"Professor Branding" for Pokémon Merchandise

Many Pokémon fans will no doubt recognize the cohort of people who are called Pokémon Professors - even I've written up about them at one time. They would also appeal to the more intelligent side of Pokémon fans... perhaps conceivably for merchandise as well. For that, I thought about discussing how certain elements of Pokémon merchandise are or can have a certain "branding" with this group of people, as well as the (possible) appeal.

Now, those who play the (physical) Pokémon TCG will recognize the Supporter cards with the different Pokémon Professors in each. Though they can't exactly be considered to have a "branding" with these Professors, their presence on the cards could still be considered part of the appeal for them, aside from the function of the respective cards. In fact, it seems they're some of the few Pokémon things with actual Pokémon Professors on them, and they still achieve some of the objectives of actual "branding" without being so.

For an actual branding, the Pokémon Professors would have to be applied - liberally maybe, but significantly could be possible as well - to the merchandise items in question. That could be quite a task, since most Pokémon merchandise are Pokémon species and the associated items to them. Perhaps a simple approach is to have a "Professor-approved" indication of some sort along with the merchandise items, which would be a funky kind of branding as well similar to what would be done for items gotten through certain ways of shopping.

Recently, though, a different kind of Professor has been popping up, particularly in Pokémon Go circles. The Professor Pikachu (obtainable in that game) is an actual Pikachu clad in a lab coat to resemble a Pokémon Professor, and it looks as cute as it is seemingly intelligent. This Pokémon with this specific costume or outfit could realize itself as a kind of "professor branding" without having to involve the human Pokémon Professors. Many fans might just delight in having some kind of merchandise item based on this Pokémon.

The presence of Pokémon Professors has become undeniably an important part of many Pokémon games and the associated world in general. In the merchandise realm, though, that presence could seem a little lacking since the focus remains on the eponymous species and related items. Having "Professor branding" for some merchandise items might just be a way of continuing to establish their presence, with or without their possibly distant relations.

One year ago: The Expressive Ditto

Two years ago: Cosplay: Gold Generation

Three years ago: Possibility of Bottle Caps in Pokémon Go?

Four years ago: Voice Acting, for Me and...

Five years ago: Personal Social Media Experiments with Pokémon

Six years ago: Go with the Flow

Seven years ago: The State of Officialness

Eight years ago: Pokémon Go Community Day, 6/16/2018

Nine years ago: Limited Editions