This article is reproduced with authorization from[DoNews](ID: ilovedonews)
Text/Li Kexin
Editor/Bocheng Yang
Title Picture/IC Photo
“Bamboo Mart has given us a lot of inspiration for the entire industry.”
It is undeniable that Bubble Mart has nurtured and inspired China’s trendy play and blind box market. In particular, when Chaowan was packaged by the blind box gameplay, Chaowan became a “luck guessing” mini game that everyone knows a little bit, or doesn’t know much about it, but everyone can participate in it.
It is precisely because of this enchanting sense of mystery that the blind box has the opportunity to reach into people’s wallets and entrain participants from various fields to join them, intending to grab some limelight when the spring breeze begins.
When I looked around, I realized that the new intersection where everything is a blind box is already beckoning to us frequently.
Fiery: Some people make a name, some people seek profit
Fresh food, catering, cultural creation, and tourism are all in the “+ blind box”
The blind box milk tea that can be sensed recently is the blind box milk tea in the dining circle.
Each short video frequently liked tens of thousands, and the maximum daily turnover of the store increased nearly three times. In the video, people took out big-name eye shadows, loose powder, perfume and other samples from the gap layer at the bottom of the milk tea cup, as well as gift cards, buffet coupons, hot spring tickets and other gifts.
And this milk tea shop is called Mi, and the store that became popular this time because of the blind box is the brand’s Qingdao store. According to the relevant debtor of the brand, many people would rather drive dozens of kilometers to buy milk tea after seeing it on the short video platform, but in order to get lipstick, it is not a minority to order more than a dozen cups at a time.
At the same time, according to it, this was originally a spontaneous behavior of the franchisees, but because the promotion of the activity in Shandong area, the overall sales increase effect is obvious, and the honey headquarters also plans to carry out the blind in stores nationwide from April 1st to 15th. Box activity.
Coincidentally, on the first day of the Qingming holiday, the “blind box for air ticket destinations” on the same journey was bought by users, and the blind box products at every point in time were instantly sold out. According to statistics, the day has ushered in the peak of a single-day rush purchase since the event was launched, and more than 10 million users participated in the rush purchase.
With the detonation of the “ticket destination blind box”, as of April 3, the user’s spontaneous “ticket blind box” topic on Douyin has been broadcasted nearly 100 million; and the WeChat index “same journey travel” search heat The month-on-day growth rate exceeded 318%, and the number of searches for “blind box” increased by more than 435% month-on-day.
According to the person in charge of this event, the “uncertainty” and “unexpected surprises” of the blind box coincide with the expectations of young people for travel. The popularity of the event also proves that the combination of air tickets and blind boxes is a success. Try, and in the future, we will also consider normalizing the operation of activities.
The enthusiasm of the blind box has made a lot of giants swarm there. Youku’s recently launched rural love series blind boxes were sold out as soon as they went online. The hidden model is Liu Neng with a small straw hat and horoscope eyebrows, making it a “unobtainable man” for many blind box players.
Station B, which is also a content platform, acquired ACTOYS, a derivative company of Chaowan in August last year; in early 2021, Tencent also launched the “嚯” APP to get involved in the business of Chaowan; Baidu also created the item “Hot Chaowan” to seize the tide Play the market. The superimposed blind box gameplay is probably not far away.
In the field of fresh food, brands have already tested the 9.9 yuan fresh blind box. After buying them and opening them, they know what to eat today, which makes many young people happy to give their dinner to “luck.” In the field of ready-to-drink, brands such as Want Want and Rui Ao Cocktails have also played well in blind boxes.
Last year, Henan Museum launched the “Lost Treasures” archaeological blind box in Taobao stores, which was sold out as soon as it went online, allowing consumers to experience “the joy of archaeology” at home, successfully selling the cultural and creative surroundings in short supply.
In addition to the above types of blind boxes, there are also stationery blind boxes, pet blind boxes, plant blind boxes… the economic popularity of blind boxes makes people sigh that “everything can be blind boxes”.
However, whether it is the entry of branded merchants or the entry of platform parties, their respective calculations are merely name-by-name or profit-seeking.
As an industry insider said, sometimes the fancy delivery of real money and the drainage effect is not guaranteed, and the blind box gameplay based on consumer experience can sometimes not only get real money in return, if it is self-developed IP , But also full of brand image and cultural connotation, it can be described as fame and fortune.
Regardless of the ultimate goal, there are multiple factors behind each player being able to pry the blind box so easily.
The most frequently mentioned is the mysterious and unshakable status of blind boxes in consumers’ hearts. It not only has a gambling component, but also satisfies spiritual dependence. More importantly, it is social currency. These encourage no matter who participates, as long as there are good creative fusion products, most of them can bring good sales.
The low threshold, short production cycle, and fast return of funds are the fundamental reasons why the blind box business enters the market.
“Brand owners or individuals only need to provide patterns, the factory can open molds according to the drawings, and then mass production. And mold opening takes 8-10 days, production takes about 20 days,” said a blind box foundry person. In other words, within a month, the blind box can move from the mold to the market.
Those who only use the blind box gameplay and do not need to create IP images independently, after most of the work is outsourced, they only need to worry about the investment in marketing creativity, the cycle will not be very long, and the cost of entering the market will be lower. .
The hot blind box is no longer just an affiliate of Chaowan because everyone collects firewood.
Driven by: the designer’s popularity is comparable to the admissions of Beiying
Foundry business catches up with fast fashion
The boom in the blind box economy has made blind box designers one of the most desirable professions for young people.
“Since last year, the number of college graduates who want to work as blind box designers, whether they are majoring in fine arts or animation, has significantly increased.” Wan Tong, who is a career recommendation on a recruitment platform, told us that recent art candidates Among them, one out of a dozen people wanted to try a blind box designer.
Although this data does not fully represent one million fresh graduates, it also reflects the pursuit of young people, no longer limited to traditional industries, but also eager to give play to their light and passion in emerging professional positions.
For the time being, regardless of whether the promoters and channels of professional tide play culture such as Bubble Mart and TOP TOY, the intensity of the demand for professional designers, under this background, the company that lays out the blind box track has the right to blind box designers. Demand is also “increasing.”
“Many cultural and creative companies, game companies and advertising planning companies have been doing blind boxes in the past two years, and there are media companies. According to our understanding, these companies currently recruit specialized blind box designers.” A headhunting company Advisor Cai Cai said.
In addition, Tencent, Baidu, and Pinduoduo, which are promoting the trendy play business, are also recruiting “toy designers” on their recruitment platforms, and their salary is not low.
Not long ago, some media revealed that a blind box designer who had less than two years of experience and worked in a well-known brand had a monthly salary of 25,000 yuan, which gave the profession a “true fragrance” filter.
Regardless of salary and treatment, more designers have found a sense of honor and belonging in this emerging position.
“It’s very happy to be able to get along with the predecessors who are also born in the 90s, and discuss together which ones might be hot models and which ones will be thunder models. And when the designed products are loved by fans, this sense of accomplishment is the happiest “, Zero said with a smile.
Zero has an internship in a cultural and creative company. All of his colleagues are born in the 90s. The working atmosphere is relaxed. After a period of learning, Zero has turned from a product manager to an artist and began to produce his own products. “As long as you are passionate about creation, pay attention to your surroundings. Fashion can also become a blind box designer.”
With the development of the trendy play, many traditional graphic designers and niche artists use the power of the platform to move from behind the scenes to the front desk, gaining recognition and love from fans, and more importantly, a “stable harvest”. At the end of last year, at the TOP TOY conference, a designer shared, “Only when the drought and floods are not guaranteed, will we have the motivation to continue to create good products.”
The popularity of blind boxes has also driven the business of upstream foundries, and even some manufacturers have completed the transition from unknown production lines to brand manufacturers.
“Blind box customization is a small business. Since last year, there has been an influx of large-scale orders, and shipments have been made almost every day,” Patrick of Huasheng Liye told DoNews. There is profit to be made”.
Patrick told us that the series of blind boxes can be ordered at a minimum of 1,000 per style, and if it is only one, a minimum order of 5,000 is required. Compared with fast fashion’s current small order booking and weekly new speed, blind box customization is also in line with fast fashion.
Data from the wholesale platform 1688 shows that the platform turnover of blind boxes and derivatives in the first half of December 2020 has increased by 2.7 times compared with the same period in November, and the number of custom-made buyers has increased by 300% year-on-year.
As the number of foundries increases, the agglomeration effect is also strengthening. Most of the factories in Dongguan and Shenzhen have even received support from the local government-“new sites” will be allocated to support the construction of related factories.
According to the report of the Economic Observer, a toy factory in Dongguan, which was heavily indebted, officially stepped out of the production line and completed the transition to a trendy toy manufacturer. This includes the core IP creation, both the original design of the IP, and the second creation of the signed and authorized IP, and learn to pay more attention to the protection of intellectual property rights and technical content.
From 2018 to 2019, the monthly turnover of the blind box series of this factory has shown a double-digit growth; and for the whole year of 2019, the company’s turnover has successfully exceeded 10 million.
“The rapid rise of blind boxes in the Chinese market makes our IP agents become active in an instant.”
Lin Gang, general manager of Ruihuahang, said in a sharing session. Guangdong Ruihuahang is a subsidiary of Hong Kong Ruihuahang Group, established in 1993. Ruihuahang Group is most famous for its IP agency business.
In Lin Gang’s view, it is expected that the entire industry will usher in a new era, and the industry has shown a more open attitude, “Those who were unwilling to open up IP are now willing, or there is more room for talk.”
The Frost & Sullivan report predicts that the compound annual growth rate of China’s IP licensing industry since 2019 will be 13.1%, and it will reach RMB 156.1 billion in 2024.
Distortion: In the barbaric growth stage, chaos is inevitable
Any industry will experience a period of barbaric growth, and the blind box economy is at this node, and many distortions are naturally inevitable.
First is the supply chain side, not the whole industry is getting better. Head companies such as Bubble Mart will sign an exclusive agreement with the factory. Although the factory has a lot of people, they are receiving small companies and scattered orders, and the technical level is still not high. In addition, there are also cases where some factories lack integrity and mix defective products in the deliverables.
“When the factory communicates with the designer, there are also difficulties in running in and unhappy,” Patrick said. “Many designers do not understand the impact of the entire production process, materials, and coloring processes on the final presentation of the product. For companies that customize blind boxes in small batches, the intermediate education process is time-consuming.”
As Patrick said, due to lack of professional ability and understanding of the market, blind box designers are not as glamorous as they are on the surface.
Zero said, “Not only did they learn a lot, but it was also a chore for girls to go to the factory for business trips. For example, just take the coloring process and accompany the master to call from 8 am to 10 pm. After dozens of adjustments, for example, if a pudding wants to look like a Q bomb, it needs to be varnished.”
Zero believes, “It’s not enough to be eager to enter this industry. It is necessary to have an overall understanding of the market, and self-aesthetics and market aesthetics are also very important. You have to know why the products you produce, and you can’t take it lightly because of the ideas of others. To change, of course, one must have the confidence to be accepted by the market.”
“It’s not just about drawing pictures to become a qualified blind box designer,” Cai Cai said. “The acceptance rate of blind box designers is still very low. Some companies even interviewed hundreds of applicants, but they were not satisfied in the end. One or two, and there are not a few who can’t even pass the probation period.”
“The high salaries of designers are only large companies, and many small companies are just normal, and the requirements for designers’ job literacy are also increasing. For example, they used to be junior colleges and now require big ones. For example, they used to require two-dimensional planes. Multiple creativity and performance capabilities; and a more comprehensive understanding of product structure, materials and processing techniques.”
When blind boxes have gradually become a normal life, the market is also facing the risk of players retreating and the market retreating.
Because there are more and more blind boxes, the attributes of niche and individuality can be maintained in the past. With the increase of access to IP resources, the needs of fans are no longer delayed, and the IP attributes are getting weaker and weaker.
And when the blind box infrastructure is gradually complete, especially when the Chaowan community platform allows fans to exchange or sell, the number of successfully gathered players continues to increase, the frenetic collection period gradually loses momentum, and the player’s sense of vanity also diminishes.
As the players retreat, the myth of wanting to get rich by speculating boxes will also be shattered. When people have more ordinary mass models, it will be difficult to reproduce the sharp price increase, and as online transactions become more flat and transparent, the period when speculators want to use information asymmetry to grab high profits is gone. Back.
When the blind box enthusiasm dissipates and is placed in front of the merchants, there are only two options left: Either raise the threshold of blind box play, or find another way.
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