The Pokémon Company Earns ‘Viral Badge’ with Nostalgia Marketing

If you didn’t know, the Pokémon franchise recently turned 23! The phenomenon has lived through decades of games and television shows and is about to deliver fans its first live-action movie. People who haven’t caught them all, or never caught these trends the first time around, now have a second chance.

The Pokémon Company recaptured the attention of the tech-savvy generation with their release of Pokémon Go in 2016. At the time, the company was still releasing games with Nintendo (which owns a small stake in The Pokémon Company), but the titles weren’t selling like they used to. Then, they swapped the Game Boys and DSs for an advanced device almost everyone has: the smartphone. This adaptation allowed old and new players to fall in love with the franchise all over again. According to CNBC, “Pokémon Go had a halo impact on existing Nintendo hardware and software and led to an increase in 3DS sales and related Pokémon games.”

The spiked interest in the Pokémon franchise encouraged Nintendo to come out with even more games featuring the powerful creatures on their newest device, the Nintendo Switch. And as an additional result of Pokémon’s gaming success, Warner Bros. greenlit the live-action movie Detective Pikachu—sending the creatures on their biggest digital quest yet.

The second official trailer for Detective Pikachu earned Warner Bros. and The Pokémon Company what I like to call their “Viral Badge”. In less than a day, the ad started trending on Twitter. On YouTube, the video quickly garnered over 7 million views and climbed to the #1 spot on the trending page. Along with playing on the strong Pokémon brand recognition, the movie also boasts Ryan Reynolds (whose career has skyrocketed over the last few years) as the voice of Pikachu.

Following up the trailer, The Pokemon Company released titles and graphics for their new, highly anticipated Nintendo Switch games (Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield). The franchise gave their followers these cleverly marketed, neatly packaged gifts. Now, social media networks are filled with throwback pictures celebrating their 23rd birthday tagged with #PokemonDay, and showcasing the new games and movie trailer tagged with #PokemonSwordShield and #DetectivePikachu.

The Pokémon Company couldn’t have created a better birthday celebration. Recognizing that nostalgia is the way to any millennial’s heart, the company is taking full advantage and using the decades-old franchise to land another audience-expanding hit—this time at the box office.