Latest / Building Brands with Fexingo: Identity, Reputation, and Long-Term Business Equity / How Nintendo Turns Nostalgia into Brand Loyalty
Transcript
- Lucas: Nintendo just reported that over seventy percent of its software revenue last fiscal year came from franchises that are more than thirty years old. Mario, Zelda, Donkey Kong — characters my dad grew up with, and my niece now plays on her Switch. Luna: That's wild. Most companies would kill for that kind of loyalty, but it also raises the question — are they just riding nostalgia, or is there a real strategy behind it? Lucas: It's very much a strategy, and it's one that Nintendo has refined over decades. They don't just re-release the same game with better graphics. Think about 'Breath of the Wild' — it reinvented the open-world genre while keeping the spirit of the original Zelda. Or 'Super Mario Odyssey', which introduced a capture mechanic that changed how you interact with the environment. Luna: Right, they innovate within the framework. So the nostalgia is a hook, but the product has to deliver something new. Lucas: Exactly. And that's where brand trust comes in. When you buy a Nintendo game, you have a pretty good idea of the quality you're getting. They've built that reputation over forty years. It's a brand promise: 'This will be fun, polished, and family-friendly.' Luna: But they've also been slow to adapt to certain trends. Mobile gaming, for example — they only dipped a toe in with a few titles, and they pulled back pretty quickly. Lucas: That's a deliberate choice. Nintendo's president has said they don't want to devalue their characters by putting them on every platform. Compare that to Sega, which licensed Sonic to mobile and saw the brand dilute. Nintendo would rather keep their IP exclusive to their hardware, even if it means leaving short-term revenue on the table. Luna: So it's about controlling the experience. You can only play Mario on a Nintendo device, which makes the hardware itself part of the brand. Lucas: Precisely. And they've gotten smarter about using nostalgia to sell hardware. The NES Classic and SNES Classic were essentially nostalgia bombs — miniature consoles pre-loaded with old games. They sold millions, and they were deliberately underproduced to create scarcity. Luna: I remember the NES Classic was impossible to find for months. People were paying scalpers double the price. Lucas: That scarcity actually reinforced the brand. It made people want it more. Nintendo knows that nostalgia is a limited resource — you can't overharvest it. So they release these products sparingly, like a luxury brand. Luna: But there's a risk, right? If you rely too much on the past, you might miss the next generation of gamers who don't have that nostalgia. Lucas: That's the tension. Nintendo has addressed it by creating new franchises like Splatoon — which is now a billion-dollar IP — and by making sure their classic characters evolve. Mario has appeared in over two hundred games, but he's never the same Mario twice. Luna: Speaking of evolution, the Switch itself was a huge gamble. At the time, everyone thought Nintendo should compete with Sony and Microsoft on power. Instead, they made a hybrid console that was underpowered but incredibly versatile. Lucas: And that gamble paid off because it was true to their brand. Nintendo has always been about gameplay over graphics. The Switch let you play anywhere, with anyone, which is pure Nintendo. They didn't try to be something they're not. Luna: So brand consistency, even when taking risks. That's a hard balance. Lucas: It's the hardest thing in brand management. Most companies either stick to what works until it stops working, or they chase trends and lose their identity. Nintendo has managed to do both: preserve the core while innovating the wrapper. Luna: And that's reflected in their customer loyalty metrics. I remember reading that Nintendo has one of the highest Net Promoter Scores in consumer electronics. Lucas: Consistently in the seventies and eighties, which is extraordinary. Apple is usually in the sixties. Nintendo's fans aren't just customers — they're advocates. They'll defend the brand, line up for launches, and pass it down to their kids. Luna: That intergenerational transfer is something most brands would envy. How do they actually foster that? Lucas: A big part is that they design for all ages. A five-year-old and a fifty-year-old can both enjoy Mario Kart, just at different skill levels. That's intentional. Miyamoto, the creator of Mario, has said he designs games for his grandmother. Luna: That's a very specific design philosophy. It forces simplicity without sacrificing depth. Lucas: Exactly. And it's why the brand feels warm and inclusive, not exclusionary like some hardcore gaming brands. Nintendo is the friendly face of gaming. Luna: But they've also had missteps. The Wii U was a commercial failure. How did that affect the brand? Lucas: The Wii U damaged Nintendo's momentum, but interestingly, it didn't damage their brand equity. People still loved Mario and Zelda. They just didn't buy the console. That's the power of strong IP — the brand survives a product failure. Luna: So the characters are more durable than the hardware. That's a lesson for any company: your brand is what people remember, not your individual products. Lucas: And Nintendo has been careful never to tarnish those characters. You won't see Mario in a violent game, or Zelda in a gacha mobile title. They protect the IP like a national treasure. Luna: Which brings us back to the recent news about the live-action Zelda movie. That's a big expansion beyond games. Risky? Lucas: It's a risk, but they're approaching it the same way: partner with a quality studio, stay involved creatively, and make sure it feels like Zelda. If it works, it could open a whole new revenue stream without diluting the brand. Luna: If it flops, though, it could hurt. Movies that miss the mark can really sour a brand. Lucas: That's why they're being deliberate. Nintendo has said they'd rather not make a movie than make a bad one. That's the same discipline they apply to everything. Luna: It makes you wonder: are there other industries that could learn from Nintendo's playbook? I'm thinking about legacy media brands or even car companies. Lucas: Absolutely. Any brand with a rich history has a nostalgia asset. The question is how to deploy it without looking like you're just cashing in. Nintendo shows you have to pair nostalgia with genuine innovation, and you have to be willing to say no to easy money. Luna: And you have to protect the core experience. That's the thread through everything they do. Lucas: And that's what makes the brand feel authentic. People sense when a company is just mining nostalgia for profit. Nintendo genuinely seems to care about the experience. Luna: It's funny — we're talking about a company that makes video games, but the brand lessons are universal. Lucas: Totally. And if these conversations have moved your work forward in some small way, a couple of dollars a month is genuinely what keeps these going — buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo, if you've gotten something out of them. Luna: Yeah, it's a small thing that adds up. Really helps us keep the show ad-free and focused. Lucas: Anyway, back to Nintendo — one more thought on their longevity. They've been making games for over a hundred years, originally as a playing card company. That history gives them a long-term perspective most tech companies lack. Luna: A hundred-year view. That changes how you think about short-term profits. Lucas: Exactly. When you're thinking in centuries, you don't panic when a product fails. You just keep making great experiences. That's the ultimate brand moat. Luna: So the lesson for brands today: build something that people will still love forty years from now. Easier said than done. Lucas: But Nintendo proves it's possible. Start with quality, protect your identity, and earn trust one generation at a time.