UW Foster Students Build Fan Engagement with The Pokémon Company International
Student teams research The Pokémon Company International for the Foster Strategy Development Case Competition
Written by: Anna Butler, student contributor, University of Washington Foster School of Business
Early one morning on the University of Washington campus, 241 students gathered to rehearse presentations for the 2024 Foster Strategy Development Case Competition, the finale of the Foster School of Business capstone course, MGMT 430. Forty-nine teams spent countless hours researching The Pokémon Company International (TPCi) to provide a solution for how to build lifelong fan engagement.
Throughout the day, students competed in two rounds of competition, culminating with two teams on top. For some, this was the last presentation they’ll ever give as students at the University of Washington, as this capstone course is the culmination of a college education for Foster seniors who are graduating this spring.
We had a huge turnout of judges from TPCi and other Seattle-area professionals, as well as over 40 student volunteers who helped to coordinate the day. All judges were thoroughly impressed with our Foster students after their first round of 12-minute presentations, which included the teams’ solutions, alternative ideas, implementation timeline, and financial analysis. Then, the judges asked 8 minutes of Q&A for students to expand on their recommendations. Finally, the judges had 5 minutes to provide each team with feedback.
After the first round, students participated in a networking lunch with the judges, and ten teams were announced to be moving forward to the final round. These teams presented their solutions in two final competition rooms to The Pokémon Company International judges, and one team in each room was selected as a winner. These two winners were announced at the final award ceremony, where they were recognized for their hard work and achievements.
Congratulations to the winning teams
Team A2: Daniel Eum, Nicole Kim, Emily Leung, Dante Ost, Gabrielle Stork
Team A2 Team proposed a partnership between TPCi and YMCA that integrates Pokémon-themed elements into the YMCA’s existing year-round activities and summer camps, with the goal of attracting and sustaining fan engagement through philanthropic efforts.
Team B3: Michaela Isaacs, Raj Lakhani, Yash Savla, Connor White, Anabella Wren
Team B3 recommended bringing the Pokémon Play! live event experience to high schools and tailor it to the needs and incentives of teenagers. PokéTeen Play! is TPCi’s entrance into the education market by hosting TCG tournaments at high schools while providing scholarships and school supplies as prizes.
Overall, all teams performed extraordinarily well, and we are so proud of our Foster students for their success in this capstone course. We are also so grateful to TCPI and all of our community partners who helped to make this a success.
Students share highlights of the Foster Strategy Development Case Competition
“Participating in the Strategy Development Competition was an amazing way to cap off my undergraduate studies at UW Foster. The case was extremely challenging and required multiple hours of ideation and iteration with my team, but the creative thinking that came out of it was a great learning experience. The competition helped provide a platform to apply all that my team and I had learned at UW Foster through classes, RSOs, and other competitions to a real-world business problem with The Pokémon Company International. The workplace will not have clear-cut solutions either, so the challenges that this case and experience brought were deeply enriching.” — Connor White
“The Foster Strategy Development Competition allowed me to holistically apply principles learned in Foster courses to a real-world business problem and receive constructive feedback from professionals for future endeavors.” — Gabrielle Stork
“Participating in the Foster Strategy Development Competition was a unique experience, closely mirroring real-world consulting. While developing our strategy and business plan, each of us had the opportunity to leverage our individual skill sets. While the project presented both enjoyable and challenging aspects, being able to present our strategy to The Pokémon Company International employees made the entire experience extremely rewarding.” — Emily Leung
We also want to thank Taylor Shapiro from Pokémon for spearheading this engagement with her team, Felicia Lian-Yeh, Stephan Dietrich, and Crystal Freund.
