Duane Reade seeks to expand customer engagement with location-based game from Niantic Labs

New York -- Duane Reade announced that its 250 plus stores are integrating into Niantic Labs' new mobile game, Ingress. The drugstore chain is one of the first retail partners in the New York metropolitan area for "Ingress," which blends the physical and virtual world to create a one-of-a-kind gaming experience.



"Customer engagement strategy via location-based gaming has elevated to new levels and Duane Reade understands that", said Calvin Peters, PR/Online manager for Duane Reade. "Strategically engaging gamification experiences that utilize LBS platforms are becoming increasingly relevant as mobile concentration within the retail space continues to expand. It's important for us to be where our consumers are; including the virtual world. We're excited to have this opportunity to work with Niantic Labs at Google and participate in this exciting new endeavor while continuing to provide the best possible customer experience."



An Ingress logo is located on the front window of Duane Reade stores around the city signaling players of the company's participation and the existence of a value-added game asset located inside the store. Each asset will display its own unique code, which gives players a range of resources for playing the game including energy (XM), offensive and defensive game objects (resonators, weapons, shields) and possibly media objects. Each code may be used only once, but can be shared with each player's online community. As the game evolved, cooperation across neighborhoods, cities, and countries will be needed to achieve the ultimate victory for either faction.