Chapter 383 Sudden realization
Pokémon, which was founded four years ago, has now become the largest toy company in Hong Kong.

The reason why Fang Hexuan gave it this name was naturally that he would not let it be just a multinational factory that designs and manufactures toys, but an entertainment content provider that can achieve great success in the fields of games and derivatives.

The Pokémon Company's flagship product, and its biggest IP, the Transmogrifier series of toys, has already developed to its fifth generation.

Due to changes in product raw materials and manufacturing technology, each generation has better playability than the previous one.

But no matter how it iterates, the Metamorphosis universe will not undergo major changes. At most, new characters that fit the plot will be added.

Precisely because there are so many characters of both good and evil factions, the Pokémon Company has launched as many as hundreds of set options, which gives Transmogrifier a very strong playability.

An average family can spend two or three hundred Hong Kong dollars to buy a set that includes several main characters and their children will love it. For a wealthy family, it is easy to buy a set that includes all hundreds of characters, even if it costs tens of thousands of Hong Kong dollars.

Pokémon releases a new product (a new generation or a new character) every six months, and these have almost become days that children look forward to, just like how many Apple fans in later generations count the days for Apple's spring and autumn press conferences.

Transformers toys are not only popular in Asia, but also in Europe and North America. This has led to the birth of a large number of counterfeits and many IPs that imitate and copy the Transformers universe.

Last year in the United States, parents sued Pokémon, saying that Transformers toys cut their children's fingers.

But upon final investigation, it was discovered that the product the parent had purchased was a complete fake, shocking many media outlets that were following the news.

After all, even in a country like the United States that values ​​intellectual property rights, counterfeits of a toy have appeared, which shows how popular Transformers is in the United States.

Since Pokémon and Hasbro started working together, the two companies have been sharing their resources with each other, and the sales of Transformers in the US toy market have almost been handed over to Hasbro.

Hasbro is worthy of being the largest toy company in the United States. Its distribution channels are indeed very powerful. It can be said that Hasbro is at least half responsible for the popularity of Transformers toys in the United States.

But Fang Hexuan did not treat the company unfairly.

Pokémon has created nearly 28 characters for both the Autobots and Decepticons of Transformers, of which are suitable for car-based adaptation.

Fang Hexuan currently allows Pokémon to open up the naming rights for 10 of its car characters, with each naming period lasting up to three years.

Except for BYD's EVO which undisputedly occupies the very recognizable role of "Bumblebee", the other 9 roles have already been put out to bidding.

Pokémon sold a total of $9 million for the three-year naming rights of nine characters, of which Hasbro could take 3.54%.

Don’t think that $3.54 million is an exaggeration. Over the past three years, more than 2000 million sets of genuine Pokémon toys have been sold worldwide, not to mention the countless pirated and fake toys.

Moreover, this naming right allows car manufacturers to require Pokémon to design toys according to their requirements, which is completely customized.

Think about it, when viewers watch TV commercials, they only passively accept them visually for a short period of time, but toys are a long-term companion, and the subtle power of these ads is much greater than that of visual ads.

Not only toys, but also the "Transformers" comics co-produced by Pokémon and Marvel Comics were launched in September last year, and the animation was launched on the American NBC TV network the day before Christmas last year. Since the toys and animation are completely synchronized and one-to-one, children especially like them.

Those who bought Transformers toys felt very involved in the animation, while those who watched the animation cried and begged their parents to buy them toys.

The two promoted each other, not only greatly increasing the sales of Transformers toys, but also allowing the "Transformers" animation to finally win the top spot in the US animation ratings in 1982.

Along with the rising sales and viewership, young people and children around the world are also becoming more aware of and fond of the 10 car characters with clear car names.

Among them, apart from Optimus Prime's Peterbilt 389, the BYD EVO transformed from Bumblebee is the most popular.

In all the Transformers toy sets, the Bumblebee EVO model has always been yellow. Fang Hexuan wants EVO to replace the yellow Camaro and become Bumblebee's most classic transforming model.

The kids had no idea of ​​what the devil Fang was doing to them, they only knew that the yellow EVO was not only playful and cute, but also that its angular shape was very cool.

However, many parents, especially fathers, who bought Transformers toys for their children, only realized the solution after BYD officially launched EVO.

Not only the fathers, but also the three major American automobile groups such as General Motors, Ford and Chrysler have come to their senses.

It would be a lie to say that they had not noticed BYD before. They simply did not take this company founded in Hong Kong seriously.

Until recently, Hillman, a public relations manager at Ford Group headquarters, accidentally discovered BYD's EVO model appeared on Transformers toys when buying a birthday present for his son who was about to turn 3 years old. He reported the situation to his superiors, and it finally attracted attention.

When the Pokémon Company previously put out a bid for Transformers car characters, Ford also participated in the bidding, and one of its own pickup trucks was selected.

But at that time no one noticed why Bumblebee did not participate in the bidding. Their attention was all focused on the 9 characters given by Pokémon.

Ford Motor's current CEO Philip Caldwell did not ask about this small matter (a typical problem of large companies). The meeting to discuss BYD's marketing strategy was only held at the level below the executive president, and it was not held in the group company's regular meetings. It was just a discussion meeting held by the North American Automotive Company (NAAO) under the automotive group.

Some people suggested filing a complaint with the North American Automobile Association, accusing BYD of unfair competition.

After these words were spoken, many Ford executives present at the meeting could not help but twitch their lips.

Damn, when did BYD pose a competitive threat to Ford? Isn't your idiotic suggestion just a way to flatter BYD?
Some people even suggested that Ford Motor Company directly acquire the IP copyright of Transformers, which made many people nod in agreement.

Hillman suggested that the public relations department invite Hollywood screenwriters to create a car toy IP similar to "Transformers", and Ford Safety could learn from BYD.

It was originally just an impromptu meeting, but because the discussion was so outrageous and heated, it spread throughout the headquarters.

(End of this chapter)