Unbelievably, Pokémon, the beloved Japanese phenomenon that’s spanned trading cards, video games, animated films and TV as well as AR experience, turns 30 next month. When its recent Natural History Museum pop-up sold out in minutes, it was proof that this isn’t just a franchise people remember fondly, but one people (like me) still actively show up for, three decades on.
I was a big Pokémon fan as a kid. Still am, if I’m honest and despite being in my 30s. Any time a friend or relative visits Japan, I somehow end up with a Pokémon plushie.
I think this is because I’ve always seen Pokémon as a shared experience with others. You battle. You trade. You lose badly and remember it forever. I once lost a Hitmonchan in a playground card game and, genuinely, it still hurts. Not because it was rare, but because it happened in front of my mates. Because, when you think about the brands you truly love, that fondness is often based on shared memories with others.
That’s the bit brands often underestimate. Pokémon didn’t build fandom by tailoring experiences to individuals, it understood early on that creating shared stakes embeds stronger emotional memories. That same logic shows up in the strongest fandoms, well beyond gaming.
Why collective awe builds lasting loyalty
From the very beginning, Pokémon nudged you towards other people. Two versions of the same game. Creatures you couldn’t get unless you traded. Progress that depended on someone else being involved. Those small choices turned a simple game into something social, and those interactions became memories that stuck.
When I was 12 my parents took us to Walt Disney World in Orlando. We refused to leave the hotel one morning because there was a Pokémon convention downstairs. My mum was livid.
It wasn’t about the cards themselves, but about being in a room full of people who cared just as much as you did. That shared intensity is what creates collective awe. You see the same thing in sport when a last-minute goal is scored in a packed stadium.
A lot of brands talk about personalisation like it’s the magic ingredient, but Pokémon shows that shared moments are what turn simple memories into lasting loyalty.
The live layer that turns fans from audiences into communities
If you played Pokémon Go in 2016, you’d remember walking down the street and spotting someone else stopped in their tracks. You’d catch their eye and instantly know why they were there.
Pokémon Go took something that had always lived on a screen and dropped it into real life. It gave fans what we call “The Live Layer” – something that grounds the experience in the here and now. This extra layer of spontaneity, surprise and human connection turns fans from observers into participants.
Over the years, Pokémon has kept finding new live layers, whether it's in playgrounds, parks or pop-ups, giving fans another reason to show up together.
Personalisation at scale, built around fan choice
What Pokémon has always done brilliantly is leave room for people to make it their own. Not everyone shows up in the same way. Some people watch the show. Some play casually. Others build entire lives around trading cards, tournaments and collections.
Even your favourite Pokémon becomes part of how you see yourself. Mine are Umbreon and Arcanine, which probably says more about me than I’d like to admit. Someone else might only collect water Pokémon, or already know they’d be a water-type gym leader. Those choices feel small, but they matter because they let people express who they are inside something shared.
Despite constantly evolving, Pokémon never loses its core. With hundreds of creatures and new ways to play, it keeps welcoming different kinds of fans without pushing older ones out. In this way, fans become co-authors of their experience with the brand.
What brands can learn, far beyond gaming
At 30, Pokémon still feels current because it keeps giving people reasons to turn up together, from playground card swaps to Pokémon GO raids and sold-out pop-ups.
In sports, the same dynamic explains why the Taylor Swift effect has pulled new audiences into the NFL. In fashion, cult brands like Dr Martens haven’t lasted by chasing trends, but by creating spaces where people recognise each other, make their own and feel like they belong.
Pokémon’s understood that for 30 years.
Dean Rodgers is the creative director at Studio Secret Cinema
Source: Campaign UK
