Mickey, 97, will never grow old.
“ In China, Disney ’s consumer goods business has achieved double-digit growth for 6 consecutive years. I believe this rhythm will continue this year. ” Lin Jia Text Tell 36 氪. “I’m actually more optimistic this year than at any time in the past 6 years.”
2020 will be an extraordinary year for Disney, because Mickey Mouse is going to have a “born year”. Disney predicts that in the coming Lunar New Year, the consumer products related to Mickey will usher in a wave of market craze. To take advantage of this boom, Disney has prepared 20,000 new SKUs for Greater China, most of which are related to Mickey.
Lin Jiawen, vice president and general manager of Disney ’s Greater China and Korea Consumer Goods, said that the new consumer goods will cover cosmetics, apparel, toys, food, home furnishings and other categories. Cooperating brands including Gucci and Li Ning , Adidas, SK-II, Maybelline, Pandora, Innisfree, and more.
Mickey-themed cosmetic image source: Disney
Mickey-themed clothing Image source: Disney
mOdd-themed mobile phone case and Mickey-style mobile system theme Picture source: Disney
Not only China, but also new products will be launched simultaneously in several other Asian countries, such as Japan, South Korea, Singapore, etc. Moreover, in order to meet the different aesthetic preferences of consumers in different countries, the design styles of the products will be slightly different. For example, the Japanese market will usher in a unique series of cherry blossoms, some Korean products will have red and blue colors, and Singapore’s Mickey will have a “Southern-style” atmosphere.
Mickey-themed gold. On the left is Japan and on the right is South Korea. Image source: Disney
Mickey-themed dim sum jars for the Singapore market Picture source: Disney
Mickey in China looks even more festive. Source: Disney
New series specially launched for Chinese consumers ——Kung Fu Mickey Photo Source: Disney
Disney has 450 licensees in mainland China, eliminating the poor every year and staying good
In the consumer channel, Disney has always adopted the model of self-employment + authorization. At present, it has more than 50 directly-operated retail stores in China and Japan, and the number is not large, but there are as many as 450 domestic licensees in China, and its products cover all aspects of life.
Lin Jiawen told 36. Although the number of licensees in the Chinese market is still lower than that in North America, the number of products, development speed, coverage and sales are growing fastest here. Moreover, under this premise, the total number of licensees in China has not fluctuated much in recent years. Because Disney is “eliminating old and adding new.”
“Every year we stop working with about 3% of our old licensors.” Lin Jiawen said, because some partners will gradually keep up with the pace of Disney’s market.
How can I evaluate whether a licensee can stay on Disney’s list? There are five standards in total: Design, sales, management, finance, and the company’s future plans. Disney needs the other party to stay healthy in all five areas.
The number of foreign companies that have fallen into the Chinese market in recent years is not a small number, and the retail industry is particularly large-because it is difficult to understand the consumption habits of Chinese people. Take MUJI as an example. It took more than a year for this Japanese daily-use brand in China to adjust the bedding to the size customary to Chinese people. The reason is that MUJI’s products are sold to the world and there are not enough development and manufacturing channels for China. This market makes goods separately.
Lin Jiawen thinks that Disney will not have this problem. “We have 450 local licensors. Disney is not a company with only one brand.” And most of these licensors adopt a direct sales model and can directly contact consumers. Or, get the feedback data quickly and pass it back to Disney. After obtaining the data, if you need to make adjustments to a certain product, Disney China has the right to directly approve it, and you do not need to send back the application to the headquarters every time.
More work will be done in 2020
In the new year, Disney will make two major adjustments in the consumer goods market.
First, Disney’s copyright development efforts will increase significantly after the acquisition of 21st Century Fox. Not only are Avatar and X-Men included in the scope of consumer product development, but also Fox’s asset, National Geographic, etc. This will bring a lot of new work.
Second, Disney will do more landing and offline marketing work.
“All companies are talking about e-commerce (e-commerce), which is a very hot concept, but it should be noted that only 25% of transactions in China still happen online, and 75% % Of transactions happen offline. This proves that Chinese consumers still enjoy the offline shopping experience. “Lin Jiawen said.
Disney will step up its work in the new year, and cooperate with local iconic malls in eight cities: Shanghai, Beijing, Suzhou, Wuxi, Zhengzhou, Jinan, Dalian, and Shenyang. In fact, Shanghai ’s high-end mall Jingan Kerry Center has hosted Disney ’s “2020 New Year’s Eve Party” on December 31, 2019, and consumers in several other cities will soon see it in the mall. “Chinese New Year Mickey.”
Mickey-themed event at Jing’an Kerry Center, Shanghai Image source: Disney
The majority of Disney ’s consumers in China come from first-tier and second-tier cities, and this is also where most of its direct stores operate. “But sales in third- and fourth-tier cities are also growing rapidly.” Lin Jiawen said that they are already considering the possibility of going to the sunken market to open stores, but there is currently no clear timetable.
Considering the generally higher pricing model of Disney consumer products, it is definitely not easy to sink the market. This year, Disney also partnered with Gucci to print Mickey’s pattern on the new coat. This piece of clothing may cost three months of salary for an average working class.
Mickey-themed Gucci jacket Picture source: Disney
Of course Disney alsoIt is trying to penetrate the sinking market in a lighter way, such as cooperating with domestic affordable brands MINISO, Metersbonwe, Li Ning and other brands.
Mickey’s new Mickey theme product image source: Disney
Disney’s consumer goods business has been in China for more than 20 years and has witnessed a huge change in this market. Unlike ten years ago, its user base in China has changed from “15% adults + 85% children” to “55% adults + 45% children”. Moreover, this situation of adults over children is unique to China, and Disney’s user base in North America and Europe is still mostly children.
Young people in China like to watch movies, go to paradise, and like shopping. This is the main reason for the “adults are higher than children” model. Therefore, over the past few years, the Disney China Consumer Products team has deliberately changed its product positioning, in addition to toys , To add more consumer goods categories such as clothing, accessories.
In 2019, Disney ushered in a bumper harvest in the film industry, with a global box office of more than 11.1 billion U.S. dollars, making it the first company in movie history to surpass 10 billion US dollars. Those who are active in front of the screen will gradually appear in the container.
Disney’s fourth quarter 2019 financial report shows that the theme park, experience and consumer goods revenue was $ 6.7 billion, an increase of 8% year-on-year. In the fourth quarter, the actual revenue growth of this department benefited from the good performance of consumer goods licensing and other businesses. The growth was mainly from the “Frozen” series and “Toy Story” series. In the new year, Mickey, who is already 97 years old, may become a new growth driver.
Title from Disney