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A Chinese rabbit called Tuzki is winning the hearts of young adults across Asia and reaping riches in merchandise deals for his owners.
一只名为兔斯基(Tuzki)的中国兔子，正在赢得全亚洲青少年的心。对这一品牌的商业化运作，更让他的所有者收获大量财富。
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.
作为一个卡通人物，兔斯基的不寻常之处不仅在于他绝妙的舞步。一个源于中国本土的漫画形象能在国际市场拥有如此高的人气，十分罕见。更不同寻常的是，他的成功并不依赖任何主动的市场炒作。
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.
兔斯基诞生于2006年，设计者是北京艺术家王卯卯，面向的群体就是中国的“千禧一代”（如今这些人正处在二三十岁的年纪）。这只兔子目前已成为微信(WeChat)免费提供的表情之一。微信是腾讯(Tencent)运营的消息平台，而腾讯则是中国的社交网络及游戏巨头。借助微信的巨大成功，借着中国微信用户与境外人群联系的顺风，这一形象也传播到了其他国家。
“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.
香港数字化媒体公司网炫(Outblaze)创始人兼首席执行官萧逸(Yat Siu)表示：“兔斯基在海外华人中不断扩散，并开始向更大范围的人群渗透。”2008年，网炫与已经买下兔斯基专营权的透纳娱乐(Turner Entertainment)成立了一家合资公司。这家名为TurnOut Ventures的合资公司目前持有并管理着兔斯基品牌。
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.
在微信上发送文本时，用户可以选择在消息中添加微动画形式的兔斯基。在这些表情中，兔斯基要么在晃动着他的臀部，要么摆出一副“懒得理你”的姿势，要么边哭边挥手告别，要么将他的两只耳朵变作摇曳的生日蜡烛，要么打个飞吻，要么一跃上床。兔斯基面部唯一的线条就是两只眼睛，然而纤细的四肢和明快的动作让他具有令人印象深刻的表现力。大部分消息服务中提供的仍是更为人熟知的、动态感不那么强的微笑面孔。比起它们，兔斯基算是一大进步。
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在中国已达成了一系列盈利丰厚的许可协议。在这里，兔斯基的形象已出现在从床罩到手机外壳在内的各种商品上。TurnOut正在将其业务扩展至全亚洲甚至亚洲以外。萧逸表示，在中国，获准使用兔斯基形象的商家在2012年到2014年间增加了两倍。不过，萧逸拒绝透露任何财务方面的细节。
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.
从摩托罗拉(Motorola)到肯德基(KFC)，各种各样的公司都在将兔斯基用于促销活动。萧逸说：“他的号召力之大令我们惊讶。我觉得兔斯基有种神秘的力量，能以一种高度个性化的方式，在每个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.
韩国是兔斯基走出中国进军海外的第一站。2012年，Kakao Talk将兔斯基选入付费表情，令他成为家喻户晓的名字。Kakao Talk是一款消息应用，为韩国90%以上的智能手机用户所使用。继韩国就兔斯基与TurnOut达成授权使用协议之后，日本、泰国、香港和台湾也紧随其后。
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.
随着兔斯基在虚拟空间攻城略地，TurnOut收到了来自更遥远地区的授权申请。去年，TurnOut曾与西班牙一家箱包公司经磋商达成协议。不过在大多数情况下，TurnOut仍无力承接亚洲以外的合同。
“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.”
萧逸表示：“我们的基础设施跟不上这一品牌成长的步伐。不过，我们正通过他的Facebook主页追踪他的步伐，希望能将他的人气货币化。他在美国和拉美地区拥有大量粉丝，尤其是在墨西哥、秘鲁和巴西等国，那儿的亚洲侨民相对较为富裕，而且被视为潮流引领者。”萧逸补充说，在欧洲的西班牙和意大利，人们对兔斯基的兴趣也越来越浓厚。“虽然意大利传统上并不是中国侨民市场，但那儿的人对亚洲设计有很大兴趣。”
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也与TurnOut达成了协议，在其消息服务里提供兔斯基贴图。在该协议的推动下，这只兔子的步伐预计会进一步向外扩张。
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.”
萧逸认为，兔斯基狂热反映了某种更深层次的文化变迁。他说：“兔斯基告诉我们，中国千禧一代与其海外同龄人的共通之处比我们想象得要多。不同国家的年轻人分享着特定的价值观，文化上的疆界正变得越来越模糊。”
