Gimmicks are well formed tricks in persuading a consumer to part ways with their money. A lot of branding concepts out there are usually in gel, liquid, or powder form. Often times, they do not match with collaborations with character brands, unless it's customized to character shaped containers or physical shaped forms.
For a good example, the Creme Shop sheet masks have actual Hello Kitty prints on them, but I don't know how you can justify it when you have to throw it away after one use. Same with below.
Cinna Lip Balm
The products above is part of the beauty line, but more so on the accessories side than the actual beauty product (the liquid lip gloss and gel balm), which is hard to justify the kawaii gimmick of just covering it with art. A simple placing of a sticker can easily do the trick.
Cr: Proactiv
The only viable character branding exception is Proactiv's cleansing brush. It is true to something that is unique where you have the item as a character shaped brush. This is what physical character branding is all about and not about decorating it with only a superficial sticker. This is where your money is well spent and justified.
Bath bomb. The plastic packaging is the only art provided.
I would hope most people in general are more smart with their money. Above are gimmicks that does not have any physical sense of connection to the character.
Take for instance the fake eyelashes. Seriously?
I could never buy and justify spending my hard earned money for just the Hello Kitty paper that comes with the eyelashes. It just baffles my mind.
From most feedback that I have heard about these wines or champagnes are that they are very pretty as decor, but they do not taste good. It's why I don't own one. I don't see the justification of buying a bottle. If the art is printed on the bottle, then that's different and I would justify buying it.
Although, I have to say-- they are very pretty to look upon.
Lastly, I have come to my final example of a gimmick. There was a sweet dessert collaboration with Yogurtland. The product is the liquid form of yogurt ice cream. There's no way to shape it in the form of a character. So, what was provided was character shaped plastic spoons and paper cups. Mind you, decorated printed paper cups.
These paper cups do age and are completely useless after years stored away. It's not something you can keep long term and in good physical form. As for the plastic spoons, it's not worthy enough to justify this collaboration.
The Yogurtland collaboration was just a simple form of a gimmick marketing. Their goal was to draw fans to their franchise stores. If you always went there, then I would see no changes to your regular routine. If you didn't go there often, was it for the bragging?
Gimmicks are there, but most times if you're smart with your money-- you will think twice about it. I do on many, many occasions because I use my money on actual Sanrio products to decorate my home or to cross things off my wishlist. It's why I have a variety of collectibles in my collection rather than all plushes or of the same type of product.
Are you smart with your money?
