India today has the largest population of any country in the world and is a marvel of cultural diversity, its citizens speaking several hundred languages. It’s here, in this astonishingly diversified market, that Pokémon is currently taking up a new challenge.
The Pokémon Company‘s direct entry into India began in 2013, when we expanded the airing time and frequency of the “Pokémon” TV anime series and gradually increased its merchandising there accordingly. Over the subsequent 10 years, however, India achieved phenomenal development in synch with sustained population growth until, in 2023, it finally overtook China as home to the world’s largest population. Recognizing India’s amazing growth potential, in response we inaugurated our “Indian Marketing Office.”
In 2024, our involvement in India reached an inflection point with the start of airing of a new TV anime series. To compose the theme music for the series, we called on the popular Indian music team of Vishal and Shekhar. To sing the opening and ending titles, we in turn called on the vocal services of two of India’s most talented singers: Armaan Malik and Shirley Setia. The result was altogether sensational. Airing of the first episode in the series achieved No.1 in viewership rankings on no less than 900 local TV channels, and response to the broadcast engendered huge numbers of comments on social media expressing joy and expectations for the new series. And so began the embracement of Pokémon in India in earnest.
Immediately, we knew the time was right for creating opportunities where the people of India could connect with Pokémon in the real world. We began by holding “Pokémon Mela” events in major shopping malls. “Mela” means “festival” in Hindi, the most common of India’s local languages. At Pokémon Melas, visitors are treated to dance performances by Pikachu, and also are able to interact and have their picture taken with various Pokémon. The joy these events have generated has been palpable, and we ourselves have learned a great deal by holding them.
Another undertaking tailored to the Indian market has been our collaboration in the culture surrounding cricket, India’s most popular sport. Here, we entered into a partnership with the Mumbai Indians, a leading cricket team in the Indian Premier League based in the megalopolis of Mumbai in western India. For the 2024 season, we planned collaborative events held at all of the Mumbai Indians’ home games. In addition to distributing Pokémon stickers and keychains, we also set up booths where fans in attendance could meet Pikachu wearing the team’s uniform. On a specially held “Kids Day,” a phenomenal 15,000 children came to meet Pikachu.
Seeing the tremendous burgeoning enthusiasm shown for Pokémon in India, our staff in charge turned to considering how to spread the joy further in the Indian market. India presents challenges in terms of its unique and diverse cultures, customs, and ways of doing business, so deciding how to proceed from here will require continuous trials and errors. But from the reactions we have witnessed at the events already held, combined with the comments posted on social media, we know for certain that already there are large numbers of Pokémon fans in India. So our team in charge of marketing in India is more motivated than ever.
Besides sports, Pokémon is also making connections with India’s traditional culture. Coinciding with India’s “festival season” – which generally runs from September through December – we attire Pikachu in traditional saree and kurta. They appear on a variety of products for the local market offered by the Indian arm of Yakult, makers of probiotic lactic acid bacteria drinks, which are already well known in India, as well asstickers usable with social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook.
The India marketing team has gone to great lengths to ensure that all initiatives in the Indian market strictly conform with the local culture while simultaneously maintaining essential parts of the Pokémon world. The people of India are widely known for their free expression of joy. Going forward, working closely with local staff, Pokémon will continue planning ever more new fun ways to bring smiles of joy to India’s diverse peoples of all ages.
