Marketing: Promotional Partners

Global retail giant 7-Eleven and a full team of powerhouse brands led by Burger King, Delta Air Lines, Pillsbury, Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt, and Build-A-Bear, plus more than 100 international partners, including 45 diverse companies in China have brought an estimated total value of more than $100 million in promotional support to 'Pokémon Detective Pikachu'. These promotional partners marketed the film through their own relevant market sources.

1) 7-Eleven:

7-Eleven added Pokémon features to its loyalty app that tied into the movie along with augmented reality (AR) experiences in-app and photo filters. Off-screen, 7-Eleven customers could purchase movie-themed collectibles such as limited-edition Slurpee bottles, straws, refillable coffee tumblers, and Pokémon card packs. All collectibles featured characters from the film including Detective Pikachu, Psyduck, Ludicolo, and Snubbull.

Customers also had a choice from three 7-Select private brand chocolate bars in themed packaging. The chocolate bars came in Pokémon-Esque flavors: Bolt's Banana, Roaring Raspberry, and Psyched-Up Orange.

7-Eleven also introduced photo filters featuring the movie’s title character and an augmented reality experience that had Pikachu roaming around stores.

In conjunction with the discount offers, 7-Eleven unveiled the Hi-Hat Mocha, a new beverage available only at 7-Eleven stores named after a prominent location featured in the film. For those of us who aren't coffee addicts like Detective Pikachu, 7-Eleven also offered a limited-time Slurpee: The Mystery Slurpee. The flavors were never revealed as part of the Instagram Sweepstakes 7-Eleven hosted.

7-Eleven app users could join the 7-Eleven Neighborhood Watch to help Detective Pikachu find missing Pokémon in the fictional Ryme City. Game-players could unlock bonus content including clips from the movie, exclusive deals, and 7Rewards to go towards purchases.

2) Build-A-Bear:

A co-promotional campaign by Build-A-Bear consisted of an in-store event spanning across the nation in all Build-A-Bear locations. The event allowed Pokémon fans to earn a free poster themed to the film. To participate, fans visited participating Build-A-Bear stores in a scavenger hunt, where they followed clues to find hidden tokens throughout the workshop. Once the tokens were found, fans won the free poster at the end of their search. The promotional events ran from May 10th through May 12th and then again from May 17th through May 19th, 2019.

In addition to their regular Pokémon Build-A-Bear line, the notable characters featured in the film, Psyduck, and Snubbull, were added to the roster of furry friends.

3) Menchie's Frozen Yoghurt:

Menchie's Frozen Yogurt stepped up to the plate for the promotion of the movie in both the US and Canada. Menchie's locations offered Pokémon Detective Pikachu limited-edition-themed cakes and collectible cups in anticipation of the feature film.

To sweeten the pot, Menchie's launched a social media campaign encouraging fans to investigate the Case of the New Cup where followers could try to discover the new flavors in their Pokémon Detective Pikachu cup. One out of five Detective Pikachu-themed prize packs were up for grabs, including two unique backpacks, trading cards, a blow-up ball, a Detective Pikachu headband, and a fuzzy throw. The sweepstakes ran from May 11th to May 13th.

4) Niantic Lab:

Warner Bros. Pictures partnered with Niantic, Inc. for an in-game partnership with Pokémon Go in the promotion of Detective Pikachu. From May 7 through May 17, 2019, Pokémon Go featured a variety of Detective Pikachu-themed in-game content. While using the Go Snapshot camera (allowing players to take pictures of the Pokémon they catch or see in the game), some gamers got photo-bombed by the main character Pikachu wearing a detective hat in celebration of the film.

Gamers were also able to participate in special raid battles and field research inspired by the movie. As a bonus, fans were also able to customize their in-game characters with items from the movie including a detective hat and a t-shirt with the Pokémon Detective Pikachu logo.

5) Google:

Google launched the Pokémon Detective Pikachu Playmoji pack for its augmented reality Playground app on Android devices, allowing people to insert Pikachu and other characters into the real world.

6) Burger King:

A set of 6 Detective Pikachu toys were also sold at Burger King in about 13,000 locations worldwide, including the U.S. and China.

7) Casetify:

Casetify introduced a new line of Pokémon-themed smartphone cases just in time for the movie.

8) Pillsbury:

Pillsbury put cut-and-bake cookies on store shelves featuring Pokémon images and available in movie-branded packaging.

Highlights of the China campaign included Genting Cruise Lines, covering mainland China, Hong Kong, and Singapore, with onboard themed media and costume character meet-and-greets. Major dairy distributor Yili Group supported the film with fun pop-up stores in 40 cities, outdoor media, and packaging throughout its retail outlets. Whereas, Luckin Coffee, the country’s second-largest and rapidly expanding coffee shop, played on the film’s coffee references with themed cups and in-store displays in tandem with a social media push on Wechat to its nearly 300,000 followers.