Confusion and fan disappointment on the first day of the "Hello Kitty Exhibition" - Sanrio's lack of crisis management in the Chinese market penetration and operation
On November 1, 2024, on the first day of the "Hello Kitty Exhibition" held at the Tokyo National Museum, chaos broke out due to the bad manners and mismanagement of some visitors. In addition to crowding inside and outside the venue, there were also mass purchases by foreigners that seemed to be for the purpose of resale, which disappointed many fans.
| Photo: Opening ceremony on October 30 (from left: Makoto Fujiwara, Director of Tokyo National Museum, Yasuyuki Otsuka, Managing Director of Sanrio, and Keiichi Sawa, Managing Director of Japan Television, cut the ribbon with Hello Kitty) |
More than 1,000 people lined up before the doors opened, and as soon as the gates opened, shouts of "Don't push" and "Wait!" resounded. Fans who stood in line for seven hours complained that they did not understand the situation in the building and that there were no staff, and there were also witnesses of reselling large purchases by foreign groups, causing anger and disappointment among Japan fans.
The YouTube video is a field report by Hello Kitty fan "Wizard Chikuwa".
Later, it was revealed on a Chinese flea market site that Hello Kitty products sold at the venue were being resold for more than four times the list price.
In the fiscal year ended March 2023, Sanrio recorded sales of approximately 11.5 billion yen in the Asian region, of which the Chinese market accounted for approximately 6.4 billion yen (fiscal year ending March 2024 unknown). The company established a local subsidiary in Shanghai in 2003, and in 2015 opened its first overseas "Hello Kitty Park" in Zhejiang Province. In 2023, we signed a license agreement with China's Alibaba Group to expand our business in the Chinese market. In the earnings forecast for the fiscal year ending March 2025 announced in August this year, the company emphasized revenue growth in the Chinese market.
In addition to Sanrio, the Hello Kitty exhibition is jointly organized by Dentsu, Japan Television, PIA, and others. However, in consideration of the recent penetration of Sanrio characters into the Chinese market and the problem of resale by foreigners, the operation was carried out without an operation plan and crisis management measures.
Sanrio posted an apology on its official website on November 2 insert We announced improvement measures such as limiting the number of units sold and introducing a replacement system. The exhibition will run until February 24, 2025, but the limited edition merchandise is already sold out. It does not provide a detailed explanation of the cause of the confusion.
Major media coverage on the matter has been limited to FNN News Prime, with Japan TV in particular reporting on the opening ceremony on October 30 but not on the chaos on the first day.
