Watch video above: Will young female fans buy into Hello Kitty? Carey Marsden reports.
TORONTO – The 2014 MLB season is officially under way, and this year the league is hoping tween and adult fans alike will take home their own piece of baseball-themed Japanese pop culture.
This week Sanrio, Inc. announced a new deal with Major League Baseball that will see Hello Kitty merchandise for sale in all 30 MLB stadiums.
Sanrio, a Japanese company that designs products drawn from cute (kawaii) Japanese pop culture, is best known for Hello Kitty – a character once primarily marketed to young girls and now a worldwide phenomenon worth billions.
In MLB stadium stores, at MLB.com and at select retailers, baseball fans can purchase team sweaters, keychains, baseballs, cellphone covers – all emblazoned with their team’s colours and the iconic face of a female bobcat wearing a red bow.
The deal builds on a previous collaboration with the Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres introduced in 2013.
David Marchi, Sanrio’s senior director of brand management and marketing, said the collaboration taps into both Hello Kitty and the MLB’s “passionate fan base.”
But wait: The MLB has a passionate fan base of tween pop culture aficionados?
It makes sense (and dollars)
The MLB’s female fan base has risen steadily in the past decade.
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Women now make up almost half of MLB fans. That’s up from 37 per cent in 2002.
Brands and marketers looking to sell their wares are trying to capitalize on the previously untapped market.
Why does this sound familiar?
The Hello Kitty deal follows a growing list of companies launching product lines geared toward the female baseball fan.
In 2007, actress Alyssa Milano launched Touch, a clothing line for women tired of settling for “big, oversized men’s jerseys, caps and other apparel.” The line features sports apparel with female baseball, hockey, football and basketball fans in mind.
OPI has a “fashion plate” collection that showcases MLB-themed nail polish hues and product names like “Girls Love Diamonds” and “Love Athletes in Cleats.”
In 2012, ladies lingerie retailer Victoria’s Secret announced it was expanding its PINK MLB Collection to include all 30 pro teams.
Where’s all the ‘normal’ female sports apparel?
Not all female sportswear is created equal.
On a hot summer night under the dome in Toronto’s Rogers Centre, you’d be forgiven if you thought the Blue Jays’ official colours were blue and pink (they are not).
Some may question why a nail polish is called “Love Athletes in Cleats” instead of “Love My Cleats” or why an Atlanta Braves sweater for men says simply “Braves” but the one for his girlfriend/sister/mom says “Meet me in the dugout.”
There’s no one kind of female sports fan. While some happily buy baseball tank tops that are tight, low-cut or bedazzled to the hilt, others just want a “normal” fan t-shirt.
And marketers are catching on to that as well.
Lines such as Touch offer much more subdued options with just the teams’ logos and colours taking centre stage –with a tighter fit, of course.
But cartoon kittens? Really?
The Hello Kitty deal is one of the first marketed specifically to younger females.
The MLB said the relationship with Sanrio is aligned with the league’s goal to target specific fans bases.
“Season after season, we look for new and creative ways to expand our offerings to reach specific fans, so teaming up with an iconic brand like Hello Kitty gives our fans a fun new way to support their favorite team,” said Howard Smith, the MLB’s Senior VP of Licensing in a statement.
“The Hello Kitty brand appeals to a younger audience in a way that we’ve never done before, targeting a teen- and tween-based female demographic with a full lineup of offerings spanning from souvenirs to merchandise just in time for the start of the 2014 season.”
While there has been some backlash from fans who would prefer to don their team logo sans adorable kitten…
Others are notably excited.
“Let the cutest baseball season begin!” exclaimed blogger Hello Kitty Junkie. More “special kittilicious promo nights” appear to on the way as well following succession events at Dodger Stadium in 2012 and 2013.
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