Chinese enterprises tap into mascot economy

International sport events in recent years have brought about business opportunities for the original industryof Intellectual Property rights (IP), represented by mascots, to grow mature.

Take the 2022 Winter Olympics as an example. The revenue of Olympic peripheral products exceeded 2.5 billion yuan. This was the first time in China that a cartoon panda, Bing Dwen Dwen, was used for cross-cultural communication, symbolizing the manufacturing industry's progress in cultural creation.

The popularity of Bing Dwen Dwenis a huge commercial success. "To make people like the panda as a cultural element is only the beginning. A really good story should carry its commercial value. The panda's cultural and artistic value can only be achieved through effective business," said Cao Xue, a professor at Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts. Cao is in charge of the mascot-designingteam for the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Apart from the original Chinese IP, the international IP market is also appealing to companies. Hangzhou KayfordBranding Co., Ltd. has obtained IP authorization for the World Cup for three consecutive years.

The company is selling cultural and creative products such as dolls, badges, and thermos cups of the Qatar World Cup mascot in Greater China through business, sponsor procurement and e-commerce platforms.

According to the report of Licensing International on the global market, China’s IP market is growing rapidly, exceeding 10 billion dollars. However, the ChineseIP market still has great potential to tap because it only accounts for less than 5% of the $300 billion global market. Besides, the mascot products are limited to souvenirs such as key chains and dolls. Books, movies, animation, games, and other fields are still under development.

Source: Beijing Business Today; trans-editing by Guo Yao