Pokemon GO has cooled off a bit from its days as global phenomenon. But a lot of people are still playing it! This means that the developers need to find ways to keep things fresh all the time. And nothing is fresher in the internet world than e-commerce opportunities.
Capitalizing on the customization features of the game, Pokemon GO formed an outside-the-box partnership with Gucci and The North Face, giving players a chance to deck their virtual selves out in some designer clothing and accessories.
Avatar items from #TheNorthFace x #Gucci collection have finally hit the #PokemonGO. The set includes T-shirts, hats, and backpacks which will all be available for a limited time only at over 100 PokéStops around the world.
Find out more: https://t.co/uyCfrSEaE7
Photo: Niantic pic.twitter.com/gar0zwP2XO— HYPEBEAST (@HYPEBEAST) January 5, 2021
Since the game requires going out and walking around, with different Pokemon available in different locales, the apparel is only available in certain cities, such as Paris, Milan, New York and shopping hubs like King of Prussia, Pa.
It’s all free for the in-game character, but this is not an act of charity or just brand awareness. Sure, it works for that, and does a good job of advertising a North Face x Gucci collaboration. But the real meat here is that the Pokemon GO site includes instructions on how fans can get the real merchandise so they can match their in-game persona.
According to Screen Rant, Pokemon GO previously did a partnership with Uniqlo like this, so it’s not a totally new concept.
Maybe some very fashionable gamers just needed this last push to get back into Pokemon GO, or to join it for the first time. And in the world we live in right now where e-commerce is so important for businesses, this makes a lot of sense. We’ve already seen Ralph Lauren go big with virtual and augmented-reality clothing in Snapchat. And other social media platforms and content mills like YouTube and TikTok are partnering with creators to sell merchandise in the app, finding ways to integrate in-game experience with real-life merchandise sales.
Pokemon GO hasn’t quite gotten to that point yet, but this is really only one step away.
