How Japan's youngest CEO transformed Hello Kitty

Hello Kitty, arguably Japan's champion loved creation, is celebrating her 50th anniversary.

But each has not ever been good astatine Sanrio, the Japanese institution down the character. The concern has been connected a spectacular travel of fiscal peaks and valleys.

She has been ranked the second-highest grossing media franchise successful the satellite down Pokémon, and up of the likes of Mickey Mouse and Star Wars.

Underscoring Hello Kitty's planetary fame, Britain's King Charles wished her a blessed day during the authorities sojourn to the UK by Japan's Emperor and Empress successful June.

In caller years though the steadfast had been struggling to marque money, arsenic involvement successful Hello Kitty waned.

Two erstwhile surges successful Sanrio sales, successful 1999 and 2014, were some driven by the character's popularity. But these jumps successful request for the firm's products were not sustainable, says Yasuki Yoshioka of concern institution SMBC Nikko.

"In the past, its show had galore ups and downs, arsenic if it was connected a rollercoaster ride," Mr Yoshioka says.

Then, successful 2020, Tomokuni Tsuji inherited the relation arsenic Sanrio's boss.

He is the grandson of the firm's founder, Shintaro Tsuji, and was conscionable 31 astatine the time, making him the youngest main enforcement of a listed Japanese company.

His gramps past became Sanrio's chairman.

Under the younger Mr Tsuji's leadership, Sanrio changed its selling strategy of its unchangeable of different characters.

"It is not astir lowering Hello Kitty's popularity but it is astir boosting others' recognition," helium says.

This resulted successful Hello Kitty losing the presumption of Sanrio's astir fashionable character.

According to a canvass of customers, that spot is present held by Cinnamoroll - a blue-eyed achromatic puppy with pinkish cheeks, agelong ears and a process that looks similar a Cinnamon roll.

Sanrio is besides nary longer conscionable astir cute characters.

If Hello Kitty is Japan's ambassador of cute, past aggravated reddish panda Aggressive Retsuko - oregon Aggretsuko - channels the frustrations of an mean moving woman.

The character, which is fashionable among Gen Zers, archetypal appeared successful a cartoon bid connected Japan's TBS Television earlier it became a planetary deed connected Netflix.

Another unconventional quality is Gudetama, oregon "lazy egg", who is surviving with slump and fires retired acold one-liners that bespeak acheronian realities of life.

As good arsenic diversifying its characters, Sanrio boosted its overseas selling and is present tackling counterfeits much rigorously.

"We are present utilizing artificial quality to observe fake products and to marque removal requests," says Mr Tsuji.

For its selling strategy, collaborations with large brands - including Starbucks, Crocs and the LA Dodgers shot squad - person been key, helium added.

"In summation to our ain promotion, by collaborating with planetary brands, we are trying to person our characters successful the marketplace passim the twelvemonth without galore breaks."

In a nine that puts truthful overmuch accent connected seniority, Mr Tsuji's surname was important to his quality to marque large changes astatine Sanrio.

Almost a 4th of listed companies successful Japan, similar car makers Toyota and Suzuki and camera steadfast Canon, are managed by members of the household that founded them.

The crushed is cultural, according to Professor Hokuto Dazai of Nagoya University of Commerce and Business.

In Japan, location to the world's oldest continuous monarchy, "there is beardown designation of families and household businesses," helium says.

The master-servant narration from the samurai play has transitioned into the narration betwixt founding families and their employees, and "historically commoners ne'er fought implicit the apical job".

"It is besides due to the fact that Japan has a smaller excavation of nonrecreational executives to take from," says Professor Dazai.

"Firms thin to look for their adjacent brag internally, including founding household members."

Still, "it would beryllium a prevarication if I said determination was nary pushback" from different managers and employees in the company, Mr Tsuji says.

He besides says helium clashed with his gramps implicit however to tally the company.

"But 1 time I realised that I was being arrogant, trying to person idiosyncratic 60 years senior," helium says.

"After astir a year, my gramps told maine to tally the institution arsenic I spot acceptable - that helium volition permission it up to me."

The caller boss's revamp of the concern has been paying disconnected truthful far.

Within 2 years of the younger Tsuji becoming main executive, Sanrio was profitable again, successful what analyst Mr Yoshioka calls "a beauteous V-shaped recovery".

Its stock terms has risen tenfold since 2020 and the institution present has a banal marketplace valuation of much than a trillion yen ($6.5bn; £5bn).

Away from the boardroom and banal market, determination was besides an intriguing incidental earlier this year.

While Hello Kitty's existent individuality is comparatively well-known successful Japan, immoderate overseas fans were shocked by comments from a Sanrio enforcement successful July.

Speaking connected US television, retail concern improvement manager Jill Koch told viewers that “Hello Kitty is not a cat” and is successful information a British schoolgirl.

Her comments sparked a flurry of societal media posts, with fans expressing their daze and disorder astir the revelation.

"Hello Kitty is Hello Kitty and she tin beryllium whoever you privation her to beryllium - she tin beryllium your sister, your mother, it tin beryllium different you," Mr Tsuji says.

Pushed connected whether helium has any thought wherefore his gramps decided not to marque her Japanese, Mr Tsuji concludes: "London is an astonishing metropolis and it was the envy of galore Japanese girls, truthful that whitethorn beryllium 1 of the reasons they decided that she’s from London."

It whitethorn not beryllium the definitive reply her fans are looking for - but aft all, Hello Kitty was created 14 years earlier the younger Tsuji was adjacent born. Half a period since her creation, it is imaginable that the beloved character's root communicative volition proceed to beryllium shrouded successful enigma for years to come.

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