Post Malone and Katy Perry celebrate Pokémon’s 25th anniversary

As a brand, Pokémon knows how to make a splash. Ever since Pokémon launched with the brand’s first video games in 1996, generations of fans have traded cards, made the video games bestsellers and devoured its TV shows. But as the brand’s milestone 25th anniversary approached in 2021, Pokémon executives knew they needed to one-up even themselves.

The brand’s 25th anniversary goals were trifold: introduce Pokémon as a cultural force to potential new fans, re-engage existing fans around the world and introduce the latest evolutions of the franchise and its experiences in a fun, inviting way.

“The product side introduces new and exciting video games to keep the enfranchised fandom excited,” said Daniel Benkwitt, Pokémon’s director of communications. “And the Pokémon international team had developed a really great program of products for that year. Our job was to bring those to life.”

At the same time, Universal Music Group had been building out a virtual network that can allow far-flung fans the chance to attend the same virtual concerts, pop-up shops and other specialty activations, all from their own corners of the globe. Sensing a mutually beneficial partnership that could play up the best of both brands, Pokémon and UMG for Brands teamed up to break new ground, in collaboration with MediaCom Creative Systems.

Reaching new fans through established mediums

"Together with our great agency partners, we came to the Pokémon team with an idea to create a full Pokémon-inspired album from a variety of our frontline artists, both in the U.S. and internationally,” said Bridget Ferris, VP at UMG for Brands. “We knew we had artists who had an authentic connection to Pokémon, could write songs inspired by its rich world and could hit on a lot of the themes that Pokémon shares and champions—things like discovery, exploration and teamwork."

Universal Music Group made a point to rally its international artists from across its range of labels for the project and incorporate brand touchpoints that longtime fans would appreciate, such as releasing Red and Blue extended play records, mirroring Pokémon’s long history of dual video game title releases, beginning with the first Pokémon Red and Blue games. The result was “Pokémon 25: The Album,” a 14-track concept album released by Capitol that featured songs in English, Spanish, French and Japanese. The songs were dropped in a waterfall release strategy, where a string of singles is issued, each one building upon an EP or album as they’re released.

The first single was an anthemic number by pop superstar Katy Perry about believing in yourself and following your dreams. Called “Electric,” it was inspired by the electricity of Perry’s music video costar and game species character Pikachu.

Other artists like Colombian rapper and reggaeton artist J Balvin, singer Mabel and EDM producer Zhu contributed original tracks, while hip-hop artists like Tierra Whack and Lil Yachty were able to bring their own fandom to the project. “I’ve always been a huge Pokémon fan,” said Yachty, whose song “Believing” name-dropped classic Pokémon characters like Charmander and Jigglypuff, “and I jumped at the opportunity to be on the album.”

Virtual innovation

In a move that surprised music and Pokémon fans alike, UMG’s Republic Records artist Post Malone, a multiplatinum superstar known for blending genres, chose to cover a 25-year-old hit, “Only Wanna Be With You” by Hootie & the Blowfish. Not only did his unexpected cover wow, but the virtual concert that UMG put together with Pokémon’s animation team “felt really different from what other platforms or companies were doing at the time,” Ferris said. Broadcast on February 27, a fan-driven holiday known as Pokémon Day, the reality motion-capture technology put Malone into the Pokémon landscape, elevating the concert beyond another basic, pandemic-necessitated live stream.

“Pokémon Day is usually our biggest news reveal for new products and video games,” Benkwitt said, “but to cap it off with a virtual concert—we've never done something like that before. Unlocking that world and to have Post Malone be in it was truly a unique piece of content to help kick off this campaign in a truly meaningful way.”

Malone’s video racked up 15 million YouTube views and hit No. 1 on Spotify’s charts. The activation became the centerpiece of Pokémon’s 25th anniversary campaign, which went on to win gold at 2021’s Cannes Lions.

The wrap

In terms of numbers, the 25th anniversary album’s songs, videos, posts and concert generated 6.5 billion impressions and engaged with more than 70 million old and new fans over the course of its year-long release. It won seven Clios, not to mention a digital campaign Webby.

For Benkwitt and team Pokémon, the year-long activation was authentic and unexpected from beginning to end, while it affirmed for Ferris and UMG just how widely their artists resonate.

“We walked away from this program saying that was a huge celebration and a huge moment for the brand on the world stage, and a hugely important year for us,” Benkwitt said. “Unequivocally, it just delivered at absolutely every moment.”