LEGO POKÉMON
PARTNERSHIP LAUNCH & Campaign
Awakening the Trainer Within
This collaboration between LEGO and Pokémon has been a long time coming… long enough for an entire generation of original fans to grow up.
Now that the first ever LEGO Pokémon sets based on the legendary first generation creatures were finally launching, our immediate challenge was to reconnect our millennial audience with the “Trainer mindset”, while acknowledging the gap between who they thought they’d be and who they’ve become, without turning them into a joke.
In order to succeed, we needed to laugh with them. Not at them.
From Chasing Gym Badges
to Paying Taxes
This audience was raised on wild Pokémon adventures in the mid 90s, yet they now live in online meetings, inboxes and their kids’ hobby schedules, punctuated by the occasional bout of existential dread of the 2020s.
In other words the context has changed completely, but that original fantasy hasn’t. Because when it comes to Pokémon; once a Trainer, always a Trainer.
Familiar Creatures,
Different Heroes
We wanted to tell a Pokémon origin story that’s rooted in our reality. We used the full cinematic language of the franchise; an epic score, crash zooms and heroic framing. Then we introduced the subtle cracks of adulthood. A tight jacket, utility bills, a sore lower back, a moment of hesitation.
The characters see destiny manifesting. The audience sees reality unfolding. The humour lives in the clash of the two.
Agency
Our LEGO Agency/The LEGO Group
Creative Team
Ivan Soukup
Mya Rydman
Joel Huttunen