#272: How Labubu Became The Most Wanted Plush in the World
It started with a fuzzy little monster, hiding in the pages of a picture book inspired by Nordic fairy tales. She wasn’t famous. She didn’t have a movie deal. But when one K-pop superstar hugged her on Instagram… everything changed.
This week on Making It In The Toy Industry, I’m diving into the jaw-dropping rise of Labubu, the “ugly-cute” character from POP MART that took the toy world (and TikTok) by storm. From a picture book to plushies on Birkin bags, this fuzzy fanged friend is a case study in viral success. And today, I’m telling you exactly how it happened.
It all started with a single Instagram Story where BLACKPINK’s Lisa was hugging a giant Labubu plush. No paid campaign, no official launch. Yet within days, stores were selling out, TikTok was flooded with unboxings, and POP MART was on its way to making $1.6 billion in 24 hours. This episode breaks down exactly how that viral moment spiraled into global demand and what POP MART did next to fuel the frenzy.
From city-exclusive blind box drops that had fans lining up before sunrise, to high-fashion collabs that turned this plush into a statement piece, this is a real-world case study in smart scarcity, community-first branding, and emotional design. The Labubu story proves that a toy doesn’t need IP power or Hollywood backing to go big, it just needs to tap into the right emotions, channels, and timing. Let’s unpack how.
Launching your first collectible line or planning your next product drop? This episode is packed with clear, actionable strategies to help you build hype, grow a loyal audience, and get ready in case your brand's viral moment hits next.
Don’t miss this breakdown of one of the most exciting toy business case studies in recent history.
Listen For These Important Moments
[00:02:54] - Discover how economic shifts made affordable luxury toys like Labubu irresistible and how to time your product launches for maximum emotional impact.
[00:11:47] - Learn what made one Instagram Story turn into a global frenzy, and how you can be ready to amplify surprise celebrity or influencer moments.
[00:16:38] - Unpack the marketing genius behind Labubu’s pop culture takeover, plus ideas to help elevate your toy brand into lifestyle territory.
[00:23:12] - Understand the mechanics of scarcity marketing and how to use limited drops and regional exclusives to build long-term fan loyalty.
[00:31:26] - Walk away with clear, actionable steps for building hype, scaling your community, and preparing for your own viral breakout—even without a big budget.
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This episode is brought to you by www.thetoycoach.com
🎥 Go watch BLACKPINK Lisa’s video with Vanity Fair, where she gushes over her POP MART obsession—yes, including Labubu! It’s adorable, authentic, and a masterclass in organic product love.
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[00:00:00] Azhelle Wade: You are listening to Making It in The Toy Industry, episode number 272.
[00:00:22] Azhelle Wade: Hey there, toy people, Azhelle Wade here and welcome back to another episode of Making It In The Toy Industry. This is a weekly podcast brought to you by thetoycoach.com. Today we are going to dive into Labubu. I'm sure you've seen the viral craze on social media . There are reports that this brand has generated $1.6 billion in 24 hours for the CEO of POP MART. So, I've been getting a ton of messages from followers of the podcast, my Instagram, @TheToyCoach, and my students wanting to know more about the story of Labubu.
[00:00:54] Azhelle Wade: So today we're gonna dive into it, but before we do, I wanna frame this conversation a little bit about what's going on in our economy right now, especially what's starting here in the US with the increase of tariffs, prices are going up, wages here are not, and we're already expecting our consumers in Q4 to have to cut back on spending.
[00:01:12] Azhelle Wade: And one theory of what's going to happen when that cutback happens is something called the lipstick effect. So, the lipstick effect is this concept where when there is a recession, consumers stop spending on big, high ticket luxury items like cars, vacations, high-end electronics, and high-end fashion. And instead, they spend their money on small luxury purchases.
[00:01:36] Azhelle Wade: That concept has now been linked to Labubu, and people are wondering, "Hey, is this toy becoming so popular because of the potential upcoming economic recession or the current recession?", Is that why people are flocking to something that can give them a dopamine, hit a sense of high end luxury and uniqueness and community, but it costs a lot less? While Labubus have an insane resale value, I've seen some at a hundred dollars on resale, some at $600.
[00:02:04] Azhelle Wade: They generally only cost about $30 if you bought them right from POP MART, from the creators. So, let's dive into the full story of what happened in this evolution of Labubu?
[00:02:18] Azhelle Wade: Now, if you were a part of the kidult community, you are already a collector, likely, chances are you already have a Labubu added to your shelf. Maybe several. A Labubu is a fuzzy fanged character from POP MART, from something called THE MONSTER series. And it was designed by artist Kasing Lung. Now Labubu isn't your average cute kawaii collectible. This one airs on the side of ugly, cute, almost scary cute. Which reminds me of the recent TOTY Award Winner of the Deady Bears.
[00:02:52] Azhelle Wade: We talked about the Deady Bears in our New York Toy Fair recap. We are seeing throughout the industry this scary, cute trend really taking off. And Labubu is taking that trend further and it's going viral online, selling out in seconds. Labubu has become a textbook example of how smart marketing combined with great design, high quality, and community can transform a toy into a global movement.
[00:03:19] Azhelle Wade: All right, let's rewind for a second. A few years back, Labubu was just a sketch in a book, a creature inspired by Nordic folklore tucked into the pages of a quiet story. Fast forward to today, and we've got people lining up outside of stores. At dawn, early in the morning, racing to POP MART vending machines, even skipping class just to get their hands on the latest Labubu drop.
[00:03:47] Azhelle Wade: It's been wild. It's been a phenomenon, and I mean, yes, it's a dream scenario for any aspiring toy or game inventor. What makes this even more exciting is that Labubu isn't backed by some billion dollar movie franchise or some legacy IP. This is an original character, a little monster with a big grin who's carved outta space in toy history through vibe, collector excitement and branding.
[00:04:15] Azhelle Wade: If you've ever wondered how can my toy spark that kind of frenzy, you're in the right place. We are going to break down today as much as we can about how this little mischief plush toy became a must have in the toy space. We're gonna look at some creative choices that made Labubu unforgettable, the marketing tactics and accidents that just built massive hype, and then the emotional connection that turned fans into a connected community. So whether you're dreaming up your first blind box series, building out your toy brand, or just love a good toy biz success story, you are gonna love this episode.
[00:04:50] Azhelle Wade: All right, let's dive in.
[00:04:52] Azhelle Wade: To start, I wanna talk about POP MART. Some people don't know what POP MART is, so let's zoom out for a second, talk about the company behind Labubu's rise. This Chinese toy company was founded back in 2010 by Wang Ning, and believe it or not, it all started with one little shop in Beijing.
[00:05:09] Azhelle Wade: Fast forward to today, POP MART is a massive force. They have over 450 stores globally and 2,490 "Roboshops". They're located in over 30 countries, including the U.S. What really set POP MART apart was their big move into blind boxes.
[00:05:29] Azhelle Wade: They went for blind boxes hard. Blind boxes are sealed packages where you don't know what figure you're getting before you open it up. That mystery, that surprise element, really hit differently.
[00:05:41] Azhelle Wade: And with Labubu, most collectors buy the entire small PDQ because they are told that you should not have repeats in that PDQ. Then we see that some of the people that do get repeats end up trying to return them to the store.
[00:05:58] Azhelle Wade: We also found in recent months that people used a flashlight technique to actually see what characters were in the box before getting them. Apparently if you shine a light on the box in the dark, there is a clear card inside of the Labubu box and that clear card. Indicates what color your character is.
[00:06:19] Azhelle Wade: I mean, the blind box craze really hit in a different way with this brand. Fans couldn't get it fast enough, but by 2020, POP MART was dominating the kidult space in China with hundreds of stores, thousands of vending machines, called their "Roboshops" just popping up all over the country. And when things started slowing down, they did what smart brands do.
[00:06:40] Azhelle Wade: They looked outward. So in 2022 they expanded into the US, the UK, Australia, South Korea and more. By 2024, they had over 450 retail shops, 2,400 vending kiosks in 30 countries. And get this, they open their first US store into 2023 and had over 20 US locations just a year later. That kind of crazy expansion brought in serious money.
[00:07:10] Azhelle Wade: And in the first half of 2024, POP MART ranked in over $638 million in revenue. And this is before the Labubu craze even hit its peak. So, walking into a POP MART is a bit of an experience. It's a lot of boxes, honestly. There's a lot of boxes, lots of colors.
[00:07:30] Azhelle Wade: You'll see a few oversized characters mixed in at the top shelves. But the shelves are packed with everything from these tiny vinyl figures to plushies, to key chains, lamps, you name it. It is a whole experience. Characters have full sections where you can collect, the different variations of them, like Molly, Skullpanda, Dimoo, or Labubu.
[00:07:51] Azhelle Wade: They all have their own personality and their own target market that they're really capturing within this collectible community. POP MART didn't build its empire by leaning on other people's license characters. It seems they really created their own IP from the ground up. By collaborating with artists directly.
[00:08:10] Azhelle Wade: Now in 2023, just when you think that POP MART's kind of hitting their peak stride, they went bigger and built a theme park, something called Pop Land opened in Beijing in 2023. And it's basically Disneyland for designer toy fans. They have rides, lifesize installations of their toy products, DIY workshops, exclusive merch, which obviously a collector is gonna love.
[00:08:34] Azhelle Wade: It's not just retail, it's a retail experience. It's a story. And for collector, it's just like bucket list level stuff, you know? So before Labubu even stepped into the spotlight, POP MART had already built this toy empire that was ready to support it once the brand blew up. All Labubu had to do was explode, and it did.
[00:08:58] Azhelle Wade: So by 2023, POP MART's fan base had grown so large that the Chinese media described blind box toy shopping as addictive and prompted regulators to set age limits for buying mystery boxes. How crazy is that? So clearly POP MART had tapped into something big, some dopamine hit. It's almost like Instagram doom scrolling, right? Come to life. They really figured out how to get that dopamine hit with the physical product.
[00:09:25] Azhelle Wade: So let's talk about the beginning of Labubu. Where did it begin? In the mind of Kasing Lung, a Hong Kong born illustrator. Back in 2015, he brought to life a picture book called The Monsters, which was inspired by Nordic fairytales. Among his cast of creatures in this book, there was Labubu, this pointy ear toothy-grinned monster girl who looked like a mix between a gremlin and like an elf. But the cute, creepy exterior was just one side of Labubu. Labubu was written as just a well-meaning troublemaker who only caused chaos by accident. And her story had, you know, optimism. It was a little weird. and collectors loved it. So a small but loyal fan base started to form from the books and the prints until 2019 when things started to change. That is when Lung teamed up with POP MART to turn The Monsters series into a line of blind box collectibles and Labubu, ugh, that's all she needed.
[00:10:30] Azhelle Wade: Her debut series flew off the shelf. Suddenly she was up there with POP MART icons, like Molly and Dimoo.
[00:10:37] Azhelle Wade: But at first the buzz around Labubu was mostly regional. Hitting hardcore collectors in Asia, especially China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, they would come in and snap up every Labubu release. Outside of those tight-knit communities, she was still flying under the radar. She was loved by the niche, but unknown by the mainstream. So casual shoppers at POP MARTs international stores would spot her on the shelf and just be like, she's cute, but what is it?
[00:11:04] Azhelle Wade: So without that media coverage, without global campaigns, Labubu remained one of those. Like, "if you know, you know" characters, if you don't, you're likely not going to be interested. Now that changed in 2024 thanks to a marketing accident, like something a marketing team could not have planned. It was one post of one plush by one global superstar.
[00:11:29] Azhelle Wade: And suddenly Labubu wasn't just a toy where "if you know, you know", she was the toy that everybody wanted. So in April of 2024, Lisa from BLACKPINK. Yep, that LISA, shared an Instagram story hugging a giant Labubu plush. There was no sponsor at the time, no campaign, just K-pop star cuddling, a weird, fuzzy toy, and that one post just started it all.
[00:11:56] Azhelle Wade: After that, there was a video. after that Lisa did do a video with POP MART and Vanity Fair, sharing her secret obsession with POP MART collectibles and Labubu.
[00:12:07] Azhelle Wade: It's an adorable video. We will link it in the show notes and fans freaked out. Screenshots went viral. Labu Bubu became this creepy, cute must have of the moment, especially in Thailand, Lisa's home country where teens and young adults, they were just scrambling to get their hands on one, and then later Lisa was spotted accessorizing, her high-end bags. I believe it was an Hermes and a Birkin with tiny Labubu key chains. Her fans lost their mind. There was this really interesting dichotomy of such an expensive and exclusive bag being paired with such affordable and low cost toy plush. It almost gave her fans a way to feel expensive and feel high end and feel exclusive by getting their hands on that plush, even though they might not be able to get their hands on that Hermes or Birkin bag.
[00:12:59] Azhelle Wade: Pretty soon, Thai Celebs like Mario Maurer and Araya Hargate joined in sharing their Labubu collections on social. Even Thai politicians, like the royal family members were spotted hunting for blind boxes. It got back crazy and once surreal example, the Thai government minister publicly warned consumers to watch out for Lafufu, which are bootleg Labubus because so many fakes had hit the market because of this demand. And I've gotta say the Lafufu market is a whole other thing. Some people think it's good, it's a way for younger kids to have a cheaper version of Labubus they might want, but they might be, you know, no longer available unless you pay hundreds of dollars for a resale. But some of the Lafufu dupes are horrifying and look like someone skinned a Labubu and put it on a demon. But some of the Lafufu knockoffs actually look really good. The Lafufu bootleg market is its own market in itself. But going back to Labubu, the mania spread across Asia.
[00:14:01] Azhelle Wade: In Singapore, things got really intense at a POP MART showcase where police had to step in after a crowd rushed to buy a themed Labubu exclusive. Online, TikTok exploded with unboxing and display videos and bag charmed tutorials. Labubu became fashion's weirdest, cutest new accessory.
[00:14:21] Azhelle Wade: The moment did not stop. What started as one off the cuff Instagram story became a full-blown global frenzy, and by 2024 Labubu had taken over TikTok, posts featuring plushies clipped to luxury bags were everywhere from Manila to Manhattan.
[00:14:38] Azhelle Wade: Now as POP MART's International VP, Kevin Zhang summed up, "It started with Lisa, blew up in Thailand and then spread globally." And that's the magic of organic fandom. It made Labubu a viral icon before a single ad dollar was spent.
[00:14:55] Azhelle Wade: So now let's go into the marketing expansion of Labubu. While the popularity started with this viral moment, POP MART didn't just sit back and enjoy the ride, they jumped into a full blown marketing campaign and turn that internet buzz into a worldwide brand moment. So how they did it is what we wanna pay attention to. When Labubu started trending online, POP MART quickly made it the face of their global expansion.
[00:15:20] Azhelle Wade: ,So in summer of 2024, they launched special Labubu themed pop-up shops in key cities around the world. We're talking Barcelona, where fans crowded into the pop-up just to see what this fuzzy little forest elf was all about. And, with new permanent POP MART stores opening up in New York, London, Sydney, and who was front and center? Labubu.
[00:15:43] Azhelle Wade: In fact, grand openings, they offered exclusive Labubu giveaways for the first 100 fans in line. That resulted massive turnouts for these openings, media buzz, and major collector FOMO. So POP MART also took influencer marketing to the next level, right? But they kept it authentic. So instead of working with staged ads, they focused on user generated content that was created by people who were already in love with the brand.
[00:16:13] Azhelle Wade: So toy collectors, lifestyle vloggers, fashion bloggers, everyone joined in. While in China, content creators toured, Labubu themed popups like they were art exhibits. In the Philippines, popular stars like Marian Rivera and Vice Ganda were showing off their POP MART collections unprompted and POP MART leaned into it. They re-shared fan content. They reposted articles about Lisa from BLACKPINK's love of Labubu. They hosted contests asking fans to post their best Labubu displays in their home.
[00:16:48] Azhelle Wade: They just didn't stop. In one of their most brilliant moves, POP MART bridged the gap between toy collecting and fashion with the Labubu X PRONOUNCE collab, first revealed during Milan Fashion Week. It was these tiny, fast, fashion forward Labubus that came dressed in this denim mouse style suit with gold accents and it retailed for about $120.
[00:17:11] Azhelle Wade: It did sell out within minutes and then there was a second drop Wings of Fortune that hit shelves in Shanghai Fashion Week. Once again, with fans lining up outside of stores and with that POP MART didn't just tap into a new market, they really elevated Labubu from being a collectible to being couture.
[00:17:31] Azhelle Wade: It's crazy.
[00:17:32] Azhelle Wade: POP MART also kept the momentum going with a series of blind box drops, each one having a different pose, theme or vibe. One standout release they had in this time was Big Into Energy, a Labubu series in Spring 2025, which became the top selling collectible drop on Stock X. Yeah, I know you heard that right.
[00:17:51] Azhelle Wade: StockX is an online marketplace and clothing reseller primarily of sneakers, but apparently Labubu was there too. Pieces from that set hit resale prices of over $200 with fans still lining up to try to snag one at retail. It was a huge movement. Fans were lining up outside of POP MART stores before Sunrise.
[00:18:11] Azhelle Wade: People showed up with Labubu charms in their bags, excited to open up blind boxes.
[00:18:16] Azhelle Wade: And to trade finds with other fans in real time and across the world, the same story was unfolding. Fans weren't just buying the toy, they were becoming a part of the community. Another thing that we were seeing with Labubus is people were personalizing them, even adding tattoos, different glasses and accessories to make their Labubus uniquely them.
[00:18:37] Azhelle Wade: So it was a community where they all bonded over having the same thing, but then customize that thing to express their unique personality and the fact that it could do that, and the Labubus looked even cuter and more fun and more unique while expressing your personality, and then they could be attached to your bag and actually elevate your existing purse or backpack by being what they were since they were now connected to the Hermes and the Birkin from BLACKPINK Lisa's first post.
[00:19:08] Azhelle Wade: I mean, all of that combined is why this $30 plus became such a massive movement. By early 2025 Labubu wasn't just a trend, ugh, it was a fandom, a business blueprint. And one other addition that they had into TikTok, and you can search this, if you go on TikTok, you search Labubu. They created their own filter where you could unbox a Labubu through their filter.
[00:19:37] Azhelle Wade: So by creating that filter, they are using their current fans who do have Labubus to post and showcase this new filter to people who've never purchased a Labubu. And this filter's allowing someone who's never purchased a Labubu to experience the unboxing process. So the filter starts out with hands holding a Labubu box. It tells you to have a seat and to tap the filter to unbox your Labubu. So now they're pulling people in from all over TikTok they're using their existing community to give everyone the experience of unboxing a Labubu in hopes that it will make you want to go to the store and have the real world experience.
[00:20:20] Azhelle Wade: Now if you're building a toy brand right now, this story should be a reminder that you don't need a giant movie deal or licensing umpire to go global. But you do need to capitalize on any accidental coverage you might get if you get a celebrity sharing your product in a way that people start to notice it.
[00:20:40] Azhelle Wade: You need to make sure you have the infrastructure in place to expand on that. You need to drive the community, the creativity. Even further, do not just rest on, oh, that one celebrity liked it, that one time. You've got to blow that up to say, who can we get to like it and showcase it because that celebrity has liked it and showcased it and keep building on that momentum.
[00:21:04] Azhelle Wade: Now we can't talk about Labubu without talking about the power of these limited edition drops. We have gotta talk about something that really turned Labubu from a fun collectible into a must have obsession, and that is scarcity. POP MART did not invent the concept of limited edition drops. We've got sneaker culture already doing that, but they definitely mastered the art of applying it to plush and vinyl figures.
[00:21:28] Azhelle Wade: So back in 2019 , Labubu wasn't even that exclusive. The original Monster series was a blind box line made to reach as many people as possible. And yeah, there were rare cases and figures in the mix, but it wasn't a total limited edition brand yet. The full shift came once the fandom exploded, one of the big turning points was the Labubu and PRONOUNCE Be Fancy Now drop in March 2024.
[00:21:53] Azhelle Wade: It was a mini fashion moment, and as we know, like the toy industry fashions in and then out one season.
[00:21:59] Azhelle Wade: Because that piece sold out at $120 per unit in minutes, POP MART knew if people thought Labubu might sell out, they'd act and buy faster, and then they leaned all the way in on that. After that, it felt like every Labubu release had the energy of a high stakes drop.
[00:22:20] Azhelle Wade: POP MART started crafting exclusive miniseries with tight inventory like Labubu in Wonderland and even started offering city specific releases like the Merlion Labubu only sold in Singapore or the Peking Opera Labubu sold exclusively at an event in Beijing.
[00:22:38] Azhelle Wade: Every drop told a story about where you got it, why you got it. Everyone created a frenzy. It was very personal to the people that were interested in that creator or lived in that location. So fans would line up overnight, they would race to vending machines. Resellers would be flipping them hours later, sometimes right outside of the POP MART store.
[00:22:58] Azhelle Wade: It was crazy. Some of the plush hit $200 on the resale market. I saw that one earlier, as I said, for $600. By late 2024, POP MART was walking a very smart tightrope producing just enough Labubus to feed the global craze, but holding back just enough to keep the hype alive. And man, they nailed it. 2024 alone Labubu generated $4 million in revenue for POP MART. So what is the takeaway for you as a toy creator?
[00:23:27] Azhelle Wade: Well, it's that scarcity, storytelling and community can equal demand. Your toy doesn't have to be everywhere to be powerful. In fact, the magic might happen when it's just a little bit out of reach. So think about creating theme drops. Lean into exclusive.
[00:23:44] Azhelle Wade: Don't be afraid to say "limited quantities available." When done right, scarcity doesn't frustrate your fans. It can actually excite them. It can fuel the fun of getting your product. I worked with a client about a year ago who does just this in a really smart way. They have a core character line of three characters, and the core line has their characters in pretty everyday colors, like a Brown Bear, Pink Bunny, Yellow Lamb, and those are characters they have available at all times, but seasonally, they come out with those same characters in different colorways, but they get really creative with those colorways sometimes adding in different embroidery details. So, one year, their pink bunny rabbit turned into a red strawberry with little strawberry seeds all over her.
[00:24:34] Azhelle Wade: My favorite. She's so adorable. And they do things like that. They drop it for, springtime, they'll have like a blueberry version of one of their characters. For Halloween, they'll make them all black and shadowy. They really explore different drops for different seasons, and they honestly only order a limited edition of their characters. For those seasons and it's a really smart way to boost their brand every season. It's fun for the creator who actually gets to design something new seasonally 'cause he enjoys doing that.
[00:25:05] Azhelle Wade: And it's fun for the fans who have fallen in love with the core characters and now get to see them in different light. And every year, every season fans know that something new is coming for that brand.
[00:25:18] Azhelle Wade: So as you're launching your toy brand, think about if this strategy would fit for you. Can you have a core product line that seasonally drops unique styles or colors of your existing toy? Now this is a lot easier to do with plush, but if you are gonna like Labubu into great some aspects of plastic into your plush, make sure you're not changing the color of the plastic.
[00:25:43] Azhelle Wade: If you can keep the color of the plastic the same like Labubu does with her face, then you can keep your cost down. But if you have to spray a different paint op on the plastic, that will cost less than having to create a whole new mold. So changing the color of the plastic could be okay for your pricing, but honestly, given the tariff situation right now, I would keep the plastic part of my plush the same and change the plush part of it colorwise, embroidery rot wise, and try to get the innovation there.
[00:26:12] Azhelle Wade: Before we jump into the summary of today's episode, which is why this worked for Labubu, I wanna share a sweet review that I have on Apple Podcast, and then we will dive into our summary of today's episode. Now this user has a complex username, but it ends with V 3 4, 6 7. They shared, I've been in the toy industry for 10 years and I sell to big retailers. This podcast is so validating and helpful. Thank you so much. Appreciate your five star review. If you love this podcast and you haven't already left us a review, what are you waiting for?
[00:26:43] Azhelle Wade: Your reviews get sent to me via email whenever they come in and it puts a huge smile on my face and encourages me to work on another episode. So please, for the sake of this podcast, go leave a review. You also can support the show. Would love more people to become supporters of the show. You can do it for $3 a month.
[00:27:00] Azhelle Wade: It's nothing and it means so much to me as well. So go to thetoycoach.com/support if you're interested in doing that.
[00:27:07] Azhelle Wade: Now, before I let you go, let's break down why Labubu worked so well. Because while there was one lucky break early on, it could have very well fizzled out, but they knew what to do with it. Their rise was the result of thoughtful design, smart timing, and response to a marketing opportunity.
[00:27:25] Azhelle Wade: So first up, Labubu wasn't just about a toy. It created community. It gave their fans a place to belong. Fans didn't just wanna collect it. They wanted to identify with it, because when someone clipped a Labubu charm to their backpack or on their desk, it was saying, not only am I playful and creative. I'm a little high end. I'm like a Birkin. I'm like an Hermes bag. Also, over time became an opportunity for fans to personalize their Labubus with tattoos like themselves with glasses and hats to look more like the owners themselves. In uncertain times at a $30 price point, Labubu has the ability to offer a light, a joyful escape, a connection to others when we're feeling disconnected.
[00:28:10] Azhelle Wade: And POP MART didn't need flashy ads to sell that feeling, to sell that vision. They let fans lead the way by posting their own videos, and then they reshared the heck out of them. Now let's talk about their pricing strategy. If you go to POPMART.com and you search Labubu, first up, you're gonna notice that they're not just plush, right? So Labubu has come out with ceramic cups. They've come out with ceramic cups, counter displays.
[00:28:39] Azhelle Wade: They've come out with other key chains, vinyl figures, plush figures. They're really giving creators an opportunity to get into the brand at any stage. Now we have series that are available for $15.99, but the Labubu plush that you're gonna see all over, social media seems to be around the $39.99 range.
[00:28:59] Azhelle Wade: Then when you look at the collab versions like Labubu X PRONOUNCE, we can see some versions of it available on POP MART for $43, and then we can see the more premium version still, listed on POP MART, but out of stock at $119. They also have Labubu, ear muffs. They've got purses and they're really running the gamut on pricing, but really falling in between this $30 price point. Going up to like a $120 price point, mostly with a few items on their site listed at $289. Now granted everything that I'm looking at right now on the Labubu site is tagged as out of stock, but they don't remove it from their site, which is also an interesting strategy.
[00:29:43] Azhelle Wade: So you can see all of the Labubu pieces that you have missed out on. Now, what I would do as a marketer, looking at this page, if somebody was on the page, as long as I am scrolling through all of these out of stock Labubu pieces, I would have a popup come up and say, "Hey, wanna be notified when the next stock drops?"
[00:30:02] Azhelle Wade: Because clearly you're interested. but that's something they did really great, with their pricing strategy. There are entry price points lower, especially with their smaller blind boxes at $16.99. But they do definitely have the core line sitting around that 30 to $40 price range and then higher end going to a hundred and more.
[00:30:22] Azhelle Wade: Now let's talk about their collaborations. Labubu was really smart to collab with the different industries that creators were in who were loving their products. So, when they did do that user-generated content which I assume was inspired by the initial post, from Lisa of BLACKPINK.
[00:30:40] Azhelle Wade: They leaned into utilizing user-generated content from creators that already love the brand. What their team also did is they identified the different demographics of the creators who love their brand. So we said earlier there were creators that love Labubu to be a part of their fashion.
[00:30:58] Azhelle Wade: There were creators that just loved toys and were like kidults and just love Labubu to be part of their collections at home. Partnering with different brands like the PRONOUNCE fashion brand to create an exclusive Labubu was such a smart angle to target people that were more in the fashion scene.
[00:31:16] Azhelle Wade: To partner with creators from different regions, from like Thailand. to build further on the Lisa from BLACKPINKaccidental marketing opportunity was just brilliant. I wanna go back to this, like when you have one major celebrity that is pushing your product, you don't just wanna say, okay, like, I dunno.
[00:31:37] Azhelle Wade: Let's say we got Lisa from BLACKPINK. Oh great, let's go off and try to get Billie Eilish. They could have done that. But what was really smart was saying, okay, Lisa from BLACKPINK hits this region and hits this demographic to really create a craze. How can we continue to hit this demographic in different ways?
[00:31:55] Azhelle Wade: So going after other creators and expanding that Thailand audience, they were able to kind of niche down and build a craze within that niche. And then once they expanded. They had such a bigger following behind them to show people like, oh no, this is massive in Thailand. How do you not know about this?
[00:32:14] Azhelle Wade: Let's bring it on over to the UK, to the US and it just had such a bigger following to help push it in a new market. And finally I'd have to say what they did on social media with the integration of the filter was really smart. How do you get people who are just not into Labubu to experience the unboxing of a Labubu and creating a filter that does that is just genius.
[00:32:35] Azhelle Wade: Labubu became this wearable form of status and self-expression. And in a time where people don't know, like where they're going, like what their careers will be, they're feeling a little bit lost. This is really a toy that can make them feel safe.
[00:32:51] Azhelle Wade: So the conclusion of what we learned today, and honestly even what I'm taking away today is we really need to do some exercises, some marketing mental exercises to prepare us if we do get an opportunity where someone like Lisa from BLACKPINK talks about us or our brand and those marketing exercises would really just be to think, "Okay. I got Lisa from BLACKPINK talking about my brand instead of now looking for a celebrity that maybe has been my dream celebrity to work with for years, and seeing if I can use Lisa from BLACKPINK to connect with this other celebrity who might be in a different region and hit a different demographic.
[00:33:27] Azhelle Wade: Who is more connected, who is one or two degrees away from Lisa from BLACKPINK, that if I were to one partner with them, it would expand my how hard I'm hitting the demographic that Lisa's already hitting and expand into a slightly bigger demographic." Also when reaching out to that person, since they are closer in similarity to audience as Lisa from BLACKPINK, they might trust her, thoughts more and trust a brand that she trusts.
[00:33:56] Azhelle Wade: So there's a bit of an exercise there of thinking like, "Okay, tomorrow if this celebrity influencer or this creator were interested in my brand, or promoted or shared my brand. How would I build on that? Who would I reach out to? What would I say to them? And if they said yes, you know, what would be the next step?"
[00:34:13] Azhelle Wade: I think that would be a great exercise, that when these things do happen to us, that we are ready for it.
[00:34:19] Azhelle Wade: At the end of the day, POP MART built their ecosystem. They had a platform, they had a way to promote their products, but the fans are really what stood behind Labubu and built out the heart. And there really was this dichotomy and this connection of, you know, creating wearable luxury, making a product that then got connected with luxury in such a way that even though the product itself was a lower price point, it could make someone feel or assign themselves with something as high end as a Birkin.
[00:34:51] Azhelle Wade: I really hope that today's episode gave you a Clear understanding of the Labubu trend, how it happened, where it came from, and a fresh perspective on what might be possible for your brand. Labubu showed us that even the strangest looking toy can become a global favorite when things align just right and you're ready to take on any marketing accidents that might happen.
[00:35:13] Azhelle Wade: So I want you to take what you've heard today, start applying it to your own toy journey, and remember that one small move can lead to something big, but you've gotta keep that momentum driving. As always, toy people, thank you so much for spending the time with me today. I know your time is valuable and that there are a ton of podcasts out there, so it truly means the world to me that you tune into this one.
[00:35:34] Azhelle Wade: Until next week, I'll see you later, toy people.
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