從中國蹦向世界的兔斯基

A Chinese rabbit called Tuzki is winning the hearts of young adults across Asia and reaping riches in merchandise deals for his owners.

一隻名爲兔斯基(Tuzki)的中國兔子，正在贏得全亞洲青少年的心。對這一品牌的商業化運作，更讓他的所有者收穫大量財富。

Cartoon character Tuzki (pronoun¬ced Tuts-ki), is exceptional, and not just because of his groovy dance moves. It is rare for a Chinese brand to prosper in the international market. Even more unusually, this success has been achieved without any active promotion.

作爲一個卡通人物，兔斯基的不尋常之處不僅在於他絕妙的舞步。一個源於中國本土的漫畫形象能在國際市場擁有如此高的人氣，十分罕見。更不同尋常的是，他的成功並不依賴任何主動的市場炒作。

Tuzki was designed by Momo Wang, a Beijing artist, in 2006, with China’s millennials — now in their 20s and 30s — in mind. The rabbit has become the default emoticon on WeChat, the messaging platform operated by Tencent, China’s social network and gaming powerhouse. The brand has piggybacked on WeChat’s success, migrating to other countries as WeChat users in China communicate with contacts overseas.

兔斯基誕生於2006年，設計者是北京藝術家王卯卯，面向的羣體就是中國的“千禧一代”（如今這些人正處在二三十歲的年紀）。這隻兔子目前已成爲微信(WeChat)免費提供的表情之一。微信是騰訊(Tencent)運營的消息平臺，而騰訊則是中國的社交網絡及遊戲巨頭。藉助微信的巨大成功，藉着中國微信用戶與境外人羣聯繫的順風，這一形象也傳播到了其他國家。

“He has spread via the Chinese diaspora and is starting to filter through to the wider community,” says Yat Siu, founder and chief executive of Outblaze, a digital media company in Hong Kong. In 2008, Outblaze established a joint venture with Turner Entertainment, which had bought the rights to Tuzki; TurnOut Ventures now owns and manages Tuzki.

香港數字化媒體公司網炫(Outblaze)創始人兼首席執行官蕭逸(Yat Siu)表示：“兔斯基在海外華人中不斷擴散，並開始向更大範圍的人羣滲透。”2008年，網炫與已經買下兔斯基專營權的透納娛樂(Turner Entertainment)成立了一家合資公司。這家名爲TurnOut Ventures的合資公司目前持有並管理着兔斯基品牌。

When users send texts on WeChat, they can opt to add Tuzki — in the form of a mini-animation — to the message. Tuzki swings his hips, makes a “talk to the hand” motion, weeps as he waves goodbye, turns his ears into flickering birthday candles, blows kisses and hops into bed. His only facial features are the eyes but with his spindly limbs and decisive movements, he is remarkably expressive. The lively rabbit represents a significant upgrade to the more familiar, less dynamic, smiley faces offered by other messaging services.

在微信上發送文本時，用戶可以選擇在消息中添加微動畫形式的兔斯基。在這些表情中，兔斯基要麼在晃動着他的臀部，要麼擺出一副“懶得理你”的姿勢，要麼邊哭邊揮手告別，要麼將他的兩隻耳朵變作搖曳的生日蠟燭，要麼打個飛吻，要麼一躍上牀。兔斯基面部唯一的線條就是兩隻眼睛，然而纖細的四肢和明快的動作讓他具有令人印象深刻的表現力。大部分消息服務中提供的仍是更爲人熟知的、動態感不那麼強的微笑面孔。比起它們，兔斯基算是一大進步。

TurnOut has made a number of lucrative licensing deals for Tuzki in China, where the rabbit features on everything from bedcovers to mobile phone cases, and is expanding its business across Asia and beyond. Within China, the number of Tuzki licensees tripled between 2012 and 2014, Mr Siu says, although he declines to give any financial details.

TurnOut在中國已達成了一系列盈利豐厚的許可協議。在這裏，兔斯基的形象已出現在從牀罩到手機外殼在內的各種商品上。TurnOut正在將其業務擴展至全亞洲甚至亞洲以外。蕭逸表示，在中國，獲准使用兔斯基形象的商家在2012年到2014年間增加了兩倍。不過，蕭逸拒絕透露任何財務方面的細節。

Companies as diverse as Motorola and KFC have co-opted Tuzki for promotional campaigns. “We’ve been surprised by the breadth of his appeal. I think Tuzki has this mysterious power of being something for everyone, in a highly individualised way,” says Mr Siu.

從摩托羅拉(Motorola)到肯德基(KFC)，各種各樣的公司都在將兔斯基用於促銷活動。蕭逸說：“他的號召力之大令我們驚訝。我覺得兔斯基有種神祕的力量，能以一種高度個性化的方式，在每個人心中都留下一席之地。”

The first country Tuzki colonised outside China was South Korea. In 2012 Kakao Talk, the messaging app used by more than 90 per cent of smartphone owners in South Korea, adopted Tuzki as a paid-for emoticon, turning him into a household name. TurnOut Ventures struck licensing deals there, swiftly followed by deals in Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

韓國是兔斯基走出中國進軍海外的第一站。2012年，Kakao Talk將兔斯基選入付費表情，令他成爲家喻戶曉的名字。Kakao Talk是一款消息應用，爲韓國90%以上的智能手機用戶所使用。繼韓國就兔斯基與TurnOut達成授權使用協議之後，日本、泰國、香港和臺灣也緊隨其後。

As Tuzki’s virtual territory grows, TurnOut is receiving licensing requests from further afield. Last year it negotiated a deal with a bag company in Spain, but for the most part TurnOut does not yet have the capacity to handle contracts outside Asia.

隨着兔斯基在虛擬空間攻城略地，TurnOut收到了來自更遙遠地區的授權申請。去年，TurnOut曾與西班牙一家箱包公司經磋商達成協議。不過在大多數情況下，TurnOut仍無力承接亞洲以外的合同。

“Our infrastructure hasn’t kept pace with the growth of the brand,” says Mr Siu, “but we’re tracking Tuzki’s pro¬gress though his Facebook page with a view to monetising his popularity. He has a lot of fans in the US and Latin America, especially in Mexico, Peru and Brazil where the Asian diaspora are relatively wealthy and perceived as trend setters”. In Europe, he adds, there is growing interest in Spain and Italy. “Italy’s not a typical Chinese diaspora market, but there’s a lot of interest in Asian design there.”

蕭逸表示：“我們的基礎設施跟不上這一品牌成長的步伐。不過，我們正通過他的Facebook主頁追蹤他的步伐，希望能將他的人氣貨幣化。他在美國和拉美地區擁有大量粉絲，尤其是在墨西哥、祕魯和巴西等國，那兒的亞洲僑民相對較爲富裕，而且被視爲潮流引領者。”蕭逸補充說，在歐洲的西班牙和意大利，人們對兔斯基的興趣也越來越濃厚。“雖然意大利傳統上並不是中國僑民市場，但那兒的人對亞洲設計有很大興趣。”

A recent deal with Facebook, which offers Tuzki stickers on its messaging service, is expected to expand the rabbit’s pawprint further.

最近，Facebook也與TurnOut達成了協議，在其消息服務裏提供兔斯基貼圖。在該協議的推動下，這隻兔子的步伐預計會進一步向外擴張。

Mr Siu believes that the enthusiasm for Tuzki reflects wider cultural shifts. “Tuzki shows us that millennials in China have more in common with their overseas counterparts than we might assume,” he says. “Young people of different nationalities share certain values, and cultural boundaries are becoming messy.”

蕭逸認爲，兔斯基狂熱反映了某種更深層次的文化變遷。他說：“兔斯基告訴我們，中國千禧一代與其海外同齡人的共通之處比我們想象得要多。不同國家的年輕人分享着特定的價值觀，文化上的疆界正變得越來越模糊。”