Case study provided by The Brand Council.
A small white cat, with no mouth and a red bow. Just another kids' character, or a global fashion icon? Considering that this cute feline, Hello Kitty, has been driving girls of all ages mad for 27 years and sold $1.2bn of merchandise in 2001, the brand certainly has icon credentials.
Sanrio, the Japanese gifts and accessories company, is the driving force behind the Hello Kitty phenomenon. The story began in 1974, when Sanrio launched a small purse featuring the simply drawn face of a cat, with thick black whiskers, button eyes and a curiously absent mouth. When demand for the purses soared, Sanrio began using the image on other products, such as stationery and small gift items. Kids loved them, particularly eight- to 12-year-old 'tween' girls, who remain Hello Kitty's most loyal fan base.
Now, young girls, teenagers and even grown women all over the world can't get enough of Hello Kitty. Sanrio places her image on a wide but carefully chosen range of products and accessories -- from nail polish and necklaces to boomboxes and toasters. In Japan, it's even possible to have a Hello Kitty wedding.
Hundreds of Sanrio boutiques around the world sell Hello Kitty merchandise, including flagship stores in famous neighbourhoods such as Tokyo's Ginza District and New York's Times Square. The key to Sanrio's success has been to respond quickly to fashion trends and popular culture, creating cool products which hit the spot every time. Initially, it was just little girls who lapped up the candy-coloured, fun-sized accessories but, as they grew up, the same girls kept buying Hello Kitty products, encouraging Sanrio to target older age groups, creating a true cross-generational brand in the process.
As a result, Hello Kitty remains a powerful kids' brand as well as a pop icon for older consumers. You're now as likely to see a nine year-old girl with a Hello Kitty pencil case, as a 25-year-old clubber wearing a Hello Kitty t-shirt. New products are reviewed in kids and teen magazines, but also in style bibles like Vogue and Cosmopolitan.
Celebrity fans like Tyra Banks, Mariah Carey and Christina Aguilera have fuelled the brand's cult status, as has Sanrio's clever policy of never making too many of any one product. This means every Hello Kitty item is a limited edition, a collectible, which makes the brand one of the most eagerly sought after on internet auction sites like eBay.
Sanrio is also extremely cautious about brand extensions, wary not to flood the market with inappropriately positioned Hello Kitty products. Matching the brand's image to the right product, at the right time, has always been a key to Sanrio's success. Another important factor in the "purity" of the Hello Kitty image is that it is just that -- an image. She's not a character that has sprung from a cartoon, movie or book with a fully developed story. She exists only as an icon, and is all the more powerful, and timeless, as a result.
漏 2002 Superbrands Ltd