Oshi-Katsu Marketing: The Design Principles Behind Brands Fans Support, and Why Others Fail
If you work in brand or fan marketing, you know how K-pop fandoms and sports supporters can move markets. In Japan, that force has a name: oshi-katsu, literally “oshi activity,” the everyday practice of supporting a person or character you love. It is no longer just a personal hobby. It is also a matter of corporate marketing strategy. With a market estimated at roughly ¥4.1 trillion (roughly $27 billion) and about 19.4 million people doing oshi-katsu, how to win over fans’ passion has become a shared theme across many industries.
- ¥4.1T
- Estimated market, roughly $27 billion
- 19.4M
- People estimated to do oshi-katsu
- 1,000+
- Case studies gathered by The Oshi Lab
Estimates vary by source, so treat them as a sense of scale.
This article draws on the case studies The Oshi Lab has accumulated (now more than 1,000) to explain the basics and design principles of oshi-katsu marketing. If you’d rather start with the culture itself, see What Is Oshi-Katsu? The Complete Guide.
What Is Oshi-Katsu Marketing?
Oshi-katsu marketing is a marketing approach that starts from the passion fans direct at their oshi and builds a brand’s awareness, attachment and word of mouth.
The point is not that “a company creates fans” but that a company skillfully rides on the patterns of behavior oshi-katsu already has. Product lines chosen by oshi color, campaigns timed to anniversaries (seitansai birthday celebrations and milestone years), mechanisms that back fans’ fukyo (spreading the word about their oshi): every one of them is a company helping with what fans already wanted to do.
Why Oshi-Katsu Marketing Now?
- Market size: Roughly ¥4.1 trillion and 19.4 million people. It’s no longer a niche
- The quality of spending: Spending on an oshi isn’t consumption but support. It moves on meaning, not discounts, and it’s money free of price competition
- How things spread: Oshi-katsu has fukyo built into its culture. Efforts fans love spread with zero ad spend
Institutions are watching the market’s structure too, as in a Nomura Research Institute column (in Japanese). The latest figures, with sources, are collected in Oshi-Katsu Market Size 2026.
Three Common Misconceptions
Before getting to the main topic, let’s clear up three assumptions that trip people up when they enter the field.
Misconception 1: “Oshi-katsu marketing means character collabs”
A collab is only one method. Product lineups that can be chosen by oshi color, sales floors built around anniversaries, places where fans can talk with each other: efforts you can make without borrowing IP are actually the majority.
Misconception 2: “It means developing new products for otaku”
The center of it isn’t developing new products but opening up the products and services you already have to the world of oshi-katsu. Welcoming use for a birthday party without the guest of honor, or lending space for photographing goods fans bring in: the starting point is widening how existing assets get used.
Misconception 3: “You need to be a big company or own IP”
Of the seven design lenses (below), “home” and “room to participate” can be built at any scale. In fact, the smaller and more face-to-face the shop, the easier it is to create channels for dialogue with fans.
A Case to Watch in 2026: Pokemon x J.League
What drew attention in 2026 was a collaboration between Pokemon and 60 J.League soccer clubs that handed out “an encounter with an oshi” to one million people. Rather than selling products right away, it distributed encounters in bulk first. It was a good example of a design that doesn’t make people “oshi” something but creates an opening to “be able to oshi” (details in the Lab’s note explainer, in Japanese).
Seven Design Lenses Shared by Brands Fans Support
At The Oshi Lab, we analyze how “oshi-able” a company is along seven axes. It’s a framework we also use in supporting companies, as a diagnostic tool called OSHI-MAP®.
| Axis | Question |
|---|---|
| Originality | Does your “own character” come across? |
| Story | Is there a story that makes people want to support you? |
| Home | Is there a place people want to come back to? |
| Room to participate | Is there room for customers to take part? |
| Media | Is your appeal reaching people in the right places? |
| Design that doesn’t tire people | Is it designed not to wear fans out? |
| Promoters | Is word of mouth from fans spreading it? |
Oshi-abilityWould fans want to support you?
- OriginalityDoes your own character come across?
- StoryA reason to cheer for you
- HomeA place to come back to
- Room to participateSpace for customers to join in
- MediaReaching people in the right places
- No fatigueDesigned not to wear fans out
- PromotersFans spreading the word
Use it as a questionnaire, not a scorecard.
A free short version condenses the essence of these seven axes into ten questions: the Oshi-ability Check (in Japanese). The full OSHI-MAP® has 28 questions across seven axes and is carried out as part of consulting.
The seven axes work less as a scorecard than as a questionnaire. Mark your own company with a circle, triangle or cross for each, pick one axis with a cross, and improve it a little. That is the way of using it that works best.
The axis most easily overlooked is “design that doesn’t tire people.” Overuse of limited-edition tactics, overly complicated perks and excessive purchase competition wear fans out and lead to quiet departures (oshi-katsu fatigue).
Common Failure Patterns and Tips to Avoid Them
| Failure pattern | What happens | Tip to avoid it |
|---|---|---|
| A design built on the assumption that “otaku will spend money” | Only expensive products are lined up, and casual fans can’t take part | Always provide an entry point that’s enjoyable for free or at a low price |
| Letting an atmosphere of excluding newcomers go unaddressed | New fans don’t stay and the community shrinks | Have the official side provide paths and glossaries for beginners |
| Collaborating with only a shallow understanding of the culture | A wrong oshi color or disregard for character settings is immediately branded “they don’t get it” | Put a reviewer who understands fan culture in the production process |
| Ending with a one-off campaign | It becomes a topic of conversation but leaves no lasting relationship of being supported | Connect the effort to contexts that come around every year, such as birthdays and anniversaries |
Fans aren’t sensitive to price tags; they’re sensitive to a lack of respect. Every failure in the table comes down to this in the end.
The failure patterns
- Assuming otaku will spend money
- Ignoring an atmosphere that shuts out newcomers
- Getting oshi color or settings wrong
- Ending with a one-off campaign
The tips
- Offer a free or low-price way in
- Provide paths and glossaries for beginners
- Put a fan-culture reviewer in production
- Tie efforts to yearly birthdays and anniversaries
Every failure comes down to a lack of respect.
What separates a successful collaboration from a backlash is analyzed in Episode 48 of our podcast and YouTube series (released April 2026), using real examples such as the hit character franchise Chiikawa and Myaku-Myaku, the Expo 2025 mascot (Spotify / YouTube, both in Japanese).
How to Start: Three Steps
- Find out how “oshi-able” you are: Observe where your fans already are (social media, reviews, the store) and take stock of where you stand on the seven axes. Even if you feel “we don’t have any fans,” people who buy from you repeatedly or praise you by name are real seeds of fans
- Ride on existing oshi-katsu behavior: Begin with efforts that help fans do what they want: seitansai, anniversaries, oshi color, fukyo. Helping with behavior that already exists is more reliable than inventing behavior from scratch
- Try small, and improve from fans’ voices: The right answers in oshi-katsu marketing are held by the fans. Watching the reaction to your efforts and building channels for dialogue is itself the effort
- 01Find your oshi-abilityObserve where fans already are
- 02Ride existing behaviorSeitansai, anniversaries, oshi color, fukyo
- 03Try smallImprove from fans' voices
The right answers in oshi-katsu marketing are held by the fans.
Notes From The Oshi Lab: Passion Is Something You’re Holding On Loan
What our accumulated case studies have convinced us of is that what separates success from failure isn’t budget or the strength of your IP but how you design respect for fans. Moves that maximize short-term sales and designs that keep fans supporting you for the long run often collide. Whether a company can choose the “don’t tire them out” side at that moment shows the maturity of its oshi-katsu marketing.
Fans’ passion isn’t a resource to be used up but something held on loan. We believe long-term trust and word of mouth grow from companies that can stand on that premise.
Summary
The essence of oshi-katsu marketing isn’t “using fans’ passion” but “responding to fans’ passion.” There’s no need to rush into a large campaign. Carefully help with one thing fans are already doing. Start by reviewing your own company through the seven axes.
The Oshi Lab supports companies using the OSHI-MAP® diagnostic and our case study database. If you’re at the stage of “we’d like to come up with a project that uses oshi-katsu,” get in touch through KAZAORI Inc.’s contact page (in Japanese). We’ll also publish collaborations and adoption cases in Oshi-Katsu x Business as they become available.
FAQ
How is oshi-katsu marketing different from fan marketing?
Fan marketing covers any effort to grow fans of your own brand, while oshi-katsu marketing starts from the culture and behavior of oshi-katsu itself. The question is how your brand can ride on existing oshi-katsu behavior, such as oshi color, seitansai (birthday celebrations) and fukyo (spreading the word about your oshi).
Is oshi-katsu marketing only for B2C companies?
B2C is the main arena, but it's also being applied to organization building, such as in-house oshi-katsu aimed at improving employee engagement.
Where should I start with oshi-katsu marketing?
Start by observing the places where your fans already are: social media, reviews and the store. Take stock of where you stand using the seven design lenses, then try small efforts that help with things fans already want to do, such as a seitansai or oshi color.
How do I avoid an online backlash (enjou)?
The biggest risk is a collaboration or project built on a shallow understanding of the culture. Check details such as oshi color and character settings from the fans' point of view, and put a reviewer who understands fan culture into the production process.
Can small businesses and independent shops do oshi-katsu marketing?
Yes. A "home" that makes people want to come back and "room to participate" are design lenses you can build at any scale. Rather than a large collaboration, it's more realistic to start by creating channels for dialogue with the fans in front of you.
