23 April 2018
The visit to the Hong Kong International Licensing Show linked Marcus (right) with Mobile Girl’s licensor.Many popular social media stickers are entering the physical world in recent years, driving business opportunities for accessories licensing. A young man in Hong Kong has turned his fanhood for “Mobile Girl MiM” into a business, and has become an accessories licensor. After testing the market at this year’s Lunar New Year market, he decided to start his own licensing business.
Last year, this young man visited the Hong Kong Trade Development Council’s (HKTDC) Hong Kong International Licensing Show looking for accessories of Mobile Girl. Although he found that the company had not yet released any products, he ended up acquiring the exclusive licensing rights for Mobile Girl accessories in Hong Kong, bringing the online character into the physical world.
Mobile Girl with a phone tucked into her waistband captivates a million fans
Created by a Korean company, Funnyeve, Mobile Girl has a big round face and a pair of small eyes. She is always wearing a yellow shirt and black shorts with a phone tucked into her waistband. It is a reflection of the social phenomenon of phubbers always looking at their phones without paying attention to others. The creator hopes to raise people’s awareness of modern human interaction. In 2013, Mobile Girl’s stickers were launched on Facebook and LINE and captivated millions of fans, including Marcus, the young man from Hong Kong.
Marcus has always liked fun anime accessories, as he thinks these products are therapeutic to the mind. When he saw Mobile Girl on Facebook for the first time, he felt that she was very cute and lively. He started to learn more about her story and became one of her one million fans worldwide, closely following Mobile Girl’s every move.
Winning Mobile Girl’s exclusive licensing rights in Hong Kong with enthusiasm
In 2015, Marcus learned from the official website of Mobile Girl that the licensor was coming to the Licensing Show. He contacted the company through Facebook hoping to buy the accessories; only to find that the Korean company had yet to launch any. Two years later, the licensor joined the fair again and released the character’s product samples on Facebook. Marcus visited the fair again and met the creator of Mobile Girl, but still no products were available. As a fan of the character, Marcus wanted the accessories and he negotiated with Funnyeve for the licensing rights.
Marcus had previously worked for magazines and online media, and is strong at marketing and promotion. He also likes to draw Mobile Girl and hand-make his own characters. This passion for the character impressed Funnyeve, and he finally acquired the character’s exclusive products rights in Hong Kong.
Testing Market Response at the Chinese New Year Market
Marcus’ initial target was to open a pop-up store for Mobile Girl at shopping malls. He decided to use this year’s Lunar New Year Market at Victoria Park as an opportunity to test the market. He launched five types of Mobile Girl accessories, including lucky banners, pillows, night lights and shopping bags and offered the products for online pre-orders. This first batch of more than 2,000 pieces of products was almost sold out. He became confident with the character’s accessories business and decided to focus on developing it. He quit his job and set up his own company “Start Over”. He wanted to expand the sales channels and planned to set up an online store and distribute to department stores and convenience stores. He also sought to partner with brands and shopping malls to increase offline product exposure.
Licensing Show prompts entrepreneurship
Marcus’ visit to the Hong Kong International Licensing Show connected him to Funnyeve and to the licensing industry. This prompted him to start his own business. He sees great market potential in licensing. At the fair, he met Hong Kong companies, such as retailers, brands and agents, looking for new characters. He also got the opportunity to collaborate with a local leisure magazine and supplied Mobile Girl shopping bags as magazine premiums. With the encouragement of his family and friends, and the enthusiasm of his designer friend who joined the team to design new products, Marcus is now planning to release more character accessories.
