Pokémon has a loyal fan base but saw an opportunity to reach a much larger audience by leveraging its 25th anniversary.

The brief asked us to explore how Pokémon could further solidify itself as a mainstay in pop culture.

The objectives were to drive increased brand sentiment & relevancy among a broad consumer target and raise global awareness of the 25th anniversary and the brand’s continued prominence.

Pokémon 25 was a yearlong, global musical experience in celebration of Pokémon's 25th anniversary, starring real Pokémon fans who were also the hottest names in music.

At the center was a concept album: 12 iconic artists from around the world created 15 original tracks in four different languages, inspired by their love and memories of Pokémon.

An integrated campaign was designed to involve fans at every touchpoint throughout the whole year to optimize buzz and excitement for the year-end drop of the full album: from teasers, behind-the-scenes videos, song releases and music videos, to artist social posts, a virtual concert, OOH, PR and merchandise.

Real fans (who were also the hottest names in music), turned music fans, into Pokémon fans.

Pokémon has a loyal fan base but saw an opportunity to reach a much larger audience by leveraging its 25th anniversary.

The goal was to explore how Pokémon could further solidify itself as a mainstay in pop culture.

The objectives were to drive increased brand sentiment & relevancy among a broad consumer target and raise global awareness of the 25th anniversary and the brand’s continued prominence.

The love of music is universal, cutting across and uniting people across geographies, generations, and cultures around the world.

So our strategy was to align the brand with one of the most unifying forces of pop-culture — music — and collaborate with artists that had global appeal and an authentic connection to the brand.

We partnered with 12 iconic artists from around the world, who created 15 original tracks, inspired by their love and memories of Pokémon.

A carefully developed yearlong experience was designed to optimize hype and conversation around each song release and eventual year-end drop of the full album.

In January a People Magazine Exclusive created buzz about the Katy Perry partnership.

Post Malone officially got the party started on Pokémon Day (February 27th) with a virtual concert.

In May, Katy partnered with Pikachu.

In July, Mabel partnered with Jigglypuff, taking the party to Europe.

In August Louanne dropped a song with French lyrics.

In September Cyn and Vince Staples paid homage to the original Pokémon games with remixes by DJ Zhu.

In November J Balvin partnered with Ash.

The yearlong integrated campaign was punctuated with the release of Pokémon 25: The Album, on streaming services, CD and vinyl.

An authentic yearlong musical celebration with a concept album at its heart sparked conversation and brand love, turning Pokémon's 25th anniversary into a cultural phenomena.

The combination of these forces of pop culture resulted in unprecedented levels of earned media across the music eco-system, from linear radio to the major music portals.

220 million streams

8B+ impressions

70 million users engaged

Pokémon song debuted #1 on Spotify

Most importantly, 70% of those who were not fans of Pokémon, originally, became brand advocates.