Hello Kitty and her KRU HK dance crew are ready to bring the party to North America.
At five apples tall and three apples heavy, Hello Kitty is set to take over North America with the Hello Kitty Supercute Friendship Festival starting in May 2015. With 10 cities on sale right now and another round of on-sales scheduled for the end of January, the VEE Corporation and Sanrio-produced festival tour is set to touch down in 35-45 cities in all.
“It’s a lifestyle brand, and this allows the fans to really experience what they want out of the brand,” said VEE Corporation Marketing Consultant Courtney Dveris. “So if they’re into the stage show, they can watch that piece of it. If they’re more into a certain character, they can spend a little more time in those character environments that we’ll have and the different photo ops and the interactive pieces that are absolutely new and unique and have never been seen before.”
The tour was announced in celebration of Hello Kitty’s 40th anniversary and as an extension of the sold-out Hello Kitty Convention 2014 that took place in Los Angeles from Oct. 30 to Nov. 2. Fans will be able to attend the interactive musical and lifestyle weekend tour stops by choosing from a few sessions at different time slots over the three days. In addition to Hello Kitty, attendees will also be able to meet other Sanrio characters like Dear Daniel, My Melody, Badtz-Maru, Chococat, Kerropi and Pompom Purin.
The tour’s first stop will be at Target Center in Minneapolis where VEE Productions is located and where many of the pieces that will be used in the festival are being created. Even with the success of family shows like Sesame Street Live, Kidz Bop World Tour and Care Bears Live, this is the first time VEE Corporation is producing a show with this kind of format.
“It’s not a traditional show where it’s just a stage show,” said Dveris. “This is truly a festival where it’s much more interactive. You’ve got exhibits, you’ve got the music and the stage component to it, but also tons of different photo ops, pieces that can be paired with social media and exclusive merchandise. It’s much more of a festival-style event. It’s not a traditional sit-down stage event with an intermission and then the second half of the show.”
The multistage festival style of the tour will feature live performances by the dance group KRU HK, interactive exhibits, art, photo ops and event exclusive merchandise.
“To me, it’s like a convention and a party and a concert all put into one experience, and then, not to be cliché, you put a red bow on it,” said Darren Davis, executive director at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, which will host the Hello Kitty Supercute Friendship Festival Aug. 14-16.
Excited by the uniqueness and for a chance to work with VEE Productions for the first time, Davis was eager to bring the festival to Orleans Arena because it fit so well into their business model.
“For us, competing on the music front in Las Vegas is difficult because competing venues are all going after that same music,” said Davis. “Where we’ve been able to excel here at Orleans Arena is with family shows like this, sporting events and motor sports. So for this to fit into one of those key categories, we jumped on the opportunity.”
After a positive response from initial on-sales, Davis expects a good turnout for their five sessions. With the festival being completely contained on the arena floor, each session can accommodate about 2,500 attendees, though there may be opportunity to expand depending on the response once the event gets closer.
By hosting the festival tour on July 24-26, this will also be the first time ShoWare Center in Kent, Wash., has worked with VEE Productions for an event.
“We’re always looking for new, unique and exciting entertainment to bring to the community and the Seattle/Tacoma market,” said Ryan Hart, director of sales and marketing. “We look for events that we think will be successful and with the following that Hello Kitty has and the backing with VEE Corporation and Sanrio, we definitely think this festival event has a good chance of being successful for us and for them.”
Based on initial feedback, Hart expects the ShoWare Center’s eight sessions to be very well attended with a 2,500- 3,000-person capacity.
Along with session tickets, two VIP packages are being offered as well. The Platinum Bow Package includes a meet and greet, advanced access to merchandise and a few other products, while the Red Bow Package is offered as another VIP experience with fewer amenities. Ticket prices vary slightly from venue to venue but are around $28 for an adult and $18 for children ages 3-12, while the Platinum Bow Package is around $188 and the Red Bow Package is $88.
Attendees at Hello Kitty Con 2014 were able to meet some of Hello Kitty's friends as well.
As evidenced by the Hello Kitty Con attendance, the Hello Kitty brand appeals to a range of age groups, so the potential audience for an event like this is very broad.
“Hello Kitty has a really broad audience” said Dveris. “Certainly there’s a strong emphasis on women 18-34, but then there’s also a younger-child audience with maybe girls ages 2-4. But honestly, it’s a broad mix of everyone who is following the brand and is part of the lifestyle.”
Davis has discovered the range of age groups Hello Kitty appeals to as well as the range of the Hello Kitty brand itself. Before discussions with VEE Corporation about the festival began, Davis was not really aware of Hello Kitty. Now, he sees her everywhere.
“The kid that lives across the street from me has a Hello Kitty bike,” said Davis. “I parked next to an adult woman who put up a Hello Kitty sunshade. I was at a thrift store last week, and there was a lady there buying a Hello Kitty radio. And then I went to the pet store the other day, and there was a section at the store dedicated to Hello Kitty chew toys and all kinds of stuff for pets.”
Because of the wide range of appeal, Davis said Orleans Arena will be employing a variety of marketing methods for the event. Having already conducted a Cyber Monday e-blast, Davis said they also have a special 12/13/14 promotion planned. In the months leading up to the festival, Orleans Arena will host 30 high school graduations. The almost 100,000 people who will be through the building for those ceremonies is a great demographic to market the event to, possibly using some interactive cutouts on the concourse.
Social media will play big roles in promoting the event at Orleans Arena and ShoWare Center. Already, Hart said they are seeing a lot of activity around the event on their social media platforms that they hope to continue to take advantage of.
“When we announced the event on our social media, we got a lot of really positive feedback from our fans and followers,” said Hart. “A lot of people were sharing the event, even higher than average shares when it was announced. A lot of people were tagging their friends when they saw the post. We can target Hello Kitty fans and people who have expressed interest in Sanrio and, with those targeting abilities, I think social media will be a big component for us.”
Hart said they will also look into working with local Hello Kitty fan clubs and the local Sanrio gift shop to promote the event and reach the niche audience as well.
Based on the success of ticket sales, Dveris said VEE Productions will look to add more dates and sessions at existing dates for stops where the Hello Kitty Supercute Friendship Festival is performing successfully. Currently, the festival has stops in Minnesota, Colorado, California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada and Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Interviewed for this article: Darren Davis, (702) 691-5102; Ryan Hart, (253) 856-6705; Courtney Dveris, (612) 852-2373