    • Private Equity Report
    • M&A Report
    • Healthcare Private Equity Report
    • Paper & Packaging Report
    • Technology Report
    • CEO Insights
    • CFO Insights
    • COO Insights
    • CIO Insights
    • CMO Insights
    View all featured topics
  • About
    Main menu

    About

    • What We Do
    • What We Believe
    • Our People & Leadership
    • Client Results
    • Awards & Recognition
    • Global Affiliations
    Further: Our global responsibility
    • Sustainability
    • Social Impact
    • World Economic Forum
    Learn more about Further
  • Carreras
    Main menu

    Carreras

    • Trabaja con Nosotros
      Carreras
      Trabaja con Nosotros
      • Find Your Place
      • Nuestras Áreas de Trabajo
      • Equipos Integrados
      • Estudiantes
      • Internships & Programs
      • Eventos de Reclutamiento
    • La Vida en Bain
      Carreras
      La Vida en Bain
      • Blog: Inside Bain
      • Historias Profesionales
      • Nuestra Gente
      • Dónde Trabajamos
      • Apoyando tu Crecimiento
      • Grupos de Afinidad
      • Beneficios
    • Impact Stories
    • Nuestro Proceso
      Carreras
      Nuestro Proceso
      • Qué Esperar
      • Entrevistas
    FIND JOBS
  • Offices
    Main menu

    Offices

    • North & Latin America
      Offices
      North & Latin America
      • Atlanta
      • Austin
      • Bogota
      • Boston
      • Buenos Aires
      • Chicago
      • Dallas
      • Denver
      • Houston
      • Los Angeles
      • Mexico City
      • Minneapolis
      • Monterrey
      • Montreal
      • New York
      • Rio de Janeiro
      • San Francisco
      • Santiago
      • São Paulo
      • Seattle
      • Silicon Valley
      • Toronto
      • Washington, DC
    • Europe & Africa
      Offices
      Europe & Africa
      • Amsterdam
      • Athens
      • Berlin
      • Brussels
      • Copenhagen
      • Dusseldorf
      • Frankfurt
      • Helsinki
      • Istanbul
      • Johannesburg
      • Kyiv
      • Lisbon
      • London
      • Madrid
      • Milan
      • Munich
      • Oslo
      • Paris
      • Rome
      • Stockholm
      • Vienna
      • Warsaw
      • Zurich
    • Middle East
      Offices
      Middle East
      • Doha
      • Dubai
      • Riyadh
    • Asia & Australia
      Offices
      Asia & Australia
      • Bangkok
      • Beijing
      • Bengaluru
      • Brisbane
      • Ho Chi Minh City
      • Hong Kong
      • Jakarta
      • Kuala Lumpur
      • Manila
      • Melbourne
      • Mumbai
      • New Delhi
      • Perth
      • Seoul
      • Shanghai
      • Singapore
      • Sydney
      • Tokyo
    See all offices
  • Alumni
  • Media Center
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • Argentina | Español
    Main menu

    Select your region and language

    • Global
      Select your region and language
      Global
      • Global (English)
    • North & Latin America
      Select your region and language
      North & Latin America
      • Brazil (Português)
      • Argentina (Español)
      • Canada (Français)
      • Chile (Español)
      • Colombia (Español)
    • Europe, Middle East, & Africa
      Select your region and language
      Europe, Middle East, & Africa
      • France (Français)
      • DACH Region (Deutsch)
      • Italy (Italiano)
      • Spain (Español)
      • Greece (Elliniká)
    • Asia & Australia
      Select your region and language
      Asia & Australia
      • China (中文版)
      • Korea (한국어)
      • Japan (日本語)
  • Saved items  (0)
    Main menu
    Saved items (0)

    You have no saved items.

    Bookmark content that interests you and it will be saved here for you to read or share later.

    Explore Bain Insights
  • Industries
    • Industries

      • Aeroespacial y Defensa
      • Agroindustria
      • Químicos
      • Construcción e Infraestructura
      • Productos de Consumo
      • Servicios Financieros
      • Salud y Ciencias de la Vida
      • Maquinaria y Equipo Industrial
      • Medios y Entretenimiento
      • Metales
      • Minería
      • Petróleo y Gas
      • Papel y Empaque
      • Private Equity
      • Sector Público y Social
      • Retail
      • Tecnología
      • Telecomunicaciones
      • Transporte
      • Viajes y Turismo
      • Servicios Públicos y Energías Renovables
  • Consulting Services
    • Consulting Services

      • Customer Experience
      • Sustainability
      • Innovation
      • M&A
      • Operations
      • People & Organization
      • Private Equity
      • Sales & Marketing
      • Strategy
      • AI, Insights, and Solutions
      • Technology
      • Transformation
  • Digital
  • Insights
    • Insights

      • Industry Insights
      • Services Insights
      • Bain Books
      • Webinars
      • Bain Futures
      View all Insights
      Featured topics
      • Tariff Response
      • Artificial Intelligence
      • Thriving in Uncertainty
      • Executive Conversations
      • Macro Trends
      • Private Equity Report
      • M&A Report
      • Healthcare Private Equity Report
      • Paper & Packaging Report
      • Technology Report
      • CEO Insights
      • CFO Insights
      • COO Insights
      • CIO Insights
      • CMO Insights
      View all featured topics
  • About
    • About

      • What We Do
      • What We Believe
      • Our People & Leadership
      • Client Results
      • Awards & Recognition
      • Global Affiliations
      Further: Our global responsibility
      • Sustainability
      • Social Impact
      • World Economic Forum
      Learn more about Further
  • Carreras
    Popular Searches
    • Agile
    • Digital
    • Strategy
    Your Previous Searches
      Recently Visited Pages

      Content added to saved items

      Saved items (0)

      Removed from saved items

      Saved items (0)

      Forbes.com

      The Digital Marketing Lesson Of 'Pokémon GO'

      The Digital Marketing Lesson Of 'Pokémon GO'

      Companies and marketers around the world are already working hard to tap into the game’s runaway success.

      By Laura Beaudin

      • min read

      Article

      The Digital Marketing Lesson Of 'Pokémon GO'
      en

      This article originally appeared on Forbes.com.

      By now, you’ve probably heard of the mobile gaming phenomenon that is Pokémon GO. Perhaps you’re even among the tens of millions of people who downloaded it at a record-breaking pace, making it the biggest mobile game in U.S. history.

      The app taps the geo-positioning and camera functions of your smartphone, and encourages you to walk around your city looking to catch virtual Pokémon—short for “pocket monsters”—that pop up in seemingly random places. But their locations are hardly random: The game’s developers looked at years of Google Maps and other location data to find interesting and intuitive places to harbor Pokémon. And, not surprisingly, there are sponsored locations as well.

      Companies and marketers around the world are already working hard to tap into the game’s runaway success, which has demonstrated the unique ability to drive real-world foot traffic. In Japan, birthplace of the Pokémon franchise, McDonald’s became the game’s first big sponsor, converting each of its nearly 3,000 Japanese locations into PokéStops, real-world spots where users can load up on items to play the game, or Pokémon Gyms, where users can fight virtual battles with each other and gain strength in the game.

      However, you don’t have to be a Fortune 500 firm or fast-food empire to use augmented-reality games and other apps to bridge the gap between consumers’ digital behavior and your brick-and-mortar business. As with Foursquare and Facebook, small businesses can pay to advertise or reward visitors who use Pokémon GO. One pizza shop owner in New York paid a modest $10 through the app to temporarily draw a dozen of the imaginary characters into his restaurant, and saw business leap by 75% as players came in to “catch ‘em all.”

      This mingling of the digital and physical worlds is at the heart of what we at Bain call the Digical experience. Whether it’s an Internet-enabled thermostat that adds a new dimension to home life, or Disney’s MyMagic+ system that heightens your enjoyment at a Disney theme park, leading companies are using a combination of math and marketing magic to dazzle their customers, which my colleagues and I wrote about in April.

      Good marketers know how to mine data to see what annoys their customers—and what delights them. They use that digital information to continually improve a customer’s real-world experience when interacting with their brand—or vice versa, perhaps guiding their online shopping based on their last in-store visit.

      But the best marketers understand the importance of “magic”—those intangible qualities that tug on consumers’ emotions and make a product more alluring. The magic of Pokémon GO is especially ingenious. Niantic Labs, which teamed up with Pokémon Co. to develop Pokémon GO, launched a similar augmented-reality game nearly four years ago called Ingress that never went beyond the realm of niche gaming. Pokémon GO, on the other hand, played on consumers’ nostalgia for the games, playing cards and toys from the 1990s.

      A truly magical opportunity, coupled with the skillful use of algorithms and data, give rise to Digical experiences that stick with customers. The most successful companies use these Digical experiences to build a bond with customers, who feel like the company knows them and wants to help them. What’s more, this constant data flow between the digital and offline worlds can help a company adapt quickly to a customer’s changing preferences in both settings. Picture a grocery store app that allows customers to choose recipes on their phones and then plots a route through their local store to help them find all the ingredients.

      The truth is, while certain industries are better positioned to prosper from this collision of the virtual and real worlds, every corner of 21st century commerce involves some combination of the digital and physical factors. For marketers who can master this balance, the result is a kind of digital magic that allows companies of all stripes to not just personalize and perfect customers’ experiences, but to practice the relentless cycle of testing, learning and adapting that has helped so many technology companies find success.

      Laura Beaudin is a partner in Bain & Company’s Customer Strategy & Marketing practice, leading the practice’s Marketing Excellence work.

      Authors
      • Headshot of Laura Beaudin
        Laura Beaudin
        Partner, San Francisco
      Related Consulting Services
      • Digital
      • Sales and Marketing
      Digital
      The Math, the Magic and the Customer

      Data-savvy digital marketers must still maintain an emotional connection with the people who do the buying.

      Read more
      Sales and Marketing
      Avoiding the Pitfalls of Personalized Marketing and Sales

      A number of deliberate processes can raise the odds of creating an effective segment-of-one approach.

      Read more
      AI, Insights, and Solutions
      What Big Data Means for Customer Loyalty

      Only humans can fix broken policies or processes, but analytical tools can amplify their reach.

      Read more
      Digital
      AI Is Transforming Productivity, but Sales Remains a New Frontier

      Potential applications of generative and agentic AI could free up more selling time and boost conversion rates.

      Read more
      Digital
      El comercio con agentic AI depende de la confianza del consumidor

      La seguridad, la privacidad y la confianza institucional son los principales campos de batalla en los pagos impulsados por IA.

      Read more
      First published in septiembre 2016
      Tags
      • Digital
      • Sales and Marketing

      How We've Helped Clients

      Boosting Sales With a Redesigned Commercial Operating Model

      See more related case studies

      Designing a Sales Compensation Plan Based on an Unusual Metric

      See more related case studies

      Don't give customers options they don't want

      See more related case studies

      Want to continue the conversation

      We help global leaders with their organization's most critical issues and opportunities. Together, we create enduring change and results

      Selected for you

      Global Private Equity Report 2026

      Powering forward in a new era: Our annual report examines key trends shaping the dealmaking landscape.

      For you

      Bain Insights. Our perspectives on critical issues global businesses face in today's challenging environment, delivered monthly.

      *I have read and understand Bain’s Privacy Notice.

      Please read and agree to the Privacy Policy.
      Bain & Company
      Contact us Sustainability Accessibility Terms of use Privacy Modern Slavery Act Statement Cookie Policy Sitemap Log In

      © 1996-2026 Bain & Company, Inc.

      Contact Bain

      How can we help you?

      • Business inquiry
      • Career information
      • Press relations
      • Partnership request
      • Speaker request
      See all offices