( CNN ) -- From a country which brought the world brands like Sony and Toyota , there 's another name that 's crept quietly to global prominence . Hello Kitty , the moon-faced cat with a bow in her hair and no mouth . Shintaro Tsuji , CEO of Sanrio , famous for its Hello Kitty brand , speaks in The Boardroom . She 's one of 450 characters developed by Japan 's Sanrio Group , but she 's by far most popular -- the embodiment of what 's known in Japan as Kawaii , or the culture of cute . Her image adorns some 50,000 objects , from cute , of course , to downright crazy . But there 's nothing cute about the numbers . Hello Kitty is responsible for more than half of Sanrio 's billion dollar annual turnover . Her creator and founder of Sanrio is the effervescent 79-year-old Shintaro Tsuji . He told The Boardroom 's Andrew Stevens what he thinks is the marketing secret behind a cultural icon . Tsuji : Selling something which people want to buy is one of the ways of doing business . But I thought , goods that I want are also something other people want . So we wanted to make goods which people want to send to somebody else as a gift . The idea is that goods are for social communication purposes and that has been accepted worldwide . In addition , to give Hello Kitty goods as a present is very thoughtful . Our three concepts of friendship , cuteness and thoughtfulness have been reaching out to people . It conveys the importance of being friendly . Such gestures are necessary for the Japanese nation . You care about other people by sending some gifts . Those concepts have been accepted worldwide . Stevens : My first question to you is Sanrio has developed something like 450 characters . Why it is Hello Kitty has stood out so much more than the others ? What is the secret of its success ? Tsuji : At first we were using characters which were created by outsiders , such as cartoonists or artists , but in this case we had to pay the royalty . So we decided to create our own characters . We hired many artists and asked them to create various characters . According to our own research , the most popular animal character was a dog then a white cat and the third one was a bear . Snoopy already existed as a dog character -- that 's why we went for the second most popular character . We asked the artists to design a character based on a white cat . Stevens : Let me just ask you a question about your life , growing up . Reading your autobiography , you lost your mother when you were 13 years old . You went to live with your auntie . And you describe your life ; your childhood , has been a quite lonely . How do you think that has shaped you in your business life ? Tsuji : I felt that the most important thing in your life is to have someone whom you can open up your heart to and talk about anything ; to have many friends whom you can talk with your heart is the most blessed thing in your life . Then I asked myself how can you make friends -- in what way people can make a friend with those people . That is not just to avoid behaving , which makes people uncomfortable . But do something , which makes people happy . In this way people can make friends . For example , when people are ill , you can say something to them , or when people did something for you , you say thank you to them . For those kinds of occasions , you send a small present rather than an expensive gift . It is important to show your appreciation since you are able to make good friends in this way . This idea has formed as a business . As a result , Hello Kitty was created . Hello Kitty has become known among everybody and it means that people are becoming friends . I am pleased with this phenomenon . Stevens : What , in your business career , is the most important lesson you think you 've learnt ? Tsuji : A good company means that , first of all , its sale increases each year and secondly it makes profits each year . This is what people call a quality company . But this is not my main concern . Obviously , a company should n't lose money . A company can not contribute to a society easily . But for me , it is important to establish a company , which has a good reputation . Stevens : Much easier said than done , how do you remain true to your original ideas , though , because there are so many pressures from shareholders among other people to make those profits ? Tsuji : The company shareholders actually say `` Make more profits or dividends . '' But what I always say to them at the general assembly is that the shareholder should be someone who truly values my company and is proud of having my company 's share . According to newspapers , there are companies which make a profit by polluting the environment or breaking laws . But this is not acceptable by our standard . I bet the company staffs want to have an increase in the wages . But I want my staffs to be proud of themselves , in particular , when their children ask them where they are working . In my view , that is very important . Stevens : What advice would you give to someone starting out their own company in 21st century ? Tsuji : It is not only about making profits or establishing a huge corporation . A bigger country does n't mean a better country . Having a larger military capacity does n't mean a better thing . It will be ideal to establish a company which is a value to the world . It 's not just about the money . So I would say `` How about creating companies which people appreciate ? '' E-mail to a friend .
Shintaro Tsuji , CEO of Sony speaks to Andrew Stevens in The Boardroom . Sanrio 's most famous mascot is Hello Kitty , a moon - faced cat . Hello Kitty is responsible for more than half of Japan 's billion dollar revenue .