The trend of incorporating cartoon characters into products has existed for a long time and is considered one of the effective marketing strategies to connect with consumers. Brands have seized the opportunity to exploit by creating products or services related to diverse character copyrights such as entertainment spaces, fashion, toys, stationery, and consumer goods in general. This strategy not only helps brands reach customers more easily thanks to the inherent appeal of cartoon characters, but also enhances brand recognition. According to a report from Licensing International (2023), Global Licensing Industry Study, retail sales from image licensing are estimated to reach 340.8 billion USD in 2022. This trend is expected to continue to be one of the effective marketing strategies for industries in Vietnam, which is in the "golden population structure" period with about 68% of the population aged 15 to 64 and the highest rate of families with children in Southeast Asia.
With a large and diverse consumer market for cartoon character-related products, consumers are frequently exposed to popular culture products such as movies, comics, and video games, creating conditions for the potential development of this industry. The strategy of combining cartoon characters has been applied by many brands from fashion, cosmetics to the confectionery industry in their campaigns. Famous cartoon characters such as Doraemon, Mickey Mouse, Disney princesses, and Minions are especially popular with both brands and consumers.
Incorporating animated characters into products not only creates a vibrant and diverse consumer market, but also provides an opportunity for brands to assert their position and build emotional connections with customers.
The integration of cartoon characters into products, activities and services is not only limited to children's product lines but also attracts a significant number of adult customers. This strategy takes advantage of the nostalgia and emotional connection of adults with cartoon characters associated with childhood, bringing a sense of familiarity and recalling beautiful memories.
For the fashion and apparel industry, the trend of using cartoon characters is often applied by many brands by purchasing copyrights to print images on shirts and accessories. This method helps brands create unique and interesting collections, attracting the attention of consumers.
Notably, the Japanese fashion and retail brand - Uniqlo has persistently pursued this strategy with the brand's UT product line. This is a product line that specializes in printing Uniqlo's exclusive designs on T-shirts, with inspiration from a variety of fields such as contemporary art, iconic global characters to music, movies, the world of Manga, Anime to collaborations with famous brands, artists, and individuals around the world.
Each UT shirt carries a special message of each character on the shirt with the spirit - Wear Your World. For example, the product combined with Mickey Mouse - UT Mickey Stands is brought by Uniqlo with the message "The image of Mickey Mouse is recreated by Disney designers on each T-shirt. Mickey Mouse's poses may be familiar to you for a long time, but the Mickey Mouse that each of us imagines is very different. Find your own favorite Mickey model".
With a design collaboration with the Peanuts cartoon - UTGP PEANUTS 2022, Uniqlo held a T-shirt design contest that allowed participants to put their 'world' on the shirts. It is known that the contest attracted more than 14,000 works from young people around the world to participate and 11 selected designs will appear in Uniqlo's special UT edition.
In addition, luxury fashion brands have also quickly caught on to this trend. A typical example is Gucci, with a New Year campaign in collaboration with the character Doraemon to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Doraemon's debut and the 100th anniversary of Gucci. In this collection, the robot cat Doraemon appears vividly on the brand's classic monogram pattern. This unique combination is shown on a variety of products, from shirts, pants, handbags to hoodies, giving consumers a wide range of choices and suitable for many fashion styles.
Not only in the fashion industry, the cosmetics and beauty industry has also taken the lead in this trend by launching packaging versions with cartoon characters on the products. Typically, the skin care brand Innisfree has collaborated with Kuromi - a character in the Japanese animated film Onegai My Melody. Specifically, Innisfree has changed the packaging of the 'No Sebum Mineral Powder' product to the character's signature purple color and printed the character's image on the entire product selection. According to the brand, the design combined with Kuromi will bring novelty to consumers' beauty collections.
Sanrio characters are not only popular in the beauty and cosmetics industry but also stand out in the confectionery industry. At the end of March 2024, KitKat collaborated with Sanrio to launch new flavors, change packaging, and launch many interesting activities.
The brand launched 28 packs featuring Sanrio characters, and each pack features encouraging messages in Japanese such as 'I love you,' 'I'll cheer for you,' and 'I support you!'. The campaign is made even more special when consumers can scan the QR codes on the packaging to bring the Sanrio characters to life using AR technology.
This unique combination not only appeals to fans of Sanrio characters but also brings personalization to each consumer. From there, the brand creates a special bond between the product and the buyer, making them feel valued and cared for, while creating an enjoyable and memorable shopping experience.
