“Footwear is always a dream!”: Konami Cross Media NY’s Jennifer Coleman on the brand’s recent collaboration with Nike

Jennifer, thanks for making time! How has this past year been for Yu-Gi-Oh! so far?
It’s been a really fun ride since Covid – anime took off during the pandemic and we haven’t looked back. We’ve had incredible partners coming to us from McDonald to adidas, and now Nike. We’ve been on a really good run. And because of that, we’ve brought in a whole bunch of sub-agents, so there’s exciting things happening for the North American market, but also in the European market, the Middle East, South Africa, Latin America, Australia… It’s an exciting time to be leading the charge for Yu-Gi-Oh!

You mention the recent partnership with Nike there. What made that an exciting proposition?
Footwear is always a dream. It’s the Air Max 95’s 30th anniversary, so Nike actually reached out to us – and their team has a genuine passion for Yu-Gi-Oh! They are fans of the brand and were very familiar with Air Max 95’s history with Yu-Gi-Oh!

The history being that Joey Wheeler wore those sneakers in the classic Yu-Gi-Oh! anime series.
That’s right. And so with this drop, it was all about paying homage to that Air Max 95 silhouette, right? And the level of respect and knowledge the Nike team brought – along with to their creative ideas – was so impressive. We were blown away. And the campaign around the launch centred on recognizing trading card players as athletes in their own right, which was a neat twist.

And the launch also included some exclusive Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME cards?
Yes! So we have two different colourways for the sneaker. The global colourway – the Joey one – and then a monochromatic one that’s going into Japan. There were two promotional custom cards that were developed hand-in-hand with the Nike team and our team in Japan, who develop all the Yu-Gi-Oh! trading cards. So there’s two different ones that accompany both launches.

Why was it important to have that connection to back to Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME?
It’s part and parcel of the lifeblood for the Yu-Gi-Oh! IP, so anytime that we can reference back to that, we’ll try… But it’s also got to be a special opportunity, right? You don’t want to overdo it. It has to be special for the fans. And these cards are playable, but they’re not playable in tournament play. It had to be special, but we also don’t want to alienate our trading card game fans who have kept this IP so vibrant for so long. It’s more of a collector’s item.

Makes absolute sense. And does a big banner partnership like this Nike collab give a ‘shot in the arm’ to the brand more generally?
It has a ripple effect for sure – and not just for us on the licensing side. It more broadly helps our fans to re-engage with the brand. They might seek out episodes off the back of this – for the first time or from a nostalgia standpoint. Nike is such a huge player in the global footwear market, so it allows us to showcase the brand to new audiences. It’s a win-win all-round.

Do you play the game? And does that matter to your role?
I’m not a Yu-Gi-Oh! player, but I love is this fanbase and this community. When you’ve had the pleasure of working on a brand like this – as I have for many, many years – whether you’re a fan or not, you come to respect the fanbase and the community. And that’s key. You don’t just have to understand the brand, you need to respect it.

Being at one of our tournaments – one our regional qualifiers – to see our fans interact with each other when they’re playing the game, or how they engage with the brand at a convention… Coming across a Dark Magician Girl walking the streets of Los Angeles at Anime Expo… Seeing that joy and passion is what it’s all about.

“With this drop, it was all about paying homage to that Air Max 95 silhouette.”

Absolutely. And what are some of your ‘north stars’ when it comes to successful licensee/licensor relationships?
Honesty, respect, transparency… You’ve got to take the time to understand what the other partner is looking to bring to the table and looking to get out of it. So it’s about mutual respect – that’s got to be the driver. Basic human kindness and respect!

Last question! What areas are still untapped for Yu-Gi-Oh!?
Oh my gosh, Billy, I’ve got a list!

Ha!
I feel like we have not even scratched the surface! The big one is that regionally we haven’t tapped a lot of the audiences in different parts of the world. We want to build that out across various product categories because we’re underserving our fans in that respect.

For the TRADING CARD GAME, Japan is the top home market and the US is our second biggest market. And fans are either coming to us through the manga, through the anime series or through the trading card games. So different aspects of the brand resonate with those different fans – and that all varies region by region, and by demographic.

Gen Z really have a passion for the anime because they remember coming home from school and watching it – that was their gateway to the brand. Whereas, Millennials or our Gen X tend to be more into the manga or the trading card game. So there’s lots of different strings to pull on when it comes to offering fans new ways to engage with Yu-Gi-Oh!

Huge thanks again Jennifer. Let’s be sure to chat again soon!