Back in 2014, Nintendo celebrated a new Pikachu distribution event by having 1000 Pikachu appear in Yokohama Minatomirai. Not 1000 actual Pickachu, but there will boats and Ferris wheels wrapped with Pikachu, Pikachu-themed cottages, and the like. Area visitors were able to download the new version of the character to Pokémon X or Y, and varied slightly depending on what part of the park it was downloaded in. Not to mention loads of giveaways. It sounded like an enormous marketing effort on the part of Ninendo, but one they can easily afford, given the property’s longevity and success.
This drew hundreds of thousands of fans, and Nintendo was able to run some press releases later touting how many people attended events in person, and how many downloaded which Pikachu, and generally try to show just how many people were interested in Pokémon these days. It’s all boils down to marketing. It’s a very expensive and elaborate campaign reminscent of the old “I’m a Pepper, he’s a Pepper, she’s a Pepper, wouldn’t you like to be a Pepper too” commercials.
So if this is just a big ad campaign, why is it relevant to a discussion about fans and fandom?
If you think about it, most modern fandoms are commercial at their base level. The people producing the things you enjoy—whether that’s video games, sports, movies, comics, music, whatever—are doing so in order to make a living. Even if their product is free to you, the consumer, they’re trying to earn money in what they do. Maybe it’s by selling advertising space, maybe they’re giving away one product to entice you to spend money on another, maybe they’re giving away their wares and simply asking for donations, maybe they’re providing you with free materials now in the hopes that they’ll find a way to earn money later. Regardless of their specific approach, part of that includes interacting with fans. Both in terms of strategy as well as tactics.
And from the other side of the fence, that’s why it’s critical to look at who fans are. To find out precisely who they are and why they respond the way they do. It’s a bit cynical, but it also serves to allow someone creating this content to tailor it to their audience and make it a better experience for them. Will Nintendo sell more games because someone saw Pikachu on the side of a bus the same day they saw him on a water fountain or plastered on the side of a building? I expect that would be an almost impossible number to quantify, but I'm sure the success of that 2014 event will inform the IP's impending 30th anniversary in 2026. I don't doubt that many, many plans are already underway and, despte being an explictly capitalist approach, it will -- like before -- bring some entertainment and joy to fans. New, current and lapsed.
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