Event Sentiment Scorecard (ESS):
Pokémon GO Fest

The Challenge

Pokémon GO Fest 2023 past through to the Big Apple, and provided thousands of Poképhiles a treasure trove of activities all around New York City. GO Fest 2023 was split into different experiences between two locations: Randall’s Island Park and throughout the boroughs of NYC. Niantic, the parent company of Pokémon and the organizers of the GO Fest, wanted to measure the sentiment of patrons attending the event. However, to properly understand the perceptions of target audiences, Niantic needed to examine the sentiment leading up to event as well as the actual days of GO Fest and then the weeks that followed.

Our Solution

We recommended to Niantic and their event marketing agency to consider our Event Sentiment Scorecard (ESS) program to measure the anticipation, enjoyment and evaluation of GO Fest in NYC. The scorecard would summarize player sentiment data examined from conversational dialog collected across the open web. The study would also provide audience demographics, influencer insights, and the identification of top shared content across various audience segments. Furthermore, the ESS would serve as a template model to measure ongoing GO Fests domestically and internationally.

The Results

The ESS captured actionable brand insights and revealed several options for Niantic to synthesize marketing strategies and outreach programs. Through our ESS scorecard analysis, Niantic recognized how certain audience segments and influencers impacted the event’s reputation. By monitoring future Pokémon events with ongoing ESS programs, Niantic will improve upon overall event marketing programs, enabling them to evolve the GO Fest’s ongoing communications strategy based on what is (or isn’t) working.