When Sprint partnered with Pokémon GO, with the intention to lure fans of the game into more than 10,500 of its stores, they knew they were about to enter into a whole new world of gaming.
Aside from the impressive amount of gamers, (an estimated 750 million app downloads) the Pokémon GO community is hardcore, and Sprint realized they needed to build a platform that matched the quality of the game, as well as content that would resonate with its players.
With that in mind, Sprint set out to look for a partner to build the first and only Pokémon GO rewards program that would help meet their goals of connecting with avid players and build credibility as the exclusive wireless partner of Pokémon GO while building brand engagement, increasing retail traffic and gross adds.
With 65 million monthly players, Pokémon GO has become a worldwide phenomenon. When Sprint came to Razz Interactive to find how they can best leverage this partnership, Razz proposed tapping into gamification. It would be a way to both – appeal to the Pokémon GO community while at the same time engage their core customer base by rewarding them in a fun way.
Our strategy was to create a gamified rewards program open to everyone in the U.S., centered around Pokémon GO, to regularly engage players with exclusive Sprint offers, contests, content and more. Players do not have to be a Sprint customer or Pokémon GO player.
Using Razz Interactive's proprietary rewards platform we launched Sprint Trainer Rewards – a program where players (Trainers) can earn and redeem points online and participate at local and national events for exclusive prizes. By registering, Trainers are prompted to join one of Pokémon GO's teams: Team Instinct, Team Mystic or Team Valor to get an extra 1,000 points.
Trainer activities to earn points activate players on Pokémon GO, like reaching a certain level, catching Pokémon at Sprint stores and more. Other ways Trainers can earn points is by performing activities to learn more about Sprint offers like visiting Sprint's website, watching videos and switching to Sprint.
New activities and prizes are constantly being updated, keeping Trainers engaged each week.
Sprint Trainer Rewards also features a real-time Leaderboard showing Trainers who are battling for the most points to make it to the top, encouraging players to continue participating to win even more points!
Once Trainers reach a certain amount of points, they can redeem them to receive amazing prizes like the Samsung Galaxy 8, iPhone 7 Plus, Pokémon GO Plus, Nintendo Switch Game System, Samsung 52" TV, Apple Watch, exclusive Pokémon wallpapers, mobile accessories, gift cards as well as gain valuable tips from Pokémon GO's Professor Willow.
Pokémon GO local activations were one of Sprint's top priorities for 2017. Luckily, our proprietary platform's integrated backend and frontend experience allowed for Sprint to independently plan and activate events all across the US.
Our turnkey solution gave Sprint store employees nationwide access to easily add events, and an automatic RSVP mechanism that allowed Trainers to RSVP right from their account! The Events integration allowed for a simple check-in process for store associates making their experience, as well as event attendees, seamless and enjoyable.
Local store events included contests catching the most Pokémon, scavenger hunts, Pokémon GO Gym Battles and even National Store events for chances to win grand prizes like the Sprint/Pokémon GO to Japan Sweepstakes, Halloween sweepstakes, and even an exclusive Phone Skins Giveaway for anyone who RSVPed to an event and claimed their prize at a Sprint store!
Grand Prizes included a 5-night trip to Japan and to attend the Pikachu Outbreak with $6,250 worth of gift cards to spend.
In just 9 months, Sprint Trainer Rewards had over 1 billion points awarded with more than 766 thousand prizes that were redeemed!
There were over 22 million activities completed surpassing our goal per week per user by 108%!
There was also 36 million views of Sprint branded messages.
The program was open to all Pokemon GO players in the US regardless of carrier, and over 60% of members were not Sprint customers.
Traffic to the site was completely organic without any paid support. All media was owned or through word of mouth. Trainers were visiting the site regularly with 71% of traffic being direct.
The program generated tons of shares and referrals (17%) coming from Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, YouTube, and even Pokemongohub.net surpassing our goal by 240%!
Dozens of Reddit forums were created, generating thousands of comments about Trainer Rewards Updates and new Prizes.
Sprint had a total of 75 events that took place across the US in 2017 and five national fan engagement programs, including the Japan Flyaway Sweepstakes which alone had over 700K entries.
