The global icon of cute quirkyness continues to amass a huge legion of fans and communities around the world. In 2002, Hello Kitty was rated as the third most recognisable Asian brand behind Sony and Cathay Pacific. With her moon-shaped visage slapped on more than 22,000 consumer products – from pencil cases, notebooks, toys, to even credit cards, cartoons, refrigerators and cars – Hello Kitty has become one of the most coveted brand images in the world. Much of the success of this global purveyor of all things cute and cuddly can be summarised by two words: Hello Kitty. Generating more than US$1 billion in sales back in 2002, Sanrio is one of the world’s major character goods company. Shintaro Tsuji and Hello Kitty (courtesy of Sukebe Chan) In trying to discover the secrets of this back in 2009, I read Ken Belson and Brian Bremner’s book Hello Kitty: The Remarkable Story of Sanrio and the Billion Dollar Feline Phenomenon.Īuthored by two hardcore business journalists, the slim volume attempted to weave in the economics of the world’s kawaii craze with the development of the Japanese cultural phenomenon, bringing in insights gleaned from the founder of Sanrio himself Shintaro Tsuji. What made Hello Kitty such an endearing and enduring icon for kitty lovers everywhere? Over a Billion Dollar Business With only 500 of these mouthless meows available, the kawaii cat sport two bows – one pink and the other with red and white stripes – mimicking the colours of our national flag.Ĭosting $49.90 and limited to two per customer, some of them are now being resold in online markets for as much as 5 times of the buying price! According to a story in The Straits Times, this is the world’s first 24 hour Hello Kitty Cafe, offering a modest 84 seats in total.Īpparently, many of these patrons also wanted to purchase a limited edition plush toy. This time around, the opening of the Hello Kitty Cafe at Changi Airport generated huge and serpentine queues.
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