Pokémon Go vs Growth Hacking

Pokémon Go flies in the face of everything we’ve learned. As of the time of writing this post:

1. Pokémon Go sends zero push notifications.
2. Pokémon Go does not ask to upload your address book to find or invite friends.
3. Pokémon Go does not have any (virtual) social mechanics.
4. Pokémon Go has a shop, but it never asks you to buy anything. The game does not become frustrating without purchases.
5. Pokémon Go does not have any concept of game stamina or fatigue.
6. Pokémon Go is not stable and crashes constantly.
7. Pokémon Go has not been featured in either US app store.

And yet, Pokémon Go is the most downloaded app in a first week, ever, and it continues to shatter records and expectations.

For this app, strength of brand and product-market fit is everything. Traditional growth strategies be damned.

Sources:

• https://www.appannie.com/apps/google-play/app/com.nianticlabs.pokemongo/app-ranking/
• https://www.appannie.com/apps/ios/app/pokemon-go/features/#device=iphone&date=2016-07-06
• https://www.appannie.com/apps/google-play/app/com.nianticlabs.pokemongo/rank-history/#vtype=day&countries=US&start_date=2016-07-05&end_date=2016-07-23&view=rank&lm=7
• https://www.appannie.com/apps/ios/app/pokemon-go/rank-history/#vtype=day&countries=US&start_date=2016-07-05&end_date=2016-07-23&device=iphone&view=rank&lm=3
• https://techcrunch.com/2016/07/22/apple-says-pokemon-go-is-the-most-downloaded-app-in-its-first-week-ever/