While we in the West have been fearing the year 2000 as a time of upheaval and computer crashes, Asians have had a different reaction. 2000 is the Year of the Dragon, which is always a time of upheavals and cataclysms, if not computer crashes.
“It’s a hell of a coincidence,” says Judit Zador, a partner with Gerard Cho in Santa Monica, CA-based Goldenwave Creations.
And the company should know. Goldenwave has been exploiting the coincidence in its catalog and on its Web site (www.goldenwavecreations.com) with a series of products featuring a year 2000 millennium dragon logo.
The 5-year-old company, which also sells wholesale to such retailers as DisneyWorld’s Epcot Center, is a manufacturer of gift products that are emblazoned with proprietary designs derived from the 12 characters of the Asian (or Chinese) zodiac.
Zador describes marketing as minimal. In addition to space ads in Asian Week, a weekly publication for the San Francisco Asian-American community, there has been an article and an ad in the November issue of Inside Kung Fu, a martial arts magazine.
Direct sales account for only a small percentage of the company’s business. While most of its customers are Asian, some 40% of their DM customers are non-Asian.
Naturally, sales of millennium dragon logo products have been growing as the millennium (Jan. 1, 2000) and the Year of the Dragon (Feb. 5, 2000) approach. Zador says the logo T-shirts are the most popular, with coffee mugs coming in second. And if that isn’t enough for you, cards, posters and key chains are also available.
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