PokemonGO is the largest mobile game of all time and has been a hit across the world. It is one of the only games EVER to bridge such a broad range of cultures and ages. Making $3,000,000 per day in revenue which should put them on track to gross over a $1 billion in the first 12 months, Nintendo and Niantic are sitting pretty!
And yet things have not gone particularly smoothly for the team at Niantic through the release of the game. So let’s see what we can learn from this trailblazer.
Although for most outsiders it seems like the developers of the game Niantic are sitting on an ever growing pile of money with happy fans just waiting for updates to improve a game already viewed as perfect – that hasn’t quite been the story. As reflected heavily on the PokemonGO Reddit – even fans who have invested 12+ hours per day on the game since release feel the game is on a somewhat rocky standing.
Most major game releases from almost any development company involves a heavy amount of feedback from users. Usually these companies employ public relations or community managers to handle these rabid fans.
In the case of PokemonGO users have complained heavily about server issues, slow international rollouts, app instability – and more recently – the removal of key features.
So how have Niantic handled this? (HINT: Not well!)
What Has Happened So Far?
Up until two weeks ago, the PokemonGO social accounts had been quiet and not a single user complaint was responded to. Then many keen outside observers began noticing that Niantic did not appear to have a dedicated community manager for PokemonGO. In the corners of the internet where fans gathered, this insight caused major outrage.
After Niantic made a big push to shut down third party apps that were attempting to “cheat” the game and placing large amounts of stress on the servers – on August 2nd Niantic made their first outreach to the public. They made their first Facebook post regarding many of the issues user had been complaining about.
They followed up this post with a blog post on August 4th that they used to discuss server issues they had been having and what they were doing to take care of this problem (progress!).
Although Niantic still continued to receive a large amount of negative feedback regarding issues in the game, the general message stemming from consumers began to be thankful that at least Niantic had addressed what issues the community base were facing. This sudden public relation change moved their fans further onto their side then they already were.
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These changes can be reflected in the Google Play Store reviews for the game. On August 1st, of just under 2 million reviews – 56.7% were 4 or 5 stars. On August 16th, of 5.3 million reviews – 74.8% were 4 or 5 stars. That is a 31.9% change (!!!).
Therefore, it’s hopefully becoming pretty obvious this public relation improvement has changed the opinion of the game even when many users have actually disagreed with Niantic’s decisions. The power of providing someone that consumers can talk to about their issues, and respond properly – changes everything for how your company, product and actions are perceived.
What Should You Learn From This?
The decisions you make are important, but not as important as how they appear to your audience. If you are willing to have a conversation with your customer base where they can voice and share their opinion, then you become a far more enjoyable company to be associated with.
The biggest divide between customers and companies is a lack of understanding.
When your business, or any business, makes a choice that will directly affect customers – care has been taken in deciding that it is a good decision. Problems arise when your customer base cannot see why you have made a decision, and this is what public and customer relations can fulfil for you. It provides a voice to help your customers see why your business does what it does.
The most useful element of have a relationship with your customers is that even when your customers disagree with your choices, they can now feel heard by you.
Now, one of the more challenging elements of running a business is dealing with complaints. Although you might disagree with the complaint, allowing your customer to be heard and responded to will help far more than just giving a refund and leaving it there.
Is It Worth The Investment?
Many companies fear that investing in public relations and customer support is one not worth making. Zappos are an online company that primarily sell footwear and in 2009 they were bought for $1.2 billion USD. Now that is one way to describe Zappos, but Forbes described them as, “Zappos is famous for establishing the bar when it comes to putting its customers first”. Zappos might sell shoes but their primary business is actually customer service.
In the book from CEO Tony Hsieh about Zappos – Delivering Happiness – it is outlined exactly how far Zappos go to make sure customers know they care. Now the level at which they commit to customer service is certainly above and beyond, but your customers won’t expect that. They simply expect to be listened to and be spoken to about what might affect them, in relation to your core business.
Public Relations or Customer Service?
Now in the case of PokemonGO, where their public profile is so high, their customer service and public relation policies are more intertwined than any usual company. For most businesses though, although the two are distinctly different in definition, in practicality they overlap more often than not but still require thought to both areas.
Customer Service is how you handle those who are already customers and need help. The effectiveness of your support team will affect how many times these customers will return (increasing their lifetime value). Not only that but it increases your in person referrals – ie. the number of times someone’s friend will recommend you. No ad campaign will beat that referral system.
Public Relations is how your company is viewed to the outside world. If someone were to cross by your Twitter profile – how would you project yourself to the outside world? If your brand name were to be brought up – what would people think? PR is the way you appear, to people who are yet to interact with you.
Therefore, both have a place and both have an endless amount of value. It is crucial to to manage and care for customer service and PR as together they form your image. That said, it is important you understand what you are selling and which one should be your primary focus.
My Thoughts:
Quick disclaimer: the most important part in all of this, in the words of Gary Vee – do you. That said, here are my closing thoughts on PR, Customer Relations and what you should learn from PokemonGO;
PokemonGO has the advantage at the end of the day of having the joy of being innovative in their idea but still maintaining a link back to the childhood nostalgia of their customers. As a result, public relations has been easy and for a long time it appeared they were perfectly okay with having very little customer support. For your business, this will not be the case. You have to take care of both, there is no question.
If I had to tell you to focus on just one, it’d be customer support. Generally someone will only talk to customer support when they have a problem or a challenge, and if you can give them an amazing experience – you will almost certainly get a customer for life. You also now get the absolute BEST recommendations. Customer Relations/Support can be and should be the cornerstone of your businesses ideology.
Tweet at @5tales_aus and @alexschulz_7 with what you think business should learn from PokemonGO, and your thoughts on Public Relations vs Customer Service!
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