The app-turned global phenomenon Pokémon Go might have driven people everywhere onto the streets in search of imaginary Pikachus and Jigglypuffs, but some have quickly realized that the virtual game presents very real business opportunities.
Even in Myanmar.
The game, which encourages players to take to the streets hunting animated creatures, has been a hit with all levels of Yangon society since it launched in early August, drawing huge crowds to public places around the city.
The scenes would have been virtually unimaginable just a few years ago, when expensive SIM cards were off-limits to everyone barring the very rich under the former military junta. Now they retail for less than $2, and cellphones are commonplace.
Local businesses – and even charities – have been quick to embrace the craze. Last Friday brought a Pokémon-themed club night at exclusive bar The Clubhouse. Meanwhile, cafes, hotels and bars around town fortunate enough to be located near PokeStops – home to many of the virtual creatures – are advertising on Facebook.
The Chatrium Hotel, near Kandawgyi Park, boasts three PokeStops on its grounds and gamers regularly crowd around one, in their lobby, accordig to Thinzar Myat Mon, the assistant director of marketing.
“After posting this news on our Chatrium Facebook page, we saw many likes and shares and comments of interest,” she said. “So what is going on? Firstly, we got have a reputation in this market but we also got new customers, who had never been to Chatrium, hunting monsters. Most are teenagers, some are our in-house guests and some are local business people.”
Hein Htet Kyaw, a 21-year-old entrepreneur, spotted his opportunity just a few days after the launch.
He paired up with a friend and started producing and selling themed T-shirts, labelled with the different Pokémon teams that players can join in the game.
“A lot of poorer people are playing this game and we thought they would also like to wear Pokémon-themed T-shirts,” he told Coconuts Yangon. “So we are selling T-shirts cheaply.”
The shirts are sold through Facebook and cost about K3,500 each (about $3). The biggest seller? Teams Mystic and Valor. (Sorry Instinct.)
Local restaurants are grabbing a bite of the action, too, with Pizza Hut attaching ‘lure modules’, an in-game purchase which attracts Pokémon to a place, to their outlets in an effort to draw players.
Pezzo Pizza Myanmar offers freebies for players who have reached certain levels in the game. For example, a trainer who has caught three Pikachu gets three slices free for every three slices she buys.
Users have been uploading pictures of their badges to the Facebook page, eliciting comments from the admin like: “Wowww your achievements are so cool bro !! Order your free pizza and enjoy with your awesome achievements !!”
Yee Mon Han from Food2U, which manages Pezzo Pizza, said the promotion had been a huge hit: “We got so much success not only from players but also from Pokemon Tour planners.”
That’s right. Tour groups are also reportedly organizing ride-arounds through Yangon, stopping at big landmarks in the game.
For example, Hope Entertainment’s ‘PokeBus’ will set you back $7 for a day-trip. Literally, all-day. From 9am until 6pm.
See you at the Pokestops. Or not.
