Bernstein-Rein Hosts a ‘Plaza Poké Crawl’

By Erik Oster 

Plaza Poke CrawlKansas City agency Bernstein-Rein is going all in on the Pokémon Go craze. And yes, they are pitching this to us.

The agency’s digital and social teams noticed that its headquarters’ building and immediate surroundings were hot spots for Pokémon Go stops so they decided to make the most of it, hosting a “Plaza Poké Crawl” while also admitting on the event’s Facebook page that they’ve “all played Pokémon Go at the office this week.”

The “Plaza Poké Crawl” begins at Bernstein-Rein today at 3:45 and follows a route around the surrounding Country Club Plaza to hit up gyms, Pokéstops and bars along the way. Because it wouldn’t be an agency event without drinking, “there might be Pokéshots and Pikabombs involved.” We’re told there’s also a Mexican restaurant nearby, so Pokéburritos and Pikachilaquilles may be involved as well.

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Yesterday the Wall Street Journal informed us that agencies everywhere are “scrambling” to come up with Pokemon strategies beyond mentioning the game in a tweet. As editor Mike Shields put it, “Clients to agencies: should we make a Pokemon Go? Also, what is that?”

Don’t worry, though: people will tire of this latest trend soon enough once the fake “Man dies while playing Pokemon” and the (allegedly) real “People are playing Pokemon at Auschwitz, FFS” stories stop trending on the Facebook.

“The marketing implications for Pokémon Go are vast, and in order for us to be experts and leaders for our clients and their brands, we need to immerse ourselves and our employees in this and other digital cultural happenings,” explained Bernstein-Rein senior vice president, digital experience director Pamela Sandler, framing the event as strategic and totally not just an excuse for ad folks to play Pokémon Go all afternoon.

That’s cool, we get it. As long as there’s alcohol.

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