Did you notice that Hello Kitty turned pink and soft in 1996? Until then, Hello Kitty was red or yellow and always had black line/rim around her face, which made her look a little cold. The third Hello Kitty designer Yuko Yamaguchi (she is such a character! she has a blog) changed this, and successfully turned Hello Kitty into a global icon.
Did you also notice that Hello Kitty started to show up everywhere, in different shops in 2008? Apparently it was due to an HBS graduate who joined and brought in the idea of giving discretion to artists and manufacturers globally, to design goods everywhere, based on a licensing fee (and Sanrio's overseas operating profits is >US$0.1 billion).
Hello Kitty also gives much more flexibility in the design than the likes of Disney and Snoopy, which can allow for versatile products that keep the brand image really up to date. And they also started an office in Milan to headquarter all global products, with an all-Italian staff. From there, Hello Kitty is now moving to sell to men, starting with their KISS characters (a product of struggle by an Italian designer upon adding a tongue, because Hello Kitty must not have a mouth!).
Anyway, see below Miss Kitty White's profile. It's too funny.
Hello Kitty Profile:
- name: Kitty White
- born: suburb of London
- height: 5 apples piled up, weight: 3 apples worth
- pet: she has 2 pet cats!
- collection: candy
Do also check out these Hello Kitty junkies' blogs: Hello Kitty on real cat & Hello Kitty products.
Photo credit: Sanrio, Yuko Yamaguchi, Lady Gaga
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