From content to culture: Anime is becoming advertising's next big IP play

Posted on 18th May 2026

Kit Kat Japan Releases Anime Ad From A Silent Voice Director

At a time when capturing consumer attention is becoming increasingly difficult, anime offers something modern advertising increasingly struggles to buy through media spending alone: organic affinity

When KitKat launched its ‘One Piece’ collaboration in India this April, the confectionery brand introduced themed packs inspired by the globally popular anime franchise, alongside contests and collectible-led engagement designed for fans.

On Thursday, in a strategic extension of that partnership, KitKat India unveiled a large-scale One Piece-inspired ship installation at Comic Con, transforming its presence from a conventional brand stall into an immersive fandom-led experience.

Around the same time, sports nutrition brand MuscleBlaze also launched its limited-edition Naruto collaboration — positioned as India’s first anime-meets-fitness crossover. The campaign nearly sold out within three days of launch, according to the company.

Taken together, the two marketing campaigns reflect a larger transformation underway across advertising and consumer culture: anime is rapidly evolving from a content category into one of marketing’s most powerful new intellectual property ecosystems.

Globally, brands ranging from Nike and LEGO to McDonald's, Burger King and Gucci have integrated anime-led collaborations into mainstream consumer marketing strategies over the past two years.

“India’s anime fandom is evolving into a powerful cultural movement,” said Gopichandar Jagatheesan, Head, Confectionery Business, Nestlé India. “With KITKAT x One Piece at Comic Con, we wanted to create an experience that fans could emotionally connect with.”

What was once considered fringe internet fandom is now shaping mainstream consumer strategy across fashion, food, lifestyle, gaming and retail.

According to Kaustuv Paliwal, Senior Vice President at Bright Lifecare, “Anime is no longer a niche interest in India — it has evolved into a deeply engaged youth culture.”

“Naruto’s themes of discipline, resilience and self-improvement aligned naturally with the ethos of MuscleBlaze,” he added.

At a time when consumers increasingly skip ads, distrust overt marketing and spend more time inside digital communities, anime offers something modern advertising increasingly struggles to buy through media spending alone: organic affinity.

Said Yosuke Murai, Head of dentsu Sports & Entertainment, India, “Brands are no longer simply maximising reach; they are trying to build emotional resonance and long-term relationships.”

“Anime IPs are built on rich storytelling and highly engaged communities. When brands participate respectfully within these worlds, they are no longer seen as advertisers interrupting the experience, but as participants in the culture itself,” Murai shared.

Over the past few years, platforms such as Netflix, Crunchyroll and Sony YAY! have aggressively expanded anime libraries, localisation and distribution, helping Japanese animation move from subculture into mass youth entertainment across India.

Brands have followed rapidly. Fashion and merchandise-led companies such as Celio India, The Souled Store and Bewakoof have already built sizable anime-led merchandise ecosystems around franchises including Naruto, One Piece, Attack on Titan and Dragon Ball Z. Globally, companies ranging from Nike and LEGO to McDonald's and Gucci have integrated anime collaborations into mainstream consumer marketing strategies.

Industry estimates project the global anime market to surpass $60 billion by 2030, while the anime merchandising market alone could approach nearly $23 billion by 2033. India, meanwhile, is emerging as one of anime’s most important growth markets.

Streaming Built the Audience

Anime’s commercial explosion would not have been possible without streaming platforms normalising the category globally.

Anime now constitutes nearly 15–20% of Indian children’s television programming schedules, while Disney Star has previously indicated that anime accounts for almost half of kids’ viewership on its network. Simultaneously, streaming platforms have transformed anime into a globally shared cultural language through localisation, simultaneous releases and algorithm-led discovery.

“Streaming platforms removed friction,” said Rajni Daswani, Chief Growth Officer – People & Business at SoCheers. “They transformed anime from a subcultural pursuit into mainstream appointment viewing and handed brands access to deeply engaged fandom ecosystems.”

According to Crunchyroll research cited by Daswani, nearly 74% of Indian teenagers now identify as anime fans. That scale matters enormously for marketers seeking relevance among Gen Z audiences increasingly resistant to conventional advertising formats.

From Consumers to Communities

What differentiates anime from traditional entertainment marketing is the intensity of fandom participation. Unlike passive entertainment audiences, anime fans actively create memes, fan art, cosplay content, collectibles and user-generated content that organically amplifies campaigns across digital platforms.

“Traditional entertainment audiences consume, but anime fans produce,” observed Shouvik Roy, Founder of Shouvik Roy Advisory. “This creates a powerful amplification engine. Anime audiences also overlap heavily with adjacent subcultures such as gaming, streetwear, digital art and music, giving brands significantly deeper cultural leverage than standard celebrity-led collaborations.”

That behavioural shift is fundamentally altering how brands approach engagement.

For MuscleBlaze, the Naruto collaboration extended far beyond packaging into community-led experiences involving cosplay, collector kits, fitness challenges and fandom activations. Paliwal said one of the biggest learnings from the campaign was that consumers increasingly respond to “culturally authentic collaborations rooted in shared values and storytelling” rather than superficial endorsements.

Similarly, KitKat’s One Piece activation was designed less like a conventional FMCG campaign and more like a fandom-driven experiential event. Increasingly, campaigns are beginning to resemble sneaker drops, gaming collaborations and K-pop fandom activations rather than traditional advertising.

The product becomes a collectible. The collaboration becomes a social signal. The campaign becomes a participatory cultural moment.

Advertising’s New IP Economy

The rise of anime also reflects a broader transformation underway across media and entertainment.

Hollywood’s animation successes — from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and The Super Mario Bros. Movie to Inside Out 2 — have reinforced that animation is no longer merely children’s entertainment, but a scalable intellectual property engine capable of driving merchandise, licensing, gaming integrations and long-tail fandom engagement.

India is beginning to witness similar momentum through growing interest in animated storytelling ecosystems and character-led entertainment franchises.

For marketers, that evolution changes the role of advertising itself.

“Anime is no longer simply content created for a niche audience,” Murai said. “It has become a globally shared culture. The opportunity for brands now goes far beyond licensing. It is about co-creation, participation and building long-term community ecosystems.”

That may ultimately explain why anime is emerging as one of advertising’s most valuable new cultural assets.