The first experience is the most overlooked part of franchise expansion strategy

Written by Emeline Mettavant, Director The Value Engineers.

A few days ago I wrote about a thought that’s been following me across very different categories: when Tech companies want to grow, they tend to think about acquisition, when perhaps they should be thinking about onboarding.

The more I sat with that idea, the more I realised Entertainment franchises face exactly the same challenge.

The industry has become incredibly good at thinking about expansion. Should this become a film? A TV series? A live experience? An anime? A mobile game? Entire teams are dedicated to answering those questions.

What we seem to spend much less time thinking about is a simpler one: Where does somebody start?

It’s a question I’ve heard consumers ask repeatedly over the years, whether I was working on fitness technology, gaming or entertainment.

Not “Why should I care?” but “Where do I begin?”

Ironically, the more successful a franchise becomes, the harder that question often is to answer.
Take Star Wars. If you’ve never seen it before, what’s the right entry point? The original trilogy? The prequels? The sequels? The Mandalorian? Andor?
Or think about long-running gaming franchises. If you’ve never played God of War, do you go back to 2005? Start with the 2018 reboot? Jump straight into Ragnarök?

As worlds become richer and more interconnected, and games layer on increasingly sophisticated mechanics, they become more intimidating. They create richer experiences for existing fans, but they can also raise the barrier to entry for everyone else.

This is why I’ve become increasingly interested in the idea of franchise onboarding.
Pokémon, for example, has spent nearly thirty years designing every new generation as if it might be somebody’s first. The core mechanics are reintroduced, the world unfolds gradually, and very little prior knowledge is assumed. Existing fans occasionally criticise the slower introductions, but commercially it’s a remarkably successful philosophy. The franchise is constantly rebuilding its own front door.

Perhaps we’ve been looking at franchise growth through the wrong lens. Another film, another game, another experience? None of those matter if people don’t know where to begin.
Maybe the next frontier of franchise strategy isn’t expansion at all: maybe it’s onboarding.