Letting a Brand Grow

In the age of nostalgia, a lot of consumers are desperate to hold onto their childhoods and the brands that defined them, while a lot of brands are balancing the act of catering to older consumers with the growth that comes from reaching newer ones. This has led to brands seemingly spreading themselves too thin, being accused both of capitalizing on nostalgia and of losing sight of what they used to be.

This can apply to so many different companies and franchises, from Disney to Instagram, but this idea first came to me when I was watching yet another YouTube video ranting about the death of the Pokémon video game franchise. The video was accusing Game Freak, the company that produces these games, of putting more effort into other projects and letting its Pokémon intellectual property (IP) decline in quality over time.

As a diehard fan for the last 25 years, I have to admit I agreed with the video at first, but when I thought about it from a business standpoint, I saw the situation differently. I know that if I were working on the same IP for 30 years, essentially being forced to pump out different versions of the same product every year or two, I would get burnt out pretty easily, and I think a lot of companies would feel stagnant, and their employees would feel stifled. I can understand why Game Freak would choose to put more effort into other projects. Growth and transformation are essential to helping a company thrive.

As a consumer, I've also slowly been coming to terms with the fact that I am no longer a part of Game Freak's target audience for their Pokémon games. I've been playing them since I was seven years old, and I'm now 30. It's impressive that a game franchise was able to hold my attention for as long as it did, but these games are not exclusively made for adults. I have a lot of gripes with the newer games, but I've accepted that the reason I have so many complaints is because they weren't made for me, and that's ok. The art style, play style, and mechanics that appealed to my generation don't necessarily appeal to their newer generations of players. As a franchise for children, they have the difficult task of understanding the future and current generations of children and adapting to what would appeal to them.

I talk a lot about how branding is relationship building between brands and consumers. Relationships go both ways, and while, yes, I agree that oftentimes brands do either capitalize on nostalgia or sell out, I think it's also important for early adopters to support their favorite brands by letting them grow, change, and adapt in order to appeal to a wider audience. One can appreciate what a brand meant to them at a certain point in time and also appreciate that others now and in the future might connect to that brand in different ways.