The Campbell Co. is deepening its relationship with the far reaching and cross generational videogame community through a playful collaboration with Pokémon, which includes a treasure hunt for collectible cans featuring the game’s characters and a recently wrapped sweepstakes.
“We love that the gaming community is highly engaged and brings unmatched enthusiasm for brand partnerships,” as illustrated by the “great response on social and from gamer media outlets like Go Nintendo, Nintendo Soup, Gamer Rant, GameSpot and more” to The Campbell Co.’s ongoing collaboration with Pokémon, said Marci Raible, vice president, media strategy & digital growth at The Campbell’s Company.
The collaboration included the launch in September eight limited-edition collectible Campbell Soup cans featuring beloved Pokémon characters and a sweepstakes in October that offered consumers who collected the most of the themed cans a chance to win prizes, including a Nintendo Switch 2, Pokémon Legends: Z-A and a Campbell’s Pokémon Pewter City Special Stew, which was created for the giveaway and not available in stores.
Why partner with Pokémon and target videogamers?
In partnering with Pokémon, The Campbell Co. sought to expand the appeal of its classic condensed soups, by creating “a moment that tapped into broader cultural appeal and relevance,” Raible said.
“Our core audience is families, but we also know Campbell’s has broad appeal across many households in America. When looking at Pokémon, we saw the same broad appeal and beloved by both younger & older generations,” she explained.
“We felt there was an authentic connectivity that made Pokémon the right fit. It really all laddered up to the consumer truth, brand truth and cultural truth,” she added.
Raible explained: “The consumer truth is that families are passionate about Pokémon,” the cultural truth is “everything that Pokémon is and does turns into a cultural moment. And finally, finally, there was an authentic brand truth and internet lore between Pokémon and Campbell’s with the Pokémon ball having a striking resemblance to the Campbell’s can.”
Through these three key points, The Campbell Co. “saw an opportunity to celebrate these beloved characters on our labels while also supporting a fan favorite SKU,” Raible added.
How Campbell maximized Pokémon’s impact
The company supported the partnership by creating a full-funnel consumer journey that connected media, PR, shopper marketing and the product, Raible said.
“Each phase was intentionally timed to meet the moment, from launching the collectible cans and fueling buzz across social and gamer channels, to sustaining excitement through a consumer sweepstakes that kept engagement high and the conversation going throughout the entire months-long campaign,” she said.
The hard work paid off with “great results and momentum so far,” she added.
The power of videogame partnerships
The positive response underscores the marketing potential of the videogame community and the power to bridge the virtual and real worlds with collectibles.
It also reinforces the idea that physical swag may be more effective than in-game rewards, as explained by one player in our recent broadcast Fueling Fun: Connecting with Esports Enthusiasts and Everyday Gamers FTW, which is free to watch on demand.
“Games are so purely digital these days, whereas in the ‘80s and ‘90s there used be the case and when you bought a game at a computer store those games often came with really cool things,” like maybe a cloth map of the fantasy kingdom in the game, “and it was so cool to have part of that virtual world made into reality. It was a cool souvenir,” Atul Varma, a casual videogame player in New York City, explains in the broadcast.
He adds that nostalgia or desire for “something real” from a virtual world or game is a powerful motivator that prompted him to visit a new restaurant once in the quest for a replica train ticket from one of his favorite games.
He added that he went to the restaurant just for the collectible, but was pleasantly surprised by the food and said he would return.
The Campbell Co.’s broader videogame strategy
The collaboration with Pokémon was not The Campbell Co.’s first foray into the videogame community.
“Our Chunky Soup brand has activated several gaming partnerships before and has even been active on platforms such as Twitch,” said Raible, who reiterated the powerful passion of videogamers and their enthusiastic ability to amplify a brand’s reach and awareness through successfully targeted campaigns.
To learn more about the market potential of videogamers and how food and beverage brands are successfully engaging with players in games and in the real world, check out on demand our free webinar Fueling Fun: Connecting with Esports Enthusiasts and Everyday Gamers FTW.
