04PerformanceTask1

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SOCIOLOGY 2586

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Dec 18, 2024

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BM220704 Performance Task 1*Property ofSTIPage 1 of 7HELLO KITTYThe Early Days of Hello KittyIn 1974, Sanrio, a Japanese design company selling character merchandise with the motto“Small Gift, Big Smile,” created Hello Kitty, a mouth-less feline animated character. A year later,the first Hello Kitty merchandise made its debut. It was a tiny, clear, vinyl coin purse featuringthe feline character emblazoned with the word “Hello” over her head.Hello Kitty was Sanrio’s attempt to cash in on the fledgling but powerful Japanese girl consumerswho were becoming a force to be reckoned with in the mid-70s. At that time, Japanese girls weredeveloping their own kind of slang and handwriting. There was an emphasis on fanshii guzzu, orfancy goods, which means frilly stuff, small items.From 1974 to 1977, Sanrio sales in Japan grew, all thanks to Hello Kitty. This was followed by itsexpansion to the United States in 1976, Europe in 1980, and other parts of Asia in 1990. HelloKitty took the world by storm as a global icon for Japanese cuteness. The merchandisingjuggernaut grossed more than $5 billion dollars in global annual sales. And with Sanrio’slicensing policy, Hello Kitty products were sold in more than 60 countries, with her faceplastered on over 50,000 products.Such longevity exemplifies Sanrio’s effective strategies in building, managing, and sustainingthe brand character. Understanding its customers—from the toddler to the teenybopper to thetrendy woman—was the key to its success. Her minimalistic look—two black eyes, six whiskers,a yellow button nose, and a bow, all on an oval, fluffy white head—appealing. This small,innocent, young, dependent, and round character attracts people of all ages.Children relate to the small, rounded character as safe and cute, exhibiting an inherent sense ofinnocence and comfort. Additionally, consumers can relate her to their own personal situation.Part of this comes from the fact that Hello Kitty has no mouth. As Sanrio likes to point out, shespeaks from the heart. The absence of a mouth allows people to ascribe their emotions to thecharacter. Physically, Kitty is sufficiently small to appear on small objects such as coin purses,pencils, erasers, and miniature toys.Besides its physical appearance evoking a sense of safety and comfort among children, herpopularity can also be attributed to people’s fascination with animals. At the emotional level,Hello Kitty instills a sense of nostalgia. She is associated with sentiments of intimacy, familiarity,and friendship. She represents youthful innocence and enables women to retreat into a childlikestate of mind, forming an unbroken cycle of consumption and self- representation correspondingto childhood, girlhood, female adolescence, and womanhood.Hello Kitty for Adult ConsumersDuring the late 1980s, Asian countries, particularly Japan, saw a shrinking youth population.Recognizing an ageing target market, Hello Kitty, originally marketed for pre-adolescent girls,gradually repositioned itself to broaden its target segment to include adult consumers, matchingconsumers with different needs and greater spending power.It was important for the company to identify such needs and create merchandise that suited itssupporters. Thus, Hello Kitty’s product line was expanded for young women, such as toasters,vacuum cleaners, and motor scooters. The long-term popularity of Hello Kitty even allowedSanrio to market Hello Kitty as a nostalgic brand that targeted grown-ups who did not have theopportunity to enjoy Hello Kitty merchandise as children.The growth of the Asian economies during the mid-1990s spurred Hello Kitty to enter the HongKong market in 1994. In 1996, Sanrio Hong Kong began its first brand collaboration for HelloKitty with a local electronics retail chain, Broadway Photo Supply. In 1999, Sanrio pursued a

BM220704 Performance Task 1*Property ofSTIPage 2 of 7third-party brand collaboration with McDonald’s—the Hello Kitty meal deal. The collaborativepromotion with McDonald’s started a craze in the Hong Kong market and met similar success inother Asian countries such as Singapore, Taiwan, and Japan, pushing the brand characterthrough an unparalleled growth phase.

BM220704 Performance Task 1*Property ofSTIPage 3 of 7Such collaborations allowed Hello Kitty to go outside the boundaries of everyday product orbrand categories. It also allowed the brand to leverage its partners’ sales power to widencustomer targets, offering something new and different for Hello Kitty fans.Hello Kitty’s Global ExpansionIn 2010, when Ray Hatoyama took over the helm of Sanrio’s global expansion strategy, HelloKitty began licensing its products to other manufacturers and retailers in domestic andinternational markets, significantly reducing operational costs. He also hired local design talentwho adapted product lines or developed new market-specific products. Sanrio establishes verystrict rules in sourcing licensing partners. Potential partners without the power to control thelaunch of their products are not awarded licensing rights.Stringent merchandise approval procedures are implemented to safeguard the quality oflicensed products while providing its licensees with the flexibility to localize in foreign markets.Licensees are allowed to alter Hello Kitty’s design without damaging the image of Hello Kitty’s“cuteness, friendship, and thoughtfulness.”Another condition for the license is price control. Prices of Hello Kitty products can be increasedto enhance the brand’s value. Moreover, Sanrio delegates the power to award licenses to itslocal subsidiaries as they are equipped with the information to determine which companies canbest adapt Sanrio’s products to local flavors. This winning strategy helped Sanrio minimizebusiness risk by licensing and localizing Hello Kitty products.Over the years, numerous characters have been introduced to support Hello Kitty. For example,a male counterpart, Dear Daniel, was created as a childhood friend and purported boyfriend,giving the character a romantic life and creating a buzz for consumers, fans, and supporters.Other members of Hello Kitty’s inner circle include her friends Tracy, Fifi, Jodie, Joey, and Mori.Hello Kitty even has two pets, Charmmy Kitty the cat, and Sugar the hamster.Sanrio’s marketing strategy is to create a fantasy world around Hello Kitty with an infectioussentiment of desire, aspiration, craving, and even euphoria for the character. All the character’sstorylines connect to Hello Kitty to create constant interest in the character. The success ofHello Kitty brand extensions is due to the strong emotional bond between the character and itsconsumers. Hello Kitty’s personality is transferred to the extension categories.Its strategy to sustain consumer interest continues to be that of surprise and delight for fans ofall ages with unique designs and products, inspiring happiness and an emotional connection inthe consumer. Such new product line extensions increase visibility and generate new revenuesources. The company’s collaborative focus changed from fast-moving consumer goods to high-fashion brands to establish a' trendy' brand character. By collaborating with popular fashionchains, trendy icons, and famous designers in the market, Hello Kitty has become a fashion iconthat has opened many more opportunities for the character to expand.Examples of successful collaborations that have boosted Hello Kitty sales include partnershipswith Sephora, a member of a French luxury goods group; Austrian jewelry and cutglass companySwarovski, and footwear brands Vans and Christian Louboutins. In 2015, Sanrio announced afashion collaboration with renowned designer Yohji Yamamoto to produce a new collection calledKitty’s.Over Hello Kitty’s lifetime, product extensions have ranged from mass-market items such asstationery to such high-end consumer products as jewelry and diamond-encrusted figurines andwatches. For example, in 2008, the first-ever Hello Kitty-themed maternity hospital started itsoperations in Taiwan. In 2009, Bank of America offered a Hello Kitty checking account with aVisa debit card featuring a Hello Kitty design.In October 2005, EVA Air launched a campaign that created the “Hello Kitty Jet.” The aircraftfeatured a Hello Kitty motif on its exterior and interior fittings and features. Most of these jetswere used to serve several Japanese domestic and international routes. Consumers often

BM220704 Performance Task 1*Property ofSTIPage 4 of 7associate Hello Kitty with Sanrio Puroland theme park in Tokyo, so the original Hello Kitty—themed jet flies the Taiwan–Tokyo route. EVA Air also introduced a Hello Kitty—themed AirbusA330-200 commercial passenger jet airliner in 2012. In the September of the next year, EVAAir’s sixth Hello Kitty—themed aircraft, the “Sanrio Family Hand-in-Hand Jet,” landed at the LosAngeles International Airport as a part of its strategy to retain and expand its customer base.

BM220704 Performance Task 1*Property ofSTIPage 5 of 7Crossover promotions, such as with world-renowned designer Anna Sui, have cemented thebrand character’s appeal. The collaboration with Anna Sui was an excellent fit, given thedesigner’s reputation for sweet, feminine fashion with a touch of nostalgia.Hello Kitty relies more on word-of-mouth communication than traditional advertising to buildinterest in their products. Perhaps grasping at straws to capture some of the attention showeredon newer animated characters, Sanrio announced in 2014 that Hello Kitty is not a cat but aBritish schoolgirl named Kitty White.Another initiative includes launching Hello Kitty’s online game, providing fans a unique andengaging experience. Moving into the virtual sphere gives the character a global appeal andfurther strengthens the emotional bond between Hello Kitty and its brand supporters. Hello Kittyhas used several tactics to appeal to old fans of the product while trying to appeal to newpeople.Hello Kitty’s Current StatusHello Kitty remains Sanrio’s leading character; she is highly recognizable and one of theevergreen characters in the market. However, it is currently only the third top-grossingcharacter in Japan, behind Mickey Mouse and Princess Anna from the Disney’s animated movieFrozen. Despite Hello Kitty’s previous success, many challenges lie ahead for this popularcharacter brand.The most daunting challenge would be to create new consumer experiences without losing theiroriginal appeal. The brand-character business is highly competitive. Movie characters from filmssuch as Shrek and Toy Story threaten Hello Kitty’s strong market position.Sanrio also faces the challenges of maturing characters. The business model for Hello Kitty hasbecome more complex, as consumers require constantly changing elements to stimulate theirbrand interest after the colorful and eventful life Hello Kitty has had in past years.Hello Kitty has remained a top seller for decades due to the combination of a quality productand intelligent marketing. However, the character’s future survival depends on its ability to drawin new fans. Thus, it is essential for Sanrio to continue modernizing the brand. The company islooking to expand the brand into bold new territories.In 2014, Sanrio announced a new Hello Kitty product line for men with a weeklong exhibition inHankyu Men’s Department Store in Tokyo. They had partnered with many well-known men’sfashion designers in Japan such as Casper John to produce this new line.Questions (5 items x 10 points):1.What distinguishes Hello Kitty from other characters and dolls in its early years?Hello Kitty, created by Sanrio in 1974, quickly distinguished itself from othercharacters and dolls of its time through a unique blend of simplicity, cultural fusion,and strategic marketing. With her minimalist design characterized by a lack of amouth and simple black eyes. Hello Kitty presented a neutral expression, allowingfans to project their own emotions onto her. This feature, combined with anabsence of a defined personality, enabled a deeper personal connection, makingHello Kitty universally appealing. 2.What are some things Sanrio does well to reach consumers in different markets?Sanrio, the company behind beloved characters like Hello Kitty, effectively reachesconsumers in different markets through a combination of cultural adaptation,strategic collaborations, and diverse product offerings. By tailoring its products andmarketing strategies to fit local preferences, Sanrio ensures its brand resonates

BM220704 Performance Task 1*Property ofSTIPage 6 of 7globally. For instance, the company adapts character designs and packaging toalign with cultural trends, making them more appealing to local audiences.3.What can be done to maintain Hello Kitty’s distinctiveness and consumer attitude in the coming years?Hello Kitty’s distinctiveness and positive consumer attitude in the coming years, it is essential to adopt a multifaceted strategy that leverages both traditional brand strengths and contemporary trends. Hello Kitty, a global icon known for its charm and universal appeal, must continue to innovate and adapt to an ever-changing market landscape while staying true to its core values of friendship, kindness, and creativity.4.What do you think is the decision-making process when deciding whether to fly on a regular full-service airline versus EVA Air’s Hello Kitty plane?The purpose of the trip plays a significant role. Business travelers might prefer aregular airline that offers direct flights, frequent flyer benefits, or business-classamenities tailored for work. In contrast, leisure travelers, especially families orfans of the Hello Kitty brand, might find the themed experience more appealingand enjoyable. The playful and whimsical atmosphere of the Hello Kitty plane,with its themed interiors, meals, and branded merchandise, can transform anordinary flight into a unique adventure.5.How would launching into the Hello Kitty men’s line affect the perception of Hello Kitty? Discuss the pros and cons of this strategy.Hello Kitty’s market reach by tapping into a new demographic. By introducingproducts for men, the brand could appeal to those already fond of Hello Kitty orattract new customers intrigued by the blending of masculine styles with thetraditionally feminine character. Additionally, this move could modernize thebrand, making it more relevant in a contemporary culture that values inclusivityand breaking down gender stereotypes. The launch would likely generatesignificant media attention, increasing visibility and potentially leading to newcollaborations with other fashion brands. However the demand for Hello Kittymen’s products is uncertain, and a lack of interest could result in financial losses.Moreover, the brand could face backlash from critics who perceive the move as amere marketing gimmick or a deviation from its roots.Rubric for grading:CRITERIAPERFORMANCE INDICATORSPOINTSContentProvided pieces of evidence, supporting details, and factual scenarios8Organization of IdeasExpressed the points in a clear and logical arrangement of ideas in the paragraph2

BM220704 Performance Task 1*Property ofSTIPage 7 of 7TOTAL10ReferencesKotler, P., Keller, K. L, Ang S.W., Tan C.T., Leong S.W. (2018). Marketing Management 7th Edition: AnAsian Perspective.Pearson Education Limited