Brand Value Shows in Footprints

Brand value shows in physical footprints. And Nintendo tells you how.

The Japanese video game maker needs no introduction. Famous for its Mario, and many other, franchises, Nintendo's brand value is unmistakably substantial and well protected.

And there is something to learn from it, as the company is putting that brand value to work by combining a number of corporate real estate strategies:

Own mission critical assets
In June, Nintendo confirmed construction of its new Technology Development Center in Kyoto, on land it bought from the city in 2022. Nine floors, around 49,300 square metres, an estimated ¥121 billion (around EUR 670 million), target completion by 2029. It was originally planned as a smaller building and was upscaled during design. It sits directly between the HQ and existing development building, continuing a pattern of investing in Kyoto, its historical HQ location.

Asset light for niche assets
Nintendo partnered exclusively with Universal Studios to bring its characters and worlds into theme parks. Nintendo provides the IP and works on the design, Universal operates the parks. This limits CapEx, maximises operational quality, and puts the IP to work.

Control the experience
Nintendo runs its own stores in Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Fukuoka, New York and San Francisco. Almost all of them sit inside third-party department stores and retail centres. Leased footprint, but fully controlled brand experience. High-quality retail brands often go deeper and buy the location for the same reason: protect access to their key customers.

Adaptive reuse
When manufacturing moved off the Uji Ogura plant site in 2016, Nintendo did not sell it and reopened it as the Nintendo Museum in 2024.


Nintendo owns what is critical, licences what is not core, and reuses what it already has to create upside for the core business.



Sources: Nintendo

Photograph: Roméo A. via Unsplash

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