Pokémon is a franchise that began as a video game, but over time, it has evolved tremendously. What started with Pokémon Green and Pokémon Red in February 1996 is now one of the largest entertainment brands in the world, and they have even launched products related to well-being. With that in mind, what comes next? We spoke with the Chief Operating Officer of The Pokémon Company to find out, and there's good news for those who enjoy projects like Pokémon GO and Pokémon Sleep.
As part of our coverage of the Pokémon World Championships 2023, we had the opportunity at LEVEL UP to participate in a group interview with Takato Utsunomiya, Chief Operating Officer of The Pokémon Company. There, we asked him about what the next step for Pokémon was after it evolved from a video game into an entertainment brand with well-being products.
"The main idea was to bring Pokémon into people's daily lives."
The first thing Utsunomiya made clear to us is that, contrary to what might be thought, projects like Pokémon GO or Pokémon Sleep were not born with the aim of creating health or well-being products. Rather, they were ideas that emerged while thinking about new ways for fans to interact with their Pokémon and thus integrate these creatures even more into their daily lives.
"The main idea was to bring Pokémon into people's daily lives and make their love for Pokémon grow or get more people interested in the series, thus expanding the overall fan base. That was the idea behind the products instead of [trying to enter the health or well-being market]," said Utsunomiya.
While the future of Pokémon might not necessarily revolve around health applications, Utsunomiya did make it clear that they want to continue along a similar path as Pokémon GO and Pokémon Sleep. In other words, The Pokémon Company's intention is to find ideas and collaborations that surprise adult fans and allow Pokémon to remain a part of their daily lives.
"Pokémon started 27 years ago; people who first played these games at the age of 10 are now 37, for example. There are many people in different industries and companies who grew up with Pokémon and still love it. There are plenty of opportunities to work with a wide variety of different sectors, and as an entertainment brand, we need to astonish people and bring them experiences and things they don't expect. I think there's a lot of potential to find these kinds of collaborations or combinations with different things to deliver these unexpected experiences to people," he concluded.
Where will these efforts lead? We'll have to wait to find out. However, what seems like a certainty by now is that Pokémon will continue to seek ways to integrate into our daily lives, thus continuing to connect the world through these creatures.
And you, in what other sector would you like to see Pokémon venture into? Tell us in the comments.
Comments
Best
New