In the marketing world, anime is following in the footsteps of gaming

In 2024, marketers need to be paying attention to anime.

For decades, Japanese animation was viewed as a niche interest, the exclusive territory of nerds and basement-dwellers. But over the past few years, anime has hit the mainstream in a big way — and in 2024, brands such as McDonald’s are starting to pay attention.

In the past, anime-based marketing efforts have largely been a focus of brands endemic to the gaming community, which has a strong natural connection to the anime audience. As more non-endemic brands look to take advantage of anime’s entry into the zeitgeist, they might be wise to observe the parallels between the evolution of anime as a marketing channel and the ways brands have learned to better leverage gaming in recent years.

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