A year ago, Unibail-Rodamco launched a partnership which would delight millions of Pokémon lovers across Europe. With this pioneering experience, visitors of the centres could go Pokémon hunting while enjoying an enhanced shopping centre experience.

In December 2016, Unibail-Rodamco and Niantic, Inc. entered into an exclusive partnership in Europe to offer visitors of the shopping centres an augmented reality experience through in-mall activations and in-game specific content.

For the first time, Pokémon GO trainers and fans had the opportunity to play Pokémon GO and visit the 1,000 new PokéStops and Gyms distributed over 58 of the Group’s shopping centres. For a year, millions of players have moved towards these centres to play and enjoy Pokémon GO marketing activities, release of new features and exclusive in-game content.

Catching rare Pokémon during special events

Throughout the months, specific events have been scheduled in the centres, gathering together thousands of people passionate about the game.

The biggest and most popular event, the ‘Safari Zone’, took place in September and October. This was also the first official Pokémon GO event in Europe. For players, Unibail-Rodamco turned seven of its shopping centres into the best places to play together. The event was a huge success: all available 22,000 tickets were sold out in less than 5 minutes.

Unibail-Rodamco’s visitors also took part in ‘Community Days’, which are monthly events during which trainers can gather together to catch rare Pokémon. Recently, on February 24, the ‘Community Day’ brought together again Pokémon fans in nine of Unibail-Rodamco’s shopping centres, featuring special gifts and team lounges to meet other Trainers.

All these events are transforming Unibail-Rodamco’s centres into places to play and have fun. This gamification of centres creates opportunities for people of all ages to gather together around their love for Pokémon. Unibail-Rodamco is very proud to partner with a ‘love brand’ like Pokémon GO, which considerably reinforces the attractiveness of its centres and creates attachment, by welcoming new visitors.

Enhancing customer experience with Pokémon GO

The partnership with Pokémon GO reflects Unibail-Rodamco’s ambition to offer its customers the best experience possible, in order to make its centres always more engaging and pleasant.

As the partnership with Pokémon GO illustrates, Unibail-Rodamco, and in particular its innovation incubator UR Lab, wants to bring a new form of entertainment to its centres, making them friendlier and more enjoyable places where people can spend time, have fun and meet each other.

One way of doing it is through virtual and augmented reality, which represents a potential market of $108 billion by 2021*. This partnership between Unibail-Rodamco and Niantic, Inc. is the proof that the inclusion of augmented reality within the centres succeeds in attracting new audiences.

The Group will continue its effort to offer its visitors the best experience possible, through innovative game solutions and the use of revolutionary technology, in order to be an always more inspiring leader in innovation.

* Source: McKinsey, January 2017