Mexico’s Partner | Negocios ProMéxico
ters that reach the region are imported. Not a single one reflects our own culture. That’s why I chose the Chihuahua, which everyone knows is a Mexican dog, and other characters like Pulga, a flea who lives in Chico Chihuahua’s fur. Both are friendly and cheerful, which are very Mexican attributes,” says Ruiz. Motherhood forced me to shelve the project for a couple of years but I took it up again and designed a simple site for Chico,” says Ruiz. It didn’t take long for Ruiz’ creation to reach 20,000 hits. Telcel, one of Mexico’s leading mobile phone companies, saw in Chico Chihuahua an excellent vehicle to market digital content to younger users.
October 2014
Chico Chihuahua has managed to sustain his popularity, receiving as many as 100,000 hits a month during high season (between May and November) and has just over 9,000 followers on Facebook.Approximately 80% of visitors to the Chico Chihuahua site are Mexican but there are also fans in other Latin American countries and as far afield as Japan and Russia. By then, however, Garfield producer Phil Roman had seen Chico Chihuahua on the Internet and contacted Ruiz. Roman, being a Mexican-American, liked Chico Chihuahua and gave her very good advice on how to further develop Chico Chihuahua. Ruiz took Roman’s advice and redesigned the Chico Chihuahua site in Spanish and English and in less than three weeks she had tallied 70,000 visitors. Chico Chihuahua has managed to sustain his popularity, receiving as many as 100,000 hits a month during high season (between May and November) and has just over 9,000 followers on Facebook. Approximately 80% of visitors to the Chico Chihuahua site are Mexican but there are also fans in other Latin American countries and as far afield as Japan and Russia. Although Ruiz has several graphic design projects on the go, her chirpy cartoon mutt takes up most of her time. In 2013, she launched an online store offering various Chico Chihuahua gift products like jewelry, plush toys, t-shirts and free content like postcards, comic strips, wallpapers, calendars and downloads for mobile devices, among others. “What I’m aiming to convey with Chico Chihuahua are positive values. The content targets mainly children aged 7-11 and tweens, kids from 11 to 13, and up,” says Ruiz, but we can say that the property is psicographic aiming at people
of any age and any cultural background but share the values of the brand. Her cute character has been adopted by a string of organizations, companies and government agencies, and even features in a guidebook for children on the Cholula, Puebla archaeological site in 2013 that reached over 100,000 kids Meanwhile, Chico Chihuahua is rehearsing for his first animated short film, in which he digs to the roots of Mexico’s Day of the Dead tradition in a funny way. “Chico Chihuahua is an entertainment brand. What I want people to see in him are the values of our own culture, not those imposed by others,” says Ruiz. The content of the Chico Chihuahua site is free but Ruiz is working on a Premium pay
zone, where users can purchase improved subscriptionbased products. Her plans for Chico’s future include the opening of a store in the Magical Town of Cholula, in Puebla, which receives some 700,000 visitors a year, more short films and even a television series starring her adorable cartoon dog. In September 2014, the company inked a licensing contract with Boston, Massachusetts based Bare Tree Media for the development and distribution of virtual products including stickers, Emojis and Emoticons, which will be distributed on instant messaging platforms, social networks and online and console games. Bare Tree Media’s network of social partners reaches more than 20 billion users worldwide. Among its portfolio of licensed brands are Garfield, Domo, Hello Kitty and SO SO Happy. “The partnership with Bare Tree Media will enable us to venture boldly into new markets; the brand will be communicated through emotions, using its characteristic humor. The concept will be easily exportable to new markets,” Blanca Ruiz concludes. N www.chico-chihuahua.com
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