Hello Kitty，This "mouthless cat" wearing a bow on his head，Once ignited the hearts of girls of a generation。Now the 45-year-old Hello Kitty also has to face the problem of "severe hair loss"。

May 2019，The “hand” behind Hello Kitty、Japanese Sanrio Corporation announced its annual financial results for the March 2019 period。Judging from public data，Sanrio’s total sales in 2018 reached 591.200 million yen，Decreased by 1 year-on-year.8%。Operating profit 47.8.6 billion yen，16 year-on-year decrease.5%。Recurring profit is 58.3.6 billion yen，Decrease by 3 year-on-year.1%。The net profit attributable to the parent company for the current period is 38.800 million yen，Decreased by 21 year-on-year.3%。

In fact，This big IP has a history of 45 years，Market value is facing a sharp decline。

However，We can also see that Sanrio is trying to reverse this decline。March this year，Sanrio officially confirmed and announced on the official website，Has partnered with American production company FlynnPicture、New Line Cinema reaches cooperation，News about bringing its famous cartoon characters such as Hello Kitty to the global screen。According to public information，After the announcement is issued，The company’s stock price rose by more than 12% during the session，The biggest intraday gain since March 16。

The latest public news about this movie is，New Line Cinema will make the Hello Kitty story into an English-language film，There will also be a lazy egg in the film、Melody、Gemini and other Sanrio characters，The film is currently looking for a director and screenwriter。The movie has not yet been determined whether it is an animated movie or a live-action movie。

Actively developing IP-related film content cooperation with Hollywood is undoubtedly a positive self-rescue。No matter how old the IP is, it will one day decline，When the potential energy of classic IP gradually weakens，How to find its new ductility？Perhaps 188bet online sports betting we can get a glimpse of the story from the ups and downs of Hello Kitty and Sanrio。

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According to Wikipedia，Back in 2018，Hello Kitty also generated global IP revenue of US$8 million，Ranked second in the world，Second only to Pokemon。This was born in 1974，Originally it was just a cartoon design pattern on a small wallet scheduled to be launched by Sanrio，Who would have thought that after more than 40 years，This kitten is worth $8 million worldwide。

Hello Kitty and Doraemon and other anime characters are considered to be Japanese national IP。

As early as the 1990s，Japan experienced a wave of anime boom in the 1980s，The prototype of the “IP economy” has already been launched，Hello Kitty is also riding on this wave of craze，Gradually popular in Japan。At the end of the 1990s，From public information，The image of Hello Kitty is very popular among female high school students and young female white-collar workers，Sanrio’s revenue reached a peak as a result，Over 150 billion yen。

In 2008，Reito Hatoyama, who graduated from Harvard MBA, joins Sanrio，The focus of Sanrio’s business strategy has shifted from product sales to the expansion of overseas markets and IP licensing。

Sanrio official website display，Sanrio gradually opens the licensing of various characters to China, Europe and the United States，Scope includes various tangibles、Intangible goods，Brand endorsement and cooperation、Various marketing activities，Heda, medium and small parks、Catering and entertainment、Education, health, etc.。From public information，2008，Sanrio mainland retail stores have reached 109、16 stores in Shanghai。

It’s 2011，Zhejiang Yinrun Leisure Tourism Development Co., Ltd. and Japan's Sanrio Co., Ltd. formally signed a cooperation agreement，announced the launch of China’s first Hello Kitty home project to be built in Anji County, Zhejiang Province，Officially opened in July 2015, it became China’s first theme park featuring Hello Kitty as the protagonist。

In Europe and America，According to official website information，As of 2012，Sanrio’s authorized targets in Europe have reached 759，North America、A total of 597 companies in South America。

But judging from the information disclosed by Sanrio，Although the territory has expanded 188bet sports betting app download so much，But due to poor management of its theme parks、Influenced by factors such as failure in capital market investment，Performance shows decline，In the past five years, Sanrio’s operating profit performance by region has been unsatisfactory。Europe、America、Operating profits in Japan’s domestic market have declined，But the opposite，Sanrio in the Asian market，But there is a gentle upward trend，Today，Asia，It is the Chinese market，Has become Sanrio’s largest overseas market。

 Sanrio’s “loss”:

Industry layout is scattered，Lack of core media，Failed to capture the preferences of contemporary young people

Of course，Sanrio is determined to reverse the decline。Determined to be “until 2021”，Tomokuni Tsuji, the successor of the plan to restore the company’s operating profit to 10 billion yen, has made a series of efforts and attempts，However，In terms of business policy，It seems that it does not adapt well to the current rapidly developing Internet era，It has not grasped the preferences and patterns of this generation of young people。

Take China as Sanrio’s largest overseas market as an example，Sanrio’s deployment in China over the years，It can be said to be "rich and attentive"。

This can be seen from a series of authorization cases on Sanrio China’s official website。Whether it’s with McDonald’s、Mercury Home Textiles、Linkage cooperation with various brands such as b+ab，Still in Shenzhen、Shanghai、Hello Kitty themed Cafe opened in Ningbo and other places、Restaurant、Paradise，Even strengthen trade cooperation with e-commerce，Selling Japanese Sanrio IP related products, etc.。

At the same time，Sanrio also established a new “Animation and Digital Business Division” in 2018，Specialized in animation、Game、Digital Product Development。Hello Kitty’s animated series also appeared on Chinese video platforms，However, take the video of "Hello Kitty: Original Animation Series" on iQiyi as an example，The popularity of the animation with 61 episodes is only 275。

On the game，Games related to Hello Kitty are mostly casual and girly games，In front of long-term mobile games with large scale or exquisite plot and characters，Hello Kitty does not have the slightest advantage。

From public 188bet app data，Whether it is a series of joint cooperation and themed catering and entertainment，It’s still an IP animation series，The main consumer group is still concentrated in the 90s age group，As for the young group in the 00s and below，She seems to be more interested in animations such as "Peppa Pig" and "Bear Bears" than Hello Kitty。

The layout of this series，Also visible，Sanrio from a strategic perspective，It is relatively failed。

First，In the current rapidly developing digital era of the Internet，Sanrio did not realize this trend in time，Strengthening its core strength in digitalization，Perhaps because of this，Lost to capture the current content consumption market of young people on mobile devices。

Secondly，In product linkage and sales、And theme creation，Fragmented regional distribution and lack of innovative business model，Cause Sanrio is expanding its territory，Lack of a relatively systematic and professional layout。

Last，In content development，Compared to many years ago, there is a clear target audience of female high school students and white-collar workers，Today’s target audience is too fragmented，And it’s not clear；Lack of success in new content development，Except those born after 80、Beyond the post-90s generation，There is no continuation of the sentiment towards IP in the subsequent age groups，As a result, the influence and nationality of its series of IPs are gradually depleted，The audience is getting narrower。

In comparison，Pokemon is remarkable in terms of development。Both are national classic IPs，Pokemon has opened up local and overseas markets through the animation work "Pokémon"，Understand the importance of capturing the mainstream audience in every era，With the frequency of launching only one new game every two years，Continues its IP influence to this day，Eventually won the love of "fans" across multiple age groups。

Outside animation，Back in 2015，When the AR gaming era is just taking shape，Pokemon Company、Nintendo and Google invested up to 30 million US dollars，Develop a new game mode that caters to the new technology of the era，Using augmented reality games for GPS positioning technology、Story telling ability，And further improve game design。And based on the traditional idea of ​​​​series 188bet app download IP development，The game field derived from this will also have great potential in the future。

The currently being screened "Detective Pikachu" is adapted from the game。The film was released for 19 days，Already harvested more than 5 in mainland China.800 million yuan box office，The single-day box office performance ranked second after the just-released "Aladdin"。Judging from Taopiaopiao ratings，User ratings from under 19 years old to over 40 years old remain above 8 points，Users under 19 years old have the highest rating of 8.9，The lowest rating for users aged 30-34，There are also 8.2。

Sanrio’s “life-sustaining pill”:

Hatch new characters? Going to Hollywood?

Both are national IP，Every situation is different。Facing the current situation of gradually declining potential energy，Sanrio, which owns IPs such as Hello Kitty, has also begun to make certain strategic adjustments。

From Sanrio official website，The company originally "carried out targeted marketing to specific user groups；Hatch more new characters，Instead of just relying on Hello Kitty；Revitalize the merchandise sales business，Focus on the experience of offline consumption scenarios；Based on the four strategies of “Regional Strategies for Overseas Authorized Markets”，Also adapt to changes in market conditions，In animation、Smartphone application、Advertising placement and other areas have been laid out separately。

This can also be seen from the entry of IP such as Hello Kitty into Hollywood，In Pokemon、Godzilla and other IPs passed through Hollywood movies，Further enhance its global influence、After leveraging new IP potential，Sanrio is finally unwilling to remain silent，Choose a more proactive way of cooperation，That is, the method of cooperation in film content of series IP，Hope to take advantage of Hollywood’s professionalism and global influence in the film field，Raise the potential energy of the entire series of IP，Let the once national IP regain new vitality。

According to public information，Among the film production companies that cooperated with Sanrio this time，New Line Cinema is a subsidiary of Warner Bros.，Produced many films that won both box office and word of mouth，Including the "Lord of the Rings" series；FlynnPicture has also served as the producer of the hit movies 188bet sports betting app download "Rampage" and "Collapse"，The company’s global box office revenue has exceeded $3.2 billion。

Of course，From the current overall investment and strategy，Sanrio is still conservative，And still has not gotten rid of its profit model mainly relying on copyright business。

As Nomura analyst Junko Yamamura once pointed out，Sanrio should learn from the business models of Bandai Namco Holdings and Nintendo。Both of the latter two "engage in comprehensive projects based on IP property rights"，Sanrio needs to build a horizontal organization，Solve product development、Digital business operations and other aspects of matters。

However，The gratifying thing is，From the basic strategy of “Marketing Innovation Project 2021” proposed by Sanrio，Focus on Sanrio animation、Looking at strategies such as digital business and focusing on the Chinese market，Sanrio has already gained insight into the new consumption model in the current new era，And face the fact that we are lagging behind the development trend of the times，And make positive responses accordingly。

Looking at the Sanrio consolidated profit statement data，Planned operating profit for the March 2020 period is shown to be 6.1 billion yen，Planned regular profit is 7.1 billion yen。Compared to March 2019 issue 47.Operating profit of 8.6 billion yen，&58.In terms of regular profit of 3.6 billion yen，Take more than one big step。

Visible，Sanrio looks at its future under the new strategy，Still confident。However, under this strategy，Can the 45-year-old Hello Kitty use the power of Hollywood，Let the once national IP reverse its decline，Renewed vitality in the new mobile Internet digital era，But it’s far more than just one movie can prove。From an industrial perspective，The progress of Sanrio’s layout and strategic deployment in addition to the film content development of series IP with Hollywood，More worthy of our attention。

*Source of this article: WeChat public account "Yiyu Observation"(ID: yiyuguancha)，Author of this article: Li Wanxue，Original title: "45-year-old Hello Kitty has “severe hair loss”，What’s the problem？》.