On September 5th, Bubble Mart's first overseas direct store opened at the International Trade Center in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea. On the same day, the Dimo Social University series of blind boxes was launched in the store worldwide, limited to 200 pieces per day, and sold out within an hour of opening.
Dimoo Social University Series
The first store in Korea displays Molly, Panshin, VIVICAT and other trendy play products that are well known to Korean fans. The VIVICAT designed by Chinese artist Guo Bin poked the aesthetics of Korean fans with a lazy image and was particularly loved.
VIVICAT
ViViCat's lazy and funny appearance echoes with the desire of the heart, expressing the psychological state of the current group of young people
The opening of the first store in South Korea is a major milestone for Bubble Mart's overseas business and a successful Chinese brand going overseas.
At present, Bubble Mart's tide play products have entered 22 overseas countries and regions such as South Korea, Japan, Singapore, France, etc., and its global development path is gradually on the right track and towards scale, which is another brand new case following the game, TV series and other cultural products to go to sea.
Blind box gameplay
For a few tens of dollars, I bought a small cardboard box containing a cute doll toy, the kind of knick-knack that can be placed on the desk. But the excitement is that before you take it apart, you don't know which one of the toy series you'll get, so every time you buy a blind box, it's like a lottery, which is very addictive.
The social properties of the blind box
The blind box gameplay is not only very addictive, but also has the nature of "onlookers" and "experience exchange".
In the circle of blind box players, buying the blind box yourself and then taking it apart is just the basic gameplay. If you search on the video website, you will find a lot of videos that open the blind box, and the number of plays is also quite large.
Blind box players will of course wonder what others have "driven" into. If a video publisher is particularly lucky enough to draw a hidden doll for a very small price, he will receive a lot of likes.
Moreover, blind box enthusiasts also set up an exchange group to share with each other what blind boxes they bought and what kind of shapes they had dismantled.
There are also very serious players, will publish experience posts on the Internet, the content is how to judge what shape in the box is based on the weight, size, shaking feel, etc. of the blind box, and whether it will be a hidden model.
This experience is called "metaphysics" and is not reliable to say, but the important thing is that it raises the "topic".
In addition to these spontaneous exchanges, the official will also promote user exchanges. For example, Bubble Mart launched an APP, which is a bit like a toy version of the Little Red Book, where users can also share stories and meet friends.
This year's very popular Nanci Blind Box
There is even a secondary market with a blind box of trading.
Some limited editions, the probability of winning is extremely low, and the buyers who draw them will take them to the secondary market to sell. Originally a limited edition doll for 59 yuan, the transaction price can reach 2350 yuan, which is a full 39 times. And this secondary trading market, the scale has reached tens of millions.
In this way, buying a blind box becomes a social behavior.
"Blind Card" and "Blind Box" games as a child
The blind box economy is now attracting much attention, ostensibly because there is a lot of capital inflows, but behind it, there is actually a strong exchange demand of the younger generation.
And the blind box play, not now. As early as the 80s of the last century, Japan introduced a blind box-like thing, a gacha machine. After coining, turn the lower stick to get a random toy, which is basically the same as today's blind box play.
At that time, the toys in the gacha machine were basically related to the second dimension and anime. The second dimension of consumer loyalty is very high, the spending power and the repurchase rate are very strong, which also makes the gacha has always been a good business.
But its entire industry can only be regarded as a minority in society. After all, people who like the second dimension are often called "otaku" in Japan. In media reports, they are usually male and tend to indulge in subcultural niches such as animation, comics, games, and so on.
But now, the blind box is not just a small group of people interested in the second dimension.
The generation that grew up in the 80s and 90s experienced the "blind card" game when they were young.
Outlaws
"Water Margin" premiered on January 8, 1998 on CCTV. In 1999, Little Raccoon Crisp Noodles launched water margin 108 collection cards, and Little Raccoon Crisp Noodles became popular.
On the one hand, "Water Margin" is one of the four famous works in China, with a deep mass base and cultural attributes, which coincides with the popularity of TV dramas and triggers heated discussions among the whole people; on the other hand, the number of "Water Margin" 108 makes it not so easy for collectors to gather, and they continue to expand the influence of "Water Margin" "blind cards" through exchanges and exchanges.
Kulo cards
"Magic Card Girl Sakura" tells the story of the girl Sakura, in order to recycle scattered everywhere, bringing disaster to the world", the "Kulo card" became the "magic card catcher" and constantly struggled.
Compared with "Water Margin", the "blind card" of "Magic Card Girl Sakura" makes the little girl more substitutionary and has a stronger desire to collect.
King of Games
"Game King" is a game of card monster duels, the more cards collected, the more important, the stronger the strength, the higher the chance of winning.
McDonald's Fun Park Package
McDonald's Happy Park Package, collecting products is not only children, but also many adults.
Kenda Odd Egg
Kenda Fun Egg is an egg-shaped chocolate shaped like a duck egg, containing milk chocolate, crisp cocoa balls and toys, which is a favorite of children.
Ark of Tomorrow
Of course, not to mention the current game, apply more draw card play. For example, "Ark of Tomorrow".
The well-known mobile game "Ark of Tomorrow" is a strategy mobile game, through the card drawing system, draw game characters and fight games.
Blind box and IP linkage
In the category of trendy toys, there are many cute products, so what does Bubble Mart rely on to maintain its competitive advantage?
This brings us to the second aspect of niche culture out of the circle, and IP linkage.
In the case of Molly, a new collection is launched every quarter, constantly providing heat to the entire brand. And many of these new series are linked with well-known IPs, such as Nutcracker, Toy Story, Minions, Mickey Mouse, Hello Kitty and so on. Not long ago, Molly also cooperated with the Forbidden City to launch the Palace Beast series, which is very Chinese in design.
Molly × Donald Duck Daisy BJD
Molly × Harry Potter
Joint name of the Forbidden City
IP linkage like this has brought many people who do not play blind boxes into the pit.
In the post-epidemic era, why can the personalized blind box economy replace the "lipstick economy"?
The blind box effect has a similar effect to the lipstick effect
The so-called "lipstick effect" refers to an interesting economic phenomenon.
In the United States, whenever the economy is sluggish, lipstick sales will skyrocket. Because in the United States people think that lipstick is a relatively cheap consumer product, in the case of economic downturn, people will still have a strong desire to consume, will turn to buy cheaper goods.
As a "cheap non-essential thing", lipstick can play a "comforting" role for consumers. Moreover, the economic recession will make some people's incomes lower, so that it is difficult for them to save money to do some "big things", such as buying a house, buying a car, traveling abroad, etc., so that there will be some "small spare money" in their hands, just to buy some "cheap non-essential things".
Under the influence of the epidemic that swept the world in 2020, the cute, funny, curative, and inexpensive blind boxes have played a comforting role.
World economic crisis, demand for "relaxed" consumption.
For example, the world economic and financial crisis in 2008 brought a market to "lipstick".
According to the US media, sales of lipstick and masks began to rise, and "relaxed consumption" such as hair and massage was also popular, which showed a sharp contrast to the sluggish sales of other commodities and luxury goods.
This is confirmed by the sales of several of the world's biggest cosmetics giants, including L'Oréal of France, Beiersdorf AG of Germany and Shiseido of Japan. L'Oréal's sales in the first half of 2008 increased by 5.3 percent against the market. The "lipstick effect" began to appear, and the theory of the "lipstick effect" proposed in the 1930s was constantly appearing in overseas media.
In the same period, the consumption statistics released by the Japanese market research agency show that although other industries are cold, Nintendo and Sony PSP in the game console industry have increased their sales significantly, and a large part of them will be used as christmas and New Year gifts to become the companions of Japanese players to welcome the New Year. Some industries have reaped better returns when the economy is in decline.
When the Korean economy is sluggish, the popular colors are bright, and short and exaggerated styles are ordered.
Blind box this brightly colored, small and cute, diverse styles, small toys with low cost, has an unpredictable nature, while giving people a sense of tension and relaxation.
The blind box effect has a similar condition for the lipstick effect
Products that meet the following three conditions can also take advantage of the "lipstick effect" to drive sales:
The first is that the goods sold themselves should have additional significance in addition to their practical value;
Second, the absolute price of the commodity itself is lower;
Third, merchants should make full use of the situation to guide consumers and detonate consumer desires.
The above three conditions, the blind box has been met.
1
The sense of cultural identity behind the blind box
Bubble Mart brings up the blind box, but the additional meaning of the blind box has a deeper extension, such as gambling! Compulsive! Favorite line! personalize!
Although, the hottest talk now is Bubble Mart, but there are a lot of IPs that have their own blind box products. For example, cherry pills, Doraemon, Teddy...
In addition to talking about the practical significance of blind box products, its additional significance is the buyer's (blind box tide player) sense of identity with IP culture.
Teddy Treasures
Cherry balls
Doraemon
Disney Princess
Glory of Kings
2
Blind box is absolutely low price
What is absolute price?
An absolute price is the price level of one or more commodities expressed in a certain monetary unit. Due to the difference in the monetary unit and its purchasing power in different countries, the absolute price level of the same commodity in different countries is different from each other. Absolute prices can be used as a basis for calculating the national commodity price index as well as the comparative or relative price of commodities.
In other words, the price of the product itself is not high.
From the demand side, the target consumer groups after 90 and 95 pay more attention to the additional emotional needs of products in addition to the practicality of products, have a high acceptance of new things, and pursue personalized, diversified and experiential consumption.
According to the "Consumption Report of Newcomers in Chinese Society" disclosed by Vipshop and Nandu Big Data Research Institute, and the "2019 Post-90s Consumption Trend Research Report" disclosed by Suning Financial Research Institute, more than half of the post-90s (including post-95s, the same below) group has a monthly income of 5,000-10,000 yuan.
However, the post-90s generally consume more ahead of time, and the overall deposit level of the post-90s is low, and nearly 40% of the population has less than 10,000 deposits.
According to the "2019 Generation Z Consumption Power White Paper" released by Kantar and QQ Advertising, the monthly disposable income of the post-95 generation is 3501 yuan (the national per capita disposable income in 2018 is 2352 yuan).
According to the "List of Post-95 Players Cutting Hand Power" released by Tmall, the most expensive money for young people after 95 is the tide play hand.
Of course, the blind box game is not just used for hand-made. The saying that "everything can be blinded" is not an exaggeration.
Hand ledger tape also "blind box"
3
The blind box is fully used for emotional consumption
1. Scene experience consumption
The target audience of Tide Play is more inclined to young women, and more shopping malls are chosen in offline business district consumption than traditional department stores.
Compared with other shops selling blind boxes, the shelves of Bubble Mart retail stores are mainly used for display, and the goods are stacked below, highlighting the artistry and display value of blind boxes.
Because the blind box is a non-rigid demand, high emotional premium product, it will rely more on the in-store experience and service, and the service is actually reducing the risk of consumption.
2. Emotional support, identification with consumption
Aidou without content support is monetized by retail sales - "debut is to be an idol"
In the past, toy IP and song and movie stars are similar, both based on works, with a series of content support, such as Disney's theme parks, peripherals, licensing are based on animated movies, with stories to touch people's hearts.
Whether it is a virtual character or a real star, it needs to come from "content". After enlarging the image of the audience, he became an idol and realized through song copyright, commercial touring, film remuneration and influence (mainly reflected in advertising).
This is not the case with Gen Z idols.
In recent years, young idols have come from talent shows and reality shows, and in the interaction with the audience, they have changed from ordinary people, allowing the audience to send them debut in the form of voting, and the audience's feelings are deeper.
At the same time, due to more customization, subdivision, shorter precipitation time, more scarce good works, the influence is not enough to "break the circle" to become a popular idol, its "traffic" comes from a relatively narrow fan base to do data (transfer, like, comment, etc.), as well as more fanatical, high-frequency spending money to support, such as hundreds of thousands of purchases of the same digital single, the same digital magazine reading code...
The same is true for blind box IP.
Most of the blind box IP is not supported by a complete story line, and there is no long and uncertain content production process. It is characterized by exquisite details, custom cute spots, and circle attributes.
From this point of view, the Z-era love beans and blind boxes are faster, more vertical, more exclusive, and more able to meet the consumer's sense of personal identity.
epilogue
The blind box economy replaces the "lipstick economy", which not only has the basic conditions required by the "lipstick economy", but also has the characteristics of the Internet era, and the gameplay is more Internet-oriented. In the era of abundant materials, the cultural and spiritual consumption given by the blind box economy makes it a rising star.