Pokémon 30: 3 Reasons Behind Its 30-Year Retail Success

Video Description

Hi everyone!

Because style is my favorite subject, today I want to talk about the retail strategy behind the success of one of my favorite franchises: Pokémon.

Pokémon’s ability to last 30 years is not just because of its adorable creatures and brilliant artwork, but also because of its market position, retail channels, and rollout strategy.

I hope this video helps you think more deeply about the legitimacy of Pokémon’s success and how its strategy can be applied to other areas of the retail industry.

I really enjoyed making this video, and I hope you enjoy watching it.

Video Transcriptions

Hi everyone, I'm Joshua Miller and welcome to my YouTube channel. And because style is my favorite subject, today I want to talk about a franchise that turns 30 years old this year. And that franchise as a Pokémon franchise. In this video specifically, I'm going to be highlighting three main components that I think have contributed to Pokemon success over the last 30 years and why I think Pokémon is going to exist for another 30.

The first thing that the Pokemon franchise does really well is maintain a broad market appeal. While Pokémon has always had a very strong core devoted fan base, something that I feel like people don't often realize is that Pokemon has a very strong casual fan base as well. Whether it's playing a video game once every couple of years or opening a pack just for fun that you bought in the check out at a grocery store or watching an episode of an anime because it happens to be on television, Pokémon is really, really good at having that casual audience while also having a very, very strong core fan base. And both of these things help the other one grow.

Having people that are casual everyday enjoyers of Pokémon helps legitimize and validate the people that are in the core strong fan base. While having people that are in the core strong fan base helps serve as a backdoor funnel or marketing agent for people to become a casual fan. And I just think this is really cool because in marketing there's a phrase that marketing to everyone is marketing to no one. But that doesn't apply to the Pokemon company. Pokemon is able to have people that are on the surface and also have people that are all the way at the bottom of the ocean. And both of these communities have helped Pokémon thrive in different ways, but I just think it's really cool that they're able to hold both at the same time and gain respect in both ways.

The second thing that the Pokemon franchise does really well is have multiple channels that are all feeding into each other at the same time. So, as you may know, the Pokémon franchise consists of three main vehicles, and those are the video games, the card games, and the anime. And this has helped Pokémon stay in business for several reasons. The first is that it allows Pokémon to stay diversified. No matter what is cool at one time, the Pokémon Company is able to survive because they don't have all of their eggs in one basket. They always have the income from the other channels in order to keep themselves afloat.

And I feel like this is a really good thing because it helps Pokémon stay relevant. And it also helps Pokémon have multiple ways of getting people into the franchise. And once they're there, it has multiple things that are sitting there and ready to sell to them. In my personal experience, I wasn't always a fan of the Pokemon anime. I got into the anime because of the video games. But once I got into the anime, I started liking the video games even more. And it created this beautiful loop of because I was consuming one thing, I became more interested in the other. And because of this, I just stayed a Pokémon consumer for a very long time. And I think this is really cool because it shows how having different channels to acquire and maintain customers can not only help you bring in new customers, it can also help you maintain them as well.

And the other thing that's really clever about this is that it allows the Pokémon Company to try things on a smaller scale before expanding it to their broader community. While all of the elements of the Pokémon franchise are always in general a part of the same timeline and are usually moving together, they aren't synced up exactly, which is really smart from a business perspective. And this is because it allows them to test things at a small scale without affecting every single one of their income streams. And this just helps them make sure that they don't end up shooting themselves in the foot when they commit to the theme or a major era for the next couple of years.

And the third and final thing that the Pokemon franchise does really well, in my opinion, is that it's really good at continuously evolving and using that evolution to increase its own value. The Pokemon franchise goes through a generation or an era every single 3 to 5 years. And this is a really good thing because it keeps fans of the franchise interested. It's easy to keep customers continuing to buy your products if they can usually expect there to be something new, just because it gives them something to always come back for, if at least out of curiosity. And the other benefit of this continuous evolution is that it increases the perceived value of anything that they're doing within a given moment.

So, for example, Pokémon cards or video games of today are seen as more valuable because customers know they're not going to be on the shelves forever. And not only are they not going to be on the shelves forever, they're often going to grow in value over time, because once the Pokemon generation becomes something of the past, the Pokemon franchise is going to stop making the things from that era. And as people become more nostalgic for it, it's going to increase in value. And the other thing that I love about this is that it helps promote the legitimacy of the thing, not only in the past, but in the present as well. Since people know that Pokémon cards from 10 or 20 years ago are valuable, that helps people think of Pokemon cards from today as important because I know that these are things that are eventually going to be of value. And I just think that that's really cool and that's a really clever way of positioning yourself in the marketplace, which is just another cool thing that the Pokémon Company does that I feel like a lot of businesses could take note of.

So, there you have three elements of the Pokémon franchise that I not only find really cool, but I think have helped it live for 30 years. And I hope that this shows you that Pokemon existing for 30 years isn't by accident. It's not just because the characters are cool. It's because the system that sells them is designed very, very well in a way that keeps customers coming back for more and keeps Pokémon as a culturally relevant entity. And as a retail professional, I just find that really inspiring.

And if you like this video, make sure to give it a thumbs up and hit the subscribe button down below. And let me know, are there any things that I missed? The Pokemon franchise is just so smart in so many ways. So, I'm bound to miss something and I'm really excited to hear your guys' perspective.

And outside of all the retail and business stuff, are there any things that you excited for in Pokémon's 30th year? Or do you have a favorite Pokemon generation? I know I for one really love the Univa generation, but I always love hearing what people tend to gravitate towards.

But most importantly, make sure to have a wonderful day and thank you so much for watching.

Okay. Wait. So, when I'm talking like this, you can't see it in my glasses, right? Okay. I'm just going to try it and see how it goes. Hi, everyone. Oh, wait. I need to clap. There we go. Okay. Hi everyone.

---

If you want to be the first to know all things Joshua Miller Style, be sure to subscribe to my email list below! Email subscribers get first access to my blog content and receive special messages from me on what I'm interested in, what you're interested in, and what I'm planning for future posts. So, if you want a weekly reminder to live with style, confidence, and enthusiasm, make sure to click the link below to sign up!

You can also follow me on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube at the handles below!

Instagram: @__joshuamiller

TikTok: @__joshuamiller

YouTube: @joshuamillerstyle

SUBSCRIBE