Not long ago (April 8), the [2024 Building Block Trendy Toys Trend Development Forum], hosted by Guangdong Toy Association and Guangzhou Li Tong Messe Frankfurt Co Ltd, organized by Coldplay Tide, and co-organized by Chinese and Foreign Toy Manufacturing Magazine, Sino-foreign Toy Network and Jiwan Club, was successfully concluded at Shenzhen World Convention and Exhibition Center (Bao'an Branch).
The forum brought together experts, designers, manufacturers and enthusiasts in the field of building blocks and trendy toys at home and abroad to discuss the current industry development trends, innovative technologies and market opportunities.
The forum was full, and the participants said that they had gained a lot after listening to the in-depth speeches of the eight guests. Coldplay understands that many of our friends regret not being able to show up. To this end, we have specially compiled the content of each guest's speech, hoping to make up for your regrets.
The guest speaker shared today is Wei Heng, director of innovation business from Moojing Insight, who gave us a detailed interpretation of the "2024 Building Block Market Trend Insight Report" released by Coldplay Tide and Moojing Insight, let's review the content of his speech~
The following is a summary of the content of the speech:
Hello everyone, I'm Wei Heng from Magic Mirror Insight. In today's sharing, I will analyze the development trend of the toy and building block industry from four parts. These four parts include: trends in the entire toy industry, building block user insights, top brand analysis, and industry trends and recommendations.
01 The overall trend of the toy industry
● Market size and growth: The global toy market size will reach $90.7 billion in 2023, with an annual growth rate of 2.7%. However, due to the impact of the epidemic, the compound growth rate decreased by 1.3 percentage points compared with the pre-epidemic period.
● Domestic market comparison: Although domestic toy consumption is showing a growth trend, there is still a large gap in per capita consumption compared with European and American countries. This shows that the potential of the domestic market is still huge.
● Industry comparison: Compared with maternal and infant products, the toy industry has performed more strongly in terms of market growth and growth rate.
● E-commerce market performance: In the past year, the size of the toy market on mainstream e-commerce platforms has dropped from 175.9 billion to 65.4 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 13.8%. The overall average price also dropped from 113 yuan to about 80 yuan, a decrease of 30%. Especially during big promotions, the peak price can help sales significantly.
— The specific performance of the building block market —
● Sales and market share: The sales of building blocks in the past year were 8.9 billion, accounting for about 16% of the total toy market. Although sales of building blocks declined, sales increased from 100 million to 110 million units, indicating that lower prices were the main reason.
● Price trend: The average price of building blocks is on a downward trend, which is in line with the performance of the overall market.
— Brand & Market Competition —
● Sales and market share: The sales of building blocks in the past year were 8.9 billion, accounting for about 16% of the total toy market. Although sales of building blocks declined, sales increased from 100 million to 110 million units, indicating that lower prices were the main reason.
● Changes in the competitive landscape: The market concentration (CR5) decreased from 55.7% to 46.2%, indicating that the market is becoming increasingly competitive and more brands are participating in the competition. Lego still dominates, with a market share of nearly 40%, while domestic brands combined have a combined share of less than 2%.
● Price segment focus: The building block industry mainly focuses on the price segment below 200 yuan and above 500 yuan. For example, brands such as Lego and Elk account for a relatively high proportion of the price range above 500 yuan, while domestic brands such as Doucle and Lele Brothers focus on the price range below 100 yuan.
02User evaluation and device-level analysis
— User Evaluation Analysis —
From users' online reviews, we analyzed the user concerns of building block toys in several key aspects:
● Exterior design: Users are generally concerned about the visual appeal of building blocks.
● Workmanship details: high-quality craftsmanship is what users expect.
● Odor: Safe and harmless material use is key, as bad odor can affect the user experience.
● Color: Bright and long-lasting colors are loved by users.
● Size: The consistency of the actual size of the building blocks with the description in the advertisement is a common concern.
— Equipment Brand Analysis —
By analyzing posts on major social media platforms, we found that:
●Demographic dimension: There is little difference between male and female users, but there is a slight increase in the male user base compared to last year.
●Scenario application: Minors mostly use building blocks in home scenes, while adults use them more in nursing homes, part-time scenes and educational classrooms. Especially in nursing homes and educational institutions, building blocks are used as cognitive and educational tools. In addition, the emergence of part-time occupations with "building blocks" indicates that some adults hire others to assemble blocks due to lack of time.
— Material & IP Heat Analysis —
About the material of the building blocks:
● Wood materials: Although wooden building blocks are popular for their natural attributes, burrs and non-smooth treatments on the edges are the main complaints of users.
●Plastic materials: User feedback points out that plastic building blocks are usually thin and lack toughness, and have odor problems.
● Silicone material: Although silicone building blocks are safe, they are difficult to clean and have an odor, which may lead to safety risks when children bite.
● Acrylic material: Although it is beautiful, it is not resistant to falling and is prone to scratches.
In terms of IP:
● Popular IPs: Classic games and Chinese-style anime such as CrossFire and The Classic of Mountains and Seas are particularly popular in the building block world.
● High-growth IPs: Anime such as Garfield, Nana, and Dragon Ball, which have gained a huge short-term popularity with their childhood feelings of the post-80s and post-90s.
The above analysis reveals the current trends and potential problems in the user experience, material selection and IP utilization of building block products. These insights help brands better understand market needs, optimize products, and expand their market share.
03 Head brand analysis
— Lego —
● Market positioning: As the leading brand in the industry, LEGO covers products of all ages, ensuring that the needs of children to adults are met.
●Localization and brand advantage: LEGO has launched localized products for the Chinese market, which helps to better connect with local consumers and enhance market appeal with Chinese-style design.
— Bruco —
● Design innovation: With a focus on original design, Bruco has developed a unique building block building system, including the structure of flesh and bones.
●IP strategy: Combining popular Chinese and global IPs, we have created hot-selling products in the market.
●Marketing strategy: Bruco can implement an omni-channel marketing strategy to ensure a strong online and offline market reach, and enhance consumer awareness through multi-channel contact.
— Jiaqi —
●Youth market positioning: Jiaqi is committed to meeting the aesthetic needs of young consumers and cultivating free IP combined with popular culture.
●Social media marketing: Use social media platforms to promote popular products and successfully achieve brand out-of-the-circle.
— Moriho —
●Multi-age market coverage: Senbao reaches users of all ages through different brands.
●Cultural cooperation: Cooperate with various Chinese cultural IPs, such as aviation, aerospace, cultural tourism, etc., to expand its product line and market influence.
●Event marketing: Closely follow hot events such as traffic globe, Chinatown detectives, etc. to carry out marketing activities and expand market recognition.
— TOP TOY —
●Emphasis on IP cooperation: TOP TOY emphasizes cooperation with various types of IP to enhance the market attractiveness of products.
●Offline experience: Mainly through the layout of offline stores, we will enhance consumers' trendy toy experience, and strive to build a Chinese brand with international influence.
— Common Strategies and Market Trends —
● The importance of IP cooperation: All leading brands emphasize close cooperation with IP to improve the market awareness and attractiveness of their products.
● Product coverage for all ages: ensure that products can meet the needs of different age groups and expand the potential consumer base.
●Innovation and national trend: pay attention to original design, keep up with the trend, while maintaining high cost performance, in line with the expectations of consumers.
04 Market and development advice
After synthesizing the analysis of the previous three aspects, I put forward the following six suggestions to guide the development strategy of the building block market:
— Online Growth & Offline Layout —
Although online growth has cooled, we still need to focus on offline layout as a key strategy. For new product launches, social media platforms such as Douyin should be considered as an important marketing channel.
— User Co-Creation Strategy —
Referring to the strategy of Lego's leading brands, co-creation with ordinary users can be regarded as a long-term strategy, which helps to improve the market adaptability and user loyalty of the product.
— Leveraging Anime and Film & TV IP —
Enduring animation and film and television IP are still important resources. At the same time, you can consider developing some relatively unpopular but specific group feelings of IP to explore new market opportunities.
— Penetration into the Older Population —
In view of the diverse needs of the market, we should develop products related to the elderly, such as educational building blocks aimed at preventing Alzheimer's disease, as well as products suitable for various scenarios.
— Focus on multi-material safety —
Due to the safety concerns that may arise from different materials, the development of new materials that are both safe and environmentally friendly will be our priority to ensure that the products can meet the needs of users of all ages.
— Enhance user experience —
In the end, improving the user's experience of building blocks is the key to improving brand favorability and market competitiveness. By improving product design and user interaction, we can enhance the overall user experience.
The above is the sharing content of Moojing Insight in this forum, thank you.