Pokémon Promotion Power: Restaurants Catching Lightning in a Bottle

2 Min Read By MRM Staff

Within five days of its July 6 release, Pokémon Go was played more in the United States than the next 99 most popular apps combined, according to data from the AppQuest.io CrowdSource Community, where millions of global consumers anonymously donate real-time app usage and performance data on more than six million app versions.

As of July 12, Pokémon Go made up 41.5 percent of all Android game usage. For comparisons sake, the next most popular game, Words with Friends garnered only 3.5 percent of all U.S. gameplay.

Seeking to capture guests as they’re capturing Pokémon, many restaurants are ramping up promotional efforts. Matt Smith, sweetFrog Frozen Yogurt’s CMO, told Modern Restaurant Management magazine that typically, the brand’s marketing promotions are planned out several months - to over a year in advance.

“So, this was a direct result of the game hitting the market and the immediate interest expressed by our local stores and franchise owners,” he said. “This was…