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What happens when brands that were once childhood staples, such as Pokémon, evolve alongside their original audience? Things get weird.
meet me by the grown man wearing a Ditto costume
Fancy attending a rave dressed as Pikachu? How about a giant Poké Ball?
When the first Pokémon games were released in 1996 for the Game Boy, nobody could have predicted the sheer absurdity of their success. Thirty years later, the brand is worth an estimated $250 billion USD, breaking records in 2025 as the ‘highest-grossing media franchise of all time.’ Such staggering numbers have inevitably led to a plethora of spinoff media, such as trading cards, television shows, toys, and much more.
What you may not expect to see is official, actual Pokémon raves being hosted at major city venues. Yes, real, licensed electronic dance music concerts that encourage adult guests to dress up as their favourite Pokémon are finding audiences amongst Gen Zers and millennials. The most recent one took place at London’s O2 arena and saw ticketgoers dressed in ‘sexy’ reimaginings of brand staples like Pikachu, Team Rocket, and more.
This expansion into more grown-up spaces is part of Pokémon’s wider strategy to maintain its Gen Z and millennial consumers who grew up on the original video games. The franchise has ventured into luxury fashion, collaborating with high-end brands like Fendi in 2024, for example, dropped extremely profitable collector’s items that can be sold for eye-watering amounts of cash, and hosted live experiences alongside music events such as competitive tournaments and limited exhibition runs. There is a clear, deliberate effort being made to retain lifelong fans, especially now that many are adults with disposable income and a willingness to part with seriously large sums for exclusive items.
Other big names have followed a similar business model. LEGO has evolved its product offerings to appease older collectors that spend hundreds or even thousands on complicated, large items.
Research by YPulse found that LEGO is the most popular toy brand amongst men and women from their early teenage years all the way up to 39, making its appeal widespread and cross-generational. This is reflected in its toy offerings; subsections like LEGO Botanicals and LEGO Architecture cater to design enthusiasts and interior decorators. Gen Z and millennials are more comfortable with ‘childish’ hobbies and brands remaining a staple in their lives as they age compared to Gen X and boomers, a reflection of the success that comes with this long-term marketing approach.
Looking across the toy industry, it’s a similar story for many other brands. Barbie has increasingly shifted toward fashion, identity, empowerment, and pop culture, ensuring that fans continue to engage well beyond purchasing a doll. The 2023 film explored broad themes of feminism, identity, motherhood, humanity, and even corporate satire, recontextualising the Barbie name and bringing in a far wider range of consumers across the spectrum, both in terms of age and gender.
What does this mean for the future of generational marketing, particularly toys and games? It’s clear that young adults have largely shed the societal expectation to ‘move on’ from the franchises they enjoyed as children, with major brands like Harry Potter, Star Wars, Hello Kitty, and the ones we’ve mentioned here all capitalising on sustained fan bases that last well beyond their formative years. GTA VI is about to be the biggest media release of all time, no doubt in part thanks to the childhood association that many thirty-somethings have toward the franchise (though they technically shouldn’t have been paying as children).
It’s obvious that gaming, toys, and intellectual properties originally intended for a specific demographic are finding unprecedented success by expanding and retaining their audiences. It might make Gen X roll their eyes, or accuse Gen Z of never growing up, but that attitude feels outdated and dismissive — the numbers don’t lie, after all. Pokémon raves at the London O2, of all places, should be indication enough that brands have improved their generational marketing beyond just childhood.
See also:
- Is TikTok shaping Gen Z’s eating habits with new ‘Must Eat’ feature?
- Gen Z is bringing medieval culture back
- Has social media killed clubbing?
