She turns 40 this year but really is ageless because though her colouring may change from time to time, essentially she looks much the same as she did when she was first created in 1974 “as a female white Japanese bobtail cat with a red bow”.

She’s a billion-dollar global marketing phenomenon and she’s made one Japanese company, Sanrio, very wealthy indeed.

Come this year’s WIT Japan on May 15-16, we’ll have the chance to listen to the Hello Kitty story from keynote speaker, managing director of Sanrio Co Ltd (Japan), Ray Hatoyama (below), the man who’s responsible for taking Hello Kitty and Sanrio’s business global. 

Sanrio is Japan’s leading company in global licensing with products available in over 109 countries, and is hailed as a Japanese success story of global expansion. With a current market cap of ¥354,034.59 million, it made its first acquisition in 2011 when it purchased the Mr Men series in an attempt to diversify its portfolio of characters to cover the male market.

At that time, Hatoyama told the media that his goal was to increase the company’s market cap by five times and achieving annual growth rates of 20-30% and expanding to new markets such as China.

For the nine months ended December 31, 2013, Sanrio Company reported sales of JPY 57,289 million compared to JPY 55,530 million a year ago. Operating profit was JPY 16,721 million compared to JPY 14,880 million a year ago.

Hatoyama, who is also chairmanof the US subsidiary, Sanrio, Inc., has been focused on globalizing the business, localizing operations worldwide and licensing opportunities to grow the company.

He believes that even though Hello Kitty may be 40 years old, there are still so many opportunities for growth – from Central and South America to China. He sees Hello Kitty as a lifestyle brand and a multi-generational character, not limited to teenage girls.

Her Facebook page has close to 14 million fans. 

“She’s ageless, we always try to keep her fresh,” he was quoted as saying in a Bloomberg TV interview.

We can’t wait to hear the Hello Kitty story from the cat’s mouth, as it were – yes, Hello Kitty does have a mouth, just that it’s not drawn.

To see what else we have in store for you, view the WIT Japan programme here 

Book your tickets here