POP MART Wang Ning: How can Chinese trendy toys make the world pay?

This year, the trendy toy IP under Pop Mart, LABUBU, has sparked a buying frenzy. This plush cartoon doll with big eyes, pointy ears, and nine exposed teeth has become a phenomenon, hard to find both domestically and internationally.

According to Wang Ning, the founder of Pop Mart, the popularity of LABUBU is the result of over a decade of continuous operation of IP by the company. In addition to LABUBU, Pop Mart also has well-known trendy toy IPs such as MOLLY, DIMOO, and Star People.

This trendy toy company was founded in 2010, initially starting as a trendy collection store. As Wang Ning deepened his understanding of the category, he eliminated other products in the store and focused on the trendy toy sector, combining continuous innovation in artistic design and IP operation, making it a continuously heating industry.

By the end of last year, Pop Mart had accumulated over 46 million registered members in mainland China, opened more than 400 stores domestically, and is continuously expanding its overseas business footprint, bringing Chinese trendy toy IP to the global stage. Wang Ning said, the previous goal was to become China's Disney, and now we want to become the world's Pop Mart, becoming a new generation of world-class Chinese consumer brand.

How can Chinese trendy toy IP get global buyers? How can the vitality of trendy toy IP last long? How to respond to criticisms of hunger marketing, scalpers, and reliance on blind boxes? CCTV News interviewed Pop Mart founder Wang Ning, sharing his industry insights and thoughts.

Why has LABUBU exploded globally?

What exactly is trendy toy?

Host: Why can't many people buy LABUBU?

Wang Ning: LABUBU has explosively become a world-class trendy toy IP, with demand greatly exceeding supply. We are doing our best to optimize the supply chain. We are increasing production capacity every month; this month, production capacity has doubled compared to last month, and there will be significant improvements next month. However, since LABUBU is a physical product, the process is very complex and involves manual sewing. You could say our sewing machines are smoking.

Host: When will LABUBU be available for purchase?

Wang Ning: Recently, we started using a pre-sale method. Many people say we are fighting against "scalpers," but essentially we do not want our products to be excessively speculated in the second-hand market, and we are doing everything possible to let real users buy them. In fact, we have delayed the release of many LABUBU products because we do not want to launch new products under conditions of insufficient production capacity.

01:59

Host: Why has LABUBU become popular?

Wang Ning: Over the years, some people have felt that we are a suddenly emerging new company, but in fact, LABUBU is already 10 years old, and Pop Mart is 15 years old. I think we are still a relatively slow-developing and restrained company.

Trendy toys were previously a niche consumer product, and as they continue to expand their circle, they have gradually accumulated many fans. Additionally, in product development, because LABUBU is a forest spirit, we adopted a rubber plush process, which is more in line with the setting of forest spirits, making the product more popular among everyone. **

Overall, this round of LABUBU's global popularity has exceeded our expectations and has shown us a possibility that POP MART can incubate world-class trendy toy IPs.

Host: In your opinion, what is "trendy toys"?

Wang Ning: Trendy toys, also known as designer toys, can be understood as a combination of painting and sculpture. Painting and sculpture are very pure forms of artistic expression, and in daily life, few people specifically buy an artist's painting or sculpture to place in their homes. Later, many artworks began to be printed on scarves or plates, becoming more popular products, while trendy toys attach artworks to the material of toys. Our trendy toys lean more towards art and design, with designs coming from artists in various countries.

Host: Currently, trendy toys have become a continuously warming industry. What do you think is the reason for their popularity?

Wang Ning: Trendy toys are not the kind of toys that bounce, jump, or sing; they might just be ornaments, a form of companionship, an artistic or spiritual consumption. For example, when people want happiness, healing, or companionship, we alleviate these emotional points through the designs of artists.

Our core IP—MOLLY, is a little girl with a pouting mouth. When you see her when you're happy, you feel happy; when you see her when you're not happy, you feel unhappy. She can become your emotional projection. Another IP—Hirono (Xiao Ye), allows people to realize that they are not the only lonely ones in this world. Such IPs can generate strong emotional identification or emotional layering, providing healing, companionship, or making people feel happy and beautiful.

△MOLLY (left) and Hirono (right)

The life cycle of an IP has peaks and valleys

The key is long-term operation

Host: You once said that you benchmark against Disney. Is that still the case?

Wang Ning: We are very similar to Disney; essentially, we are an IP company. When people talk about Disney, they know Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck; when we are mentioned, people will also talk about MOLLY and LABUBU. Everyone has created their own IP. Disney cultivates fans more through movies, forming IP and IP circles, while we form trendy toy IP through the designs of artists.

Host: Disney's IP images are mostly built on individual stories, but POP MART's IP only has visual images. If there are no stories to support them, can they last in the future?

Wang Ning: Stories are indeed very important as they help you quickly recognize characters, but it is not necessary to have a story for an IP to succeed.** As information becomes richer and users' time becomes more fragmented, the way IPs are born will also change We are also thinking of more ways to enrich the worldview of existing IPs.

02:09

Host: LABUBU is so popular, will there be a movie or animation next?

Wang Ning: Many well-known film companies, including Hollywood, want to make a LABUBU movie, and we are still in the process of considering it.

Host: Is Hollywood just on the consideration list?

Wang Ning: We are thinking about whether to do it ourselves or collaborate with Hollywood, and what kind of approach to take. In fact, we considered whether to create video content for MOLLY back then. For example, MOLLY has a very stubborn face; if she were to speak, what would her expression and voice be like? If we want the IP to come alive, we need to inject a lot of content, which is a challenging task.

Host: So, how should trendy toy IPs be operated in the long term?

Wang Ning: I believe trendy toy IPs do not necessarily need to have movie content. POP MART's city park is a very good carrier; there are many IP elements in the park. Trendy toy IPs are more about conveying an emotion. Interacting with these IPs in the park, even just greeting or hugging them, will make the IPs more vibrant.

For example, LABUBU is a spirit of the forest, and there happens to be a forest in the park, so we created LABUBU's magical forest and composed the LABUBU song. Recently, the "Big Leader" performance of the LABUBU series has also been very popular, enhancing everyone's recognition of the LABUBU family through the performance.

01:50

Host: Some say each generation has its own POP MART and LABUBU. Will these trendy toys always be popular? Will they be forgotten as times change?

Wang Ning: After returning from Europe, I found that many people can recognize the LABUBU image, which is a huge value. The characteristic of IP companies is that once they cultivate excellent IP characters, their lifecycle is very long. Although there are peaks and valleys, just because people are not currently discussing Mickey Mouse or Hello Kitty does not mean they are forgotten or have no value. The most important thing for IP companies is to continuously operate the IP and cultivate and manage it in the long term.

Respect for artist design

Focus on collaboration to enhance IP value

Host: What was your first self-owned IP?

Wang Ning: I once collected opinions online about which IPs people liked, and half of the comments were about MOLLY. So, in 2016, I found the designer of MOLLY, and he was very excited to introduce us to each of his works. At that time, MOLLY only sold a few hundred pieces a year Host: What was your goal at that time?

Wang Ning: I told the designer MOLLY that my goal was to sell 1 million MOLLYs in a year. At that time, he couldn't imagine it and thought it was a very difficult goal to achieve. I said your fans are the stars and the sea, and there are still too many people in the world who don't know MOLLY; you should let more people see her. Now MOLLY sells not just 1 million a year, but even 10 million.

△ In 2016, Wang Ning signed a contract with MOLLY creator Wang Xinming (left)

Host: Are you worried that if these designers leave or withdraw, it will have a significant impact on POP MART?

Wang Ning: No, the vast majority of the IP copyrights we cooperate with belong to POP MART, and the artists have a share in the profits. I believe we are a company that respects design very much. We sincerely believe that design and beauty have great power, and we respect artists and their designs, which is why more and more artists are willing to cooperate with us.

Host: You once said that your IP has a moat, and your moat is very deep.

Wang Ning: We are an open and inclusive platform, as well as a comprehensive IP platform. We are not in competition with global IP companies like Disney and Universal; rather, we are in a cooperative relationship. For example, MOLLY can wear Mickey Mouse's clothes, etc. We still hope to enhance the IP value through collaboration.

Host: If someone copies your business model, are you worried about competition?

Wang Ning: I believe we still have strong barriers. The hard barriers are the years of accumulated experience in management and operations. Retailing is still not easy, with many tedious details, from handling the entire space to product display, accumulation of people, accumulation of operations, practical experience, and understanding of the industry, etc. This is the hard barrier. Additionally, there are soft barriers; what we do is related to art, and those artists cannot be replicated with money.

Host: Would blocking all competitors be something you consider?

Wang Ning: We should not look down; we are not worried about those doing the same thing as us. However, as a young company, we have a significant gap compared to many international brands. We should strive upwards, look outward, and learn from excellent international companies.

We are also crossing the river by feeling the stones

A group of people is slowly growing

Host: When did you realize you wanted to do trendy toys? Looking at your entrepreneurial story, it initially seemed like a retail collection store.

Wang Ning: I have always wanted to do retail. The reason we called it "POP MART" is because it is a trendy supermarket. In the early days of opening the store, it was more like a buyer's collection store. We selected products ourselves, sourced them, and gathered all the design-related items that everyone liked into our store In 2015, we found that a doll called Sonny Angel accounted for one-third of the sales in a single store. We began to consider whether we should focus on the trendy toy category, carve our own path, and create our own products.

Host: At that time, was the market accepting of trendy toys?

Wang Ning: Back then, everyone generally thought, why would adults buy toys? Many investors did not believe there was a market demand for this, but I saw it as our opportunity to pioneer and expand a whole new cultural field.

Host: Looking back now, why do you think some investors missed out on POP MART?

Wang Ning: This was indeed a very new industry, and we were also feeling our way across the river. Even now, many people are still asking, where is your ceiling, how big can this industry become? When we went public, our market value was very high, and then it was sold off by everyone to a low point, but now it has regained recognition. The reason is still that people do not understand the industry. Of course, we are also very lucky; it is a combination of our efforts and the opportunities of the times.

Host: Have there been particularly difficult moments?

Wang Ning: Many people ask me this, but I feel there hasn’t been; I actually enjoy this process. Many entrepreneurs initially struggle to adapt, feeling a lot of pressure and constantly fighting against these emotions. But you need to find ways to resolve anxiety and learn to coexist with it; anxiety means you still have many problems to solve.

In 2012, we rented a two-bedroom apartment in Beijing for office use, with the kitchen serving as a warehouse. I met a colleague while drifting to Beijing who had worked as a truck driver for two years and had no logistics experience. He started from that small kitchen and is now responsible for global warehousing and logistics management. The growth of a company is actually a process of a group of people growing together; our original intention has always remained unchanged, which is to seriously build a respected brand and create a great company.

△ In 2012, Wang Ning and the team in a meeting (Wang Ning in black on the right)

Host: Looking back, is there anything you regret?

Wang Ning: I never think about regrets because whatever I think of, I will definitely do. Let me tell a little story: in middle school, our class was rehearsing street dance, and I was the only one eliminated on the spot. I kept watching TV to self-learn, determined to master it. After graduating from high school, the first pot of gold I earned was from teaching everyone street dance at the gym.

Do not want hidden versions of trendy toys to generate a premium

The blind box concept is just to add fun

Host: Many people see POP MART as a blind box retail company; what do you think?

Wang Ning: I believe that retail companies do not just sell goods; they can also provide a lot of emotional value, just like opening a blind box. Because trendy toys themselves have no playability, they actually combine very well with blind boxes. Later, many places started using the blind box format; it is as simple as a discount Many people once thought that blind boxes were the core of POP MART, but gradually you will find that what everyone discusses more is still our trendy toy IP; blind boxes merely add some fun. Any product cannot become popular just by using the blind box method; the core is still the product inside the blind box.

Host: What percentage does the blind box business account for now?

Wang Ning: It accounts for less than 50%. We are essentially an IP company; if we were a blind box company, we wouldn't need to focus on creating IP.

Host: What if you draw a style you don't like?

Wang Ning: Whether it's disappointment, surprise, or regret, it's all a form of emotional value.

Host: But there are also hidden styles.

Wang Ning: The main goal is to give everyone a special surprise.

Host: Would the special surprise trouble you? Because it has become a space for premium pricing to some extent.

Wang Ning: Our original intention is mainly to add fun; whether you unbox a red LABUBU or a blue LABUBU, it is essentially still LABUBU. It's not about unboxing either a sock or a phone, which are items with huge value differences.

01:32

Host: There are also other voices saying that LABUBU is so popular now, it might just be a bubble.

Wang Ning: There are too many doubts about us, such as being a "cutting leeks" bubble, etc. If we were a short-sighted company, over the past 15 years, we could have done franchising, wholesale, and now that LABUBU is so popular, we could also make various peripheral products, making a quick profit and exhausting this IP, but we haven't done that.

Returning to the original intention of starting a business, we want to create a beautiful and long-lasting company. The core hope is that the company is healthy, that LABUBU's growth is healthy, and that it becomes a century-old IP.

Hope to build a world-class trendy toy IP platform

Become the world's POP MART

Host: POP MART began its globalization steps in 2018. Many people will be curious, why has a Chinese company come to the forefront of the trendy toy industry?

Wang Ning: We can grow this industry thanks to China's mature manufacturing industry and its vast market.** In other countries, either the market is not large enough, or the manufacturing industry is not mature enough; it is China's environment that has given us the opportunity.

Overseas, customers often ask store staff why your products are so expensive. Are you a Japanese brand? Our staff are always very proud to say, first, this is an artwork; a lot of time and effort went into the product design; second, we are a Chinese brand.

Host: When we see Disney's Mickey Mouse and Elsa, and notice that some foreign IPs often appear around us with a larger premium, when do you think it will be the time for Chinese brands and Chinese trendy toy IPs to make the world pay?

Wang Ning: We originally hoped to become China's Disney, and now we hope to become the world's POP MART. We often say "From the world to the world," which means "coming from the world and going back to the world." The artists we collaborate with come from all over the world. We use China's manufacturing and market to incubate artists from around the world and then take them to the world. We hope to build a world-class trendy toy IP platform.

Host: Currently, what is POP MART's overseas revenue approximately?

Wang Ning: In 2024, POP MART's overseas revenue will reach 5.07 billion yuan. This year, overseas sales are likely to exceed domestic sales, and sales in North America are likely to surpass those in Southeast Asia.

Host: What are your thoughts on overseas site selection?

Wang Ning: I love art and business, but these two things are very contradictory because business seeks universality while art seeks uniqueness. We have always wanted to find a balance. Therefore, our site selection is either a global commercial landmark or very close to art.

Overall, we are using a very clumsy way to globalize. All our stores around the world are directly operated stores, managed by our own team. Our original intention is still to run each store well. In terms of globalization, we are still in an entrepreneurial state.

There is a sense of mission within

We hope to become a new generation of world-class Chinese consumer brands

Host: From the founder's perspective, what kind of company is POP MART?

Wang Ning: We hope to become a globally influential trendy cultural entertainment company. Over the years, we have had two core strategies: one is internationalization, and the other is group development centered on IP. Currently, globalization may have achieved phased success, but we believe the road to internationalization is still long. We are still a very young company. For example, in terms of IP operation and accumulation, we still have a significant gap compared to Disney.

Host: Do you think it is possible to surpass Disney in the future?

Wang Ning: They have many aspects worth learning from, but we do not wish to follow the same path. As a new IP platform, we should have our own path and bring something different to the world in our own way.

01:30

Host: Looking back at your entrepreneurial journey, what values do you most want to convey?

Wang Ning: In my view, there are three types of enterprises: one like grass, one like flowers, and one like trees. Many enterprises grow quickly like grass, but wither quickly as well; many enterprises are like flowers, achieving phased success but are not sustainable. We want to be a tree-like enterprise, with roots deep enough. When one day we grow upwards, the growth speed will be beyond imagination. Host: What is the future path for POP MART?

Wang Ning: We still have a sense of mission in our hearts, hoping to create some higher value-added consumer products and become a new generation of world-class Chinese consumer brands. POP MART is only 15 years old this year. Our philosophy has always been to respect time and respect management. Our entire team is still very young, and we have enough patience. We hope to engage in a long-term endeavor, to build a wonderful company and a brand with warmth.

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