Bubble Mart Labubu sells at sky high prices! Is emotional consumption a business opportunity for Indian companies?
With a loud bang, the world's only mint colored Labubu sold for a sky high price of 1.08 million yuan and topped the hot search list. Recently, Labubu has become popular and sparked a new wave of blind box craze. Behind the blind box is a huge industrial system, but in the entire industry chain, printing and packaging are often the most overlooked but very important link.
Behind the blind box craze, who is digging for gold?
As the creator of Labubu, Pop Mart is the core player of this trendy culture.
Bubble Mart was founded in 2010 and is a leading trend culture and entertainment company in China. According to the financial report, Pop Mart achieved a revenue of 13.04 billion yuan in 2024, a year-on-year increase of 106.9%; Net profit was 3.4 billion yuan, an increase of nearly 185.9%.
Bubble Mart 2024 Annual Performance Summary
Behind this explosive growth is a huge outsourcing production chain - from IP incubation, mold injection molding, spray painting, to printing and packaging, every link is crucial.
Bubble Mart has distributed its blind box production chain in Dongguan, Guangzhou, Suzhou, Shenzhen and other places. As a leader in China's fashion game, Bubble Mart is very strict in the selection of outsourcing enterprises. Shenzhen Yutong Packaging Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Yutong Technology) has emerged from a group of printing and packaging enterprises with its exclusive technology, becoming the main supplier of Bubble Mart outer packaging and the "invisible participant" behind this blind box craze.
So, what exactly did Yutong Technology do right?
To stand out in the blind box craze, having IP alone is not enough. Whoever can package their emotions well will win the hearts of young people.
Yutong Technology not only makes boxes into exquisite collectibles, but also endows them with multiple emotional values such as experience, companionship, and ceremony.
The targeted and personalized packaging design research and development path is the core competitiveness of Yutong Technology in the rapid development of packaging business in the trendy IP retail market. "Ding Zhiyong, Senior Design Director of Yutong Technology, stated in an interview.
Nowadays, IP trendy toys, blind boxes, and gift box dolls are no longer just "toys" themselves, but a whole set of carefully designed experiences. From the surprise at the moment of opening the box to the exquisite combination of visual and tactile senses, packaging is no longer just a simple transport shell - it is a part of trendy toys.
In the eyes of young consumers, boxes have become a part of collecting. Many players will display the outer box side by side with their dolls on the display rack, and some players even specialize in collecting "empty boxes" from different series.
Bubble Mart product packaging
To this end, Yutong Technology continues to optimize processes and upgrade experiences, creating a series of "touchable emotions" that combine beauty and functionality:
3D relief technology: using laser engraving and software algorithms, presenting various effects such as relief, lens, 3D, gloss, etc., as if the trendy IP is "jumping on paper".
UV printing technology: endows packaging with full and bright colors and luster, while also possessing certain anti-counterfeiting properties, combining aesthetics and practicality.
Reverse oil design: By using a special refractive effect and a combination of light and matte design, the visual experience and feel of the packaging are enhanced.
Touch oil and film coating technology: presenting a delicate texture like velvet and soft leather on the packaging surface, enhancing the sense of ceremony of "holding in the hand".
With the booming sales and high price auctions of popular IPs such as Labubu, the problem of counterfeit products in the market is becoming increasingly severe. Regarding this, Ding Zhiyong mentioned that high-end anti-counterfeiting technology is one of Yutong Technology's core competitiveness, including texture design, anti-counterfeiting printing, etc., building a "trust moat" for genuine products.
Through the deep combination of creative design and high-precision craftsmanship, Yutong Technology has turned seemingly ordinary packaging boxes into a part of trendy culture - an extension of aesthetics, a carrier of emotions, and a "physical proof" of consumer trust in the product.
Beyond trendy entertainment, emotional consumption drives a larger market
At present, the packaging business of trendy toys accounts for a relatively low proportion of the company's overall business, but its development is extremely rapid, "Ding Zhiyong said in an interview.
Although Yutong Technology has been deeply involved in the packaging of Pop Mart's trendy toys, this business is only one of its many segments, far from the entire center.
We continue to make efforts in packaging structure, graphic design, printing technology and other aspects, and innovative solutions emerge endlessly, "Ding Zhiyong said." Advanced printing technology and intelligent production technology will be widely applied in trendy packaging, and through the integration of special structures and special processes, the technological content of packaging will gradually be improved
This capability system is also being rapidly replicated in other fields. In fields such as consumer electronics, video, cosmetics, etc., more and more brands are seeking to actively cooperate with popular IPs to create high value-added packaging products such as co branded products, commemorative editions, and holiday limited editions.
Our design team is working hard on the research and development of co branded packaging for a well-known mobile phone brand and popular games, "revealed Ding Zhiyong.
With the increasing popularity of Chinese IP games in overseas markets, the demand for them continues to rise. Yutong Technology's global layout is also accelerating, providing strong support for the internationalization process of trendy gaming products.
At present, there are production and manufacturing factories in Vietnam, India, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Mexico and other places, as well as offices or design and research teams in the United States, Singapore, Australia, Europe and other places, forming a relatively mature overseas localized operation network.
In the future, we will continue to promote overseas expansion, strengthen dimensions such as design, creativity, craftsmanship, and efficiency, "said Ding Zhiyong." At the same time, we will increase research and development investment in environmentally friendly materials and printing technology, promote intelligent production and service upgrades, and further improve production efficiency and customer satisfaction
New Opportunities for Indian Enterprises: Transitioning from "Contract Manufacturing" to "Creative Chain"
The combination of Pop Mart and Yutong Technology is like a collaboration of "emotional value" and "physical presentation". The Labubu, which was sold for 1.08 million yuan, is not only a doll, but also a complete set of "consumption rituals", and Yutong Technology played an irreplaceable role in this ceremony.
Looking back at the entire industry from Labubu's sky high auction, trendy gaming is not the end, but a beginning. As a leading packaging enterprise, Yutong Technology actively breaks away from the traditional framework and transforms from a "packaging worker" to an "emotional supplier". Not only does it keep up with the market trends of "new economy," "new consumption," and "new formats," but it also promotes multidimensional upgrades in design, craftsmanship, materials, and other aspects, breaking the traditional role setting of printing enterprises that only focus on printing.
We encourage designers to have diverse thinking and actively learn the latest skills in various fields such as IP culture and AI technology. "Ding Zhiyong stated. At the same time, Yutong Technology continues to strengthen the collaborative cooperation between upstream and downstream, working together with IP companies, brand owners, and retailers to create a high value-added industrial ecosystem.
For many traditional packaging companies that are still struggling with price competition and struggling to cope with orders, emotional consumption products are just a signal, conveying the trend of packaging transforming from an "accessory" to a "core value" carrier, and also a transition from functionality to experience.
In the new wave of consumption such as emotional value, IP linkage, cultural and creative products, and sustainable materials, printing and packaging enterprises have ushered in a new positioning opportunity - from the "behind the scenes" of the manufacturing process to the "front stage" of brand value.
Instead of waiting for customers to make requests, companies should proactively think: What can I do more for the brand? Can we transform from a contract manufacturer to a link in the creative chain? Can the product be upgraded from a cost burden to an 'emotional value'? Printing enterprises should not only act as supporting role, but take the initiative to "grab the camera".