The Situation: When Pokémon Go became available to download in the United States, the mobile app exploded in ways nobody could have imagined. On August 1st, 2016, the app hit one million downloads and, as of September 7, 2016, the app had been downloaded over 500 million times. Almost everybody with a mobile app was playing the augmented reality game and catching Pokémon everywhere. With its popularity, Ellipses knew it had found a way to utilize the craze to benefit its clients.

The Solution: Patxi’s Pizza was the perfect fit to take advantage of the Pokémon Go craze, and Ellipses recommended the client immediately launch a social media campaign. A contest was deployed on Instagram, enticing people to visit any of Patxi’s Pizza’s 17 restaurants in California, Washington, or Colorado to catch Pokémon. If a customer caught a Pokemon, posted on Instagram and tagged Patxi’s Pizza, they would win a $25 gift card. The gift card prize was available to the first 10 people who posted on social media.

The Results: Within one week, all 10 prizes were claimed. During that week, Patxi’s Pizza’s Pokémon Go related posts received 244 engagements and 3,885 impressions, and the page grew by 233 fans that week alone. Additionally, Patxi’s Pizza received three media hits directly related to the Pokémon Go contest, including Bay Area Buzz, Parachute and the Mercury News, making a compelling case for integrating social and earned media campaigns.