Herengracht 520, 1017CC, Amsterdam, The Netherlands www.global-bridges.eu

Pocket Monsters a.k.a. Pokémon

Pokémon• First appeared in the “Game” industry (Gameboy) in 1996 and soon became

popular among elementary school kids. • TV animation started in April 1997 in Japan. Soon became popular in Asia, US

as well as in Europe. TV with new episodes still running even today in Japan.• Total number of characters: 719 characters and counting.• 230 million game softwares were sold around the world. • The Pokémon market grew to include all sort of merchandizes such as:

trading cards (which ignited the trading card trend, sold in 73 countries, a total of 20 billion cards), plush toys, apparel, books, sweets, etc.

Pokemon: what’s so special?• Appearance – adorable,

approachable, unique yet simple and cute voice

• Lots of characters!• RPG (Role-playing Game) concept • Successful media-mix approach

=> Game led to successful merchandizing opportunity: Worldwide merchandize sales (including game software) is more than 4 trillion YEN = EUR 30 billion