subject: Why Hello Kitty Is Facing The Awkward Situation [print this page] In the every corner of the world, you can almost find the Hello Kitty figure, which is one famous Japanese cartoon figure. Since its appearance, there is always a ring of light around it, for example, you can find the lovely figure on all kinds of toys, clothes, stationery and so on. At the period of great prosperity, such little cartoon figure can bring the income as much as five billions U.S. dollar. In the late 1970s and the mid 1999s, it is the low tide phase of it, but after that time, its popularity would rise perpendicularly, whats more, even some Hollywood movie stars such as Lady Gaga and Paris Hilton also wear the clothes printed with Hello Kitty figure. It can be said that the Hello Kitty figure is not only the successful cartoon figure, but also the representative of the flourishing Japanese animation industry.
However, what a pity, the good times don't last long. According to the recent sales survey from Japan, it shows that since 2002, the Hello Kitty has gradually lost the leading role in the Japanese animation field and whats worse its sales volume only ranks in the third position in the latest survey, in arrears of Anpanman and Pikachu. Sanrio, the owner of Hello Kitty figure, also said that in the past 12 months, the overall sales in Japan fell at the ratio of 3.3 percent. Under such circumstance, Sanrio is trying to use other cartoon figures such as My Melody, Blue Penguin Sam and so on to redeem the bad situation, but the final effect is not as good as the Hello Kitty in the past.
Why Hello Kitty nowadays faces such awkward situation? According to the experts, it is the fault of Sanrio because in their marketing strategy they are too dependent on the Hello Kitty brand so that there are too many products with the Hello Kitty theme. For a long time, lots of people would be tired of the Hello Kitty figure so that its lifetime is shortened. At the beginning, the company carefully controlled to prevent the out of control of the situation, which is also the unspoken rules in the cartoon industry. You should not let an figure become more popular in a short time and the long time popular status is the better. Unfortunately, the situation was out of control ultimately and now it is the current situation, which a certain extent is the natural law in the animation industry.
