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Case Study - Hello Kitty

Hello Kitty is a cartoon character created by Japanese company Sanrio in 1974. Since then, it has grown into a major global brand success. Hello Kitty was initially targeted at children but has successfully expanded its audience to include teenage girls and women aged 20 and older. As fans grew older, they remained nostalgically loyal to the brand, purchasing a wide range of Hello Kitty products. These now number over 15,000 items across categories like food, clothing, electronics and more. Sanrio has leveraged Hello Kitty's popularity through cafes, restaurants, stores around the world, and new cartoon characters. The brand has proved highly profitable even during economic downturns.

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588 views2 pages

Case Study - Hello Kitty

Hello Kitty is a cartoon character created by Japanese company Sanrio in 1974. Since then, it has grown into a major global brand success. Hello Kitty was initially targeted at children but has successfully expanded its audience to include teenage girls and women aged 20 and older. As fans grew older, they remained nostalgically loyal to the brand, purchasing a wide range of Hello Kitty products. These now number over 15,000 items across categories like food, clothing, electronics and more. Sanrio has leveraged Hello Kitty's popularity through cafes, restaurants, stores around the world, and new cartoon characters. The brand has proved highly profitable even during economic downturns.

Uploaded by

Mohd Abbie
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
  • Case Study Details
  • Case Study Questions

UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA

CASE STUDY/2019

COURSE : STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT


COURSE CODE : MGT657
CASE STUDY : 2020

NAME: ______________________________________________________

METRIC CARD NO.: __________________________________________

LECTURER’S NAME: _________________________________________

PROGRAMME: _______________________________________________

INSTRUCTIONS: PLEASE ANSWER ALL QUESTIONS AND USE YOUR OWN


PAPERS (10 MARKS EACH).

Hello Kitty

Hello Kitty is an idea based on a cartoon character of a small cat that looks kind and cute,
with a button nose, two black dot-eyes, six whiskers and a ribbon or flower in its hair. The cat
has no mouth, and this represents major source of emotional association for buyers, as they
can project many different feelings onto the little cat. The owner and the cat can be happy,
sad, and thoughtful or any of the feelings they want to feel together.

Hello Kitty is 25 years old but has perpetual youth. For Japanese company Sanrio Co., a
stationary producer, she has become a major brand success, multiplying profits in the
financial year ended March 31, 1998 by thirteen times during a recession. Adored by many
demographic segments of the market, Hello Kitty’s main target audience, as expected, is
children but Sanrio says it has now successfully extended the brand to teenage women from
above 20 years. Hello Kitty has become an icon with global appeal.

As the girls, who first bought her when they were young, grow older, they nostalgically buy
Hello Kitty products as adults. There are Hello Kitty tea sets, toasters, mobile telephone
cases, erasers, motorcycles, mouse pads, spectacles, and other products. For bedtime, there
are Hello Kitty pyjamas and bed sheets. The company apparently adds 600 new products a
month to the15, 000 items or so already available. Hello Kitty has taken Asia by storm and
has over 40 stores in the U.S. with subsidiaries in Brazil and Germany.

Sanrio runs Hello Kitty cafes in Japan and has started to franchise theme restaurants, the first
of which is Maxim’s Caterers Ltd in Hong Kong with more to follow. Franchises in Seoul
and Taipei are also on the horizon. Apart from the brand extensions, Sanrio intends to
introduce new cartoon characters including a hamster and a rabbit. Financially, the brand has
been phenomenally profitable, even during the recession. Recently, the brand has become a

1
UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA
CASE STUDY/2019

target for co-branding but in some cases, such as the co-branding exercise with McDonald’s
in Singapore – hello Kitty eclipsed the brand partner, with thousands of people buying
burgers and then throwing them away but keeping the Hello Kitty promotional items.

(Brandingasia.com, 2010)

Questions:

1. Analyse the factors that can be considered as threats to Hello Kitty’s future growth.

2. Explain any three (3) major strengths that Hello Kitty has, to support its expansion plan to

growth worldwide.

3. Identify and explain three (3) appropriate strategies adopted by Hello Kitty.

4. Develop EFE Matrix for Hello Kitty with a total of 10 factors.

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