On December 11, POP MART, a fashion toy company, successfully established its IPO in the HKEx. Its stock price increased by 100% on that day, and its market value exceeded 100 billion Hong Kong dollars [1], surprising the whole market.
Some media called POP MART “The first stock for post-00” since the leading consumption group for fashion toys are post-95s and post-00s. POP MART successfully figured out what Chinese young people wanted and focused on satisfying them, thus leading to its success.
POP MART IPO
Chinese youth in modern times are much more interested in developing their unique personality and have more independent identities in comparison to older generations and will often have a unique social skills. These features promote them to pursue some niche and unique hobbies and join those specific communities. Their hobbies cover fashion toys, special outfits, games, cartoons, etc. This article is going to explore some of these niche interests of Chinese young people.
Blind box + fashion toys (IP)
POP MART is the first Chinese company that creatively combines blind box and fashion toys together and currently represent the blind box trend. Blind box refers to the concept of packaging the product in such a way that the consumer doesn’t know exactly which part of a series they are getting. In 2020, despite the outbreak of COVID19, POP MART still achieved great sales. Its sales in the first half-year amounted to 818 million yuan, increasing by 50%, with gross profit rate was 65.2%. [2]
Besides POP MART, many other brands also noticed the blind box’s great potential. Zhihu, the Chinese version of Quora, cooperated with JoyBrain, a fashion toy brand, to launch a series of blind boxes. Rio, a cocktail brand, and ACTOYS, a model toy website, also launched cat toy blind boxes. MINISO, a branded variety retailer, also announced the release of its blind box fashion toy recently and claimed that this business action was to compete for occupying young consumers’ desks and homes and win their hearts.
Zhihu & RIO’s blind box
A blind box product can elicit the excitement of the unknown as well as the satisfaction of collecting (and eventually trading) your products and with more frequent sales, a community is gradually developed. In this community, collectors gather to trade, communicate and even make friends due to their shared interests, just as an experienced blind box collector mentions: "For us, a toy and blind box world is the world we can control. It is my beautiful heaven". [3]
Hanfu (Han clothing)
Hanfu is another popular hobby of Chinese young people. Hanfu is the traditional dress of the Han Chinese people, and is usually worn during some festivals or traditional ceremonies. It can also be seen in Chinese TV shows, films, and other forms of media entertainment, but now more and more young people start to wear Hanfu in daily life. If people visit some famous traditional tourist sites in China, such as the Palace Museum, West Lake, Faxi Temple, etc, you will find many young tourists wearing Hanfu.
Tourists wearing Hanfu
According to CBNData, the consumer number for Hanfu has reached 18 million, with more than 400 million potential consumers. [4]
It is not hard to understand this trend. For most young Chinese, clothes’ primary function has expanded to showing their unique personalities and even emotions. By wearing similar clothes, Hanfu fans find their social partners and get their unique identity.
Social simulation video game
Life simulation video games also went popular among young people recently. From Animal Crossing to the recently-released Jiangnan Baijing Painting, these social simulation video games provide a virtual world for players. In these virtual worlds, players can become creators and build their worlds. These kinds of games usually have social functions, meaning that players can make friends.
Young people who like to play this kind of game may not want to express their preferences in a very external way, but they will also have their social needs. These simulation video games can properly suit that need. Players can escape from their real-world for a while, get companionship from their virtual friends, and even enjoy virtual sightseeing together.
Jiangnan Baijing Painting
What can brands learn?
How can brands learn from young people’s hobbies and use them to propel business?
First, brands can use popular elements from these trends, such as the blind box. Many brands have taken action in this aspect. After Mulan film release, many brands crossover cooperated with Mulan this year, but INOHERB, a domestic skincare brand, was one of the most creative ones. It creatively launched a group of blind boxes with its skincare product together. In these blind boxes, there are six Mulan ordinary toys and one hidden type. This marketing campaign went viral online.
INOHERB’s Mulan
Second, some brands choose to enter these industries directly. Many brands, including skincare brands and tissue brands, launched their special-designed Hanfu, which surprised many consumers and gained much traction. They even participated in the Chinese fashion online market to show their determination to follow the trend.
Hanfu released by tissue and skincare brands
These actions help brands gain attention from young consumers and fuel the sales in the end, but to know more about young consumers and their hobbies, brands need to explore more.
Besides the blind box, Hanfu, and social simulation video game, young Chinese consumers have many other niche hobbies, such as JK or Lolita uniforms, cosplay, etc. The similarity between these hobbies is that they all have developed many communities. Compared to the past Chinese community members who focused more on economic and social benefits, these young members of new communities want to show their self-will, personal hobbies, aesthetics, and values. But for brands, these communities are a gold-mine to win new consumers. So what should brands do? Listen, learn, and understand their young consumers and their interests that will help boost your business.
Disclaimer: All pictures are from Internet.
