Latest / Building Brands with Fexingo: Identity, Reputation, and Long-Term Business Equity / How Nintendo Built a Brand on Playful Innovation
Transcript
- Lucas: So Nintendo just reported that the Switch has officially sold over one hundred and forty-six million units since 2017, which makes it the third best-selling console of all time. And I think that number gives us permission to ask a question that usually gets lost in the frame-by-frame analysis of specs and launch dates. Luna: Which is? Lucas: Which is — how did a company that started in 1889 making hanafuda playing cards become one of the most durable entertainment brands on earth? And not just survive the transition to digital, but basically own the conversation around play itself. Luna: It's almost a cliché to say, but there's a real through-line there. I mean, you look at the Wii and the Switch, and they're not about raw power, they're about how you make people feel. Lucas: Exactly. And before we go deep on the strategy, I should mention — if these conversations have moved your thinking forward in some small way, you can support the show at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It helps us keep doing this ad-free, and it's genuinely appreciated. Luna: Yeah, and it's a nice way to give back if you're getting value. But let's get back to Nintendo. Lucas: Right. So the thing is, Nintendo's brand has never really been about the hardware. It's about a promise — that you're going to have fun, that you're going to smile, that you're going to be surprised. And that promise is so consistent that you can trace it from the Donkey Kong arcade cabinet in 1981 all the way to Tears of the Kingdom last year. Luna: And they've been willing to walk away from the arms race. The GameCube was underpowered compared to the PlayStation 2, but they doubled down on the gameplay. And then the Wii came out of left field. Lucas: The Wii is such a great case study because it was a deliberate bet on motion controls and accessible, party-style games. They sold over one hundred million units, and they did it by targeting people who never thought of themselves as gamers. That's a brand choice, not a technology one. Luna: But they also learn from their misses. The Wii U was a flop, right? And then they came back with the Switch, which basically took the Wii's casual appeal and the dual-screen idea and refined it into something that works for both hardcore and casual players. Lucas: That's the resilience part. The Wii U's failure could have tanked them, but they used it as a learning moment. The Switch was their comeback, and it's now their best-selling home console ever. The numbers are just staggering — it's passed one hundred and forty-six million, as I said. Luna: And a big part of that success is the intellectual property. Mario, Zelda, Pokémon — these are characters that people have grown up with. They're not just games, they're emotional anchors. Lucas: Absolutely. And that's where the brand gets its depth. A kid who played Super Mario Bros. on the NES is now introducing their own kids to Mario Kart. That's a generational loop that almost no other entertainment company can replicate. Luna: It also helps that they never dilute their characters. How many times has Mario been in a movie or a TV show that wasn't good? They've been very protective. Lucas: Yeah, they waited decades to do a proper Mario movie. And when they finally did, it was a collaboration with Illumination, and it was a massive hit. That's the payoff of brand discipline. They'd rather say no than damage the equity. Luna: So what's the actual lesson for someone building a brand in a completely different field? I mean, you can't just say 'be fun' if you're a B2B software company. Lucas: Right, the lesson isn't 'copy Nintendo.' It's more about finding your own version of that clarity. Nintendo knows exactly what they stand for, and they make every decision through that lens. For a B2B company, that might be reliability, or speed, or transparency. The point is to have a non-negotiable core. Luna: And they're not afraid to be contrarian. When everyone else was chasing online multiplayer and realism, Nintendo went local co-op and stylized graphics. And it worked. Lucas: That's the contrarian piece. They've often gone against the grain of the industry. The Wii proved you don't need cutting-edge graphics to win. The Switch proved you can have a hybrid console that isn't the most powerful, but it's the most convenient. And that convenience is a brand value in itself. Luna: I think there's also something to be said about how they treat their internal culture. You know, they have this philosophy of 'lateral thinking with withered technology' — using mature tech in creative ways. That's a brand that's deeply embedded in how they work, not just how they market. Lucas: That's a great phrase — 'lateral thinking with withered technology.' It was coined by Gunpei Yokoi, who made the Game Boy. He believed you can create magic with cheap, off-the-shelf parts if you're clever enough. That's a design philosophy that becomes a brand philosophy. Luna: And it's why they're so good at creating moments of delight. Like the first time you swing the Wiimote, or the first time you jump through a wall in that Zelda game. It's not about specs, it's about surprise. Lucas: Exactly. And that's also why they're able to command a premium price. When you buy a Nintendo product, you're buying the promise of that feeling. And that's worth more than a teraflop. Luna: Do you think they ever worry about becoming too nostalgic? I mean, they're constantly remaking Zelda and Mario. Is there a risk of resting on their laurels? Lucas: It's a fair question. There's a careful balance between honoring the legacy and pushing forward. But I'd argue they've been pushing forward more than people give them credit for. Breath of the Wild was a radical reinvention of the Zelda formula. And the Switch itself was a paradigm shift in how we think about gaming on the go. Luna: Yeah, that's true. They might be nostalgic, but they're not static. Lucas: And that's the key for any brand. You need to be able to evolve without losing your essence. Nintendo is still the same company that made Mario skip across the screen in 1981, but they're also the company that made a console you can play in the park. That's a pretty impressive range. Luna: So if someone's listening and they're trying to build a brand, what's the one takeaway you'd want them to remember? Lucas: I'd say it's this: your brand is the promise you keep even when it's expensive to do so. Nintendo could have chased the hardcore market and maybe made more money in the short term, but they stuck to their fun-first, accessible, family-friendly identity. And that long-term consistency is what built the trust that keeps people coming back generation after generation. Luna: That's a great place to leave it. For Fexingo, I'm Luna. Lucas: And I'm Lucas. See you next time.