Gifts / Sports & Toys

In recent years, with the expansion of the industry, the entry of major factories, and the continuous updating of gameplay, the vertical track of the trendy play has become the hottest investment outlet in the following creative industry.

According to the "Development Status and Market Research Analysis Report of China's Trendy Play Industry in the First Quarter of 2021" released by iiMedia Consulting, the size of China's Trendy Play market in 2020 is close to 30 billion yuan, and it is expected that the size of China's Trendy Play market will increase to 384.3 in 2021 100 million yuan. All kinds of fashionable products have shown huge consumption momentum in China and even the global market.

With the ever-increasing market size, many trendy play brands such as TOP TOY and Yongwanchao have emerged, and the market prospects are generally optimistic. However, how to tap and train more Chinese fashion designers to create an influential Chinese IP in the fashion market remains to be solved.

Little Chicken YOYO-Drunken Concubine Figure

"Princess Feifei Fairy Tales" Blind Box

The market size is expected to climb to more than 38 billion yuan this year

Trend toys originated in Japan at the end of the 20th century and were created by independent designers and artists. They are also called art toys or designer toys. The carriers include blind boxes, building blocks, figures, assembled models, statues, etc.

Nowadays, Chaowan stores and blind box retail machines have long become "standard equipment" in offline shopping malls. And online, fashionable products are very popular among young people. According to data from JD.com, toys including "blind box toys", figurines, static models, card games, etc., sold hot during the 618 period this year. Among them, consumers aged 25 and below increased by 280%. Among them, students, white-collar workers and financial practitioners are the most popular shoppers.

Taobao anchor Li Jiaqi’s cute pet healing IP Naiwa family also debuted during the 618 period and pioneered a limited-time sale in the live broadcast room. The total transaction volume of IP products exceeded 30 million yuan, and the single store transaction exceeded 6 million yuan. The single-day outbreak coefficient was 4895%. The best in the industry.

The new consumption trend driven by the trendy play has already taken shape, attracting many consumers to chase and buy. According to the "Development Status and Market Research Analysis Report of China's Trendy Play Industry in the First Quarter of 2021", the scale of China's Trendy Play market will continue to rise to 38.43 billion yuan in 2021. In addition, the proportion of China's trendy play industry in the world has also increased from 11.18% in 2017 to 19.17% in 2020, and it is expected to gradually develop into one of the core markets for global trendy play consumption.

Creating China's original IP has become mainstream

With the development of the concept of "chaowan", creating a chaowan IP with Chinese cultural elements has become the mainstream of the market.

In June of this year, Guangdong Yongsheng Animation Co., Ltd. announced the creation of the trendy brand "Yongwanchao", and jointly launched the "Princess Feifei Fairy Tales" series of blind boxes with Youqi Culture Communication Co., Ltd.

"Princess Feifei" is a female character in the classic IP "Pig Man" of Yongsheng. In 2019, Yongsheng hatched the upgraded image of "Princess Feifei" and created the independent brand of "Fifei Style". The style is in line with the characteristics of contemporary women who love beauty and pursue exquisite life. Talking about the linkage and cooperation between Guoman IP and Chaowan, Chen Xiao, the vice president of Yongsheng Animation, said that Chaowan with IP content can better impress fans. In the future, Yongsheng will also develop other original IPs, such as "National Comic Trilogy"-"Lion Learning Lion", "Awakening" and "Falling Dust" recently screened at Station B. At present, there are already development ideas for trendy play. Product plan.

Sun Yuanwen, founder and CEO of the TOP TOY brand, told reporters that on May 28 this year, TOP TOY announced the launch of the "Tide Play Partner Program", which will cooperate with Tide Play partners in all aspects of the industry's upstream and downstream. In the future, we will focus on creating a "new national tide" with in-depth connotation, and injecting Chinese local original power into Chaowan.

TOP TOY officially unveiled in Guangzhou Grandview Plaza in December 2020. The product line covers blind boxes, building blocks, figures, assembled Gundam, doll models, trendy toys, statues, alloy cars, and the "X category" to be developed in the future. In building a global trend culture collection brand. On June 1st of this year, TOP TOY Shanghai Global Harbor’s daily turnover of the Dream Factory Store exceeded 1 million yuan. This is the first time since TOP TOY was established more than half a year ago that its single-store single-day turnover exceeded one million, which not only broke the record of the trendy play industry. , And also broke the record of all domestic monopoly retail brands.

Currently, TOP TOY has its own team of original designers and cooperates with more than 100 domestic studios. Relying on a strong original team, TOP TOY integrates excellent Chinese traditional culture with trendy culture, making traditional culture "tide" and "cool". For example, the original IP little chicken YOYO-Drunk Concubine Figure uses the elements of Mr. Mei Lanfang's "Drunken Concubine", hoping to pay tribute to the classics while spreading traditional culture. Juanjuan-Ajuan is a shy baby sheep who runs a wide-flavored refreshment shop and spreads Cantonese food culture with a witty image.

Design practitioners usher in huge opportunities

With the expansion of the market, the gap in demand for professional design talents in the tide play market is also increasing.

Sun Yuanwen has always spared no effort to find original designers. Currently, TOP TOY has dozens of original designers. Sun Yuanwen said that this year, TOP TOY has participated in graduate exhibitions of top domestic art universities to find design talents, and will also hold a national tide original competition to help young designers realize their ideas.

When it comes to the balance between art and commerce, Sun Yuanwen said frankly that he would respect the personality of the designer. In his view, TOP TOY focuses on all ages and is more tolerant of products. "It doesn't matter if the designer is relatively small. It is our original intention to help designers realize their ideas and propositions. At the same time, we also have a series of products. Ways to ensure that the benefits of the product are not damaged, such as pre-sale at the exhibition, and then production."

"This is an opportunity for local designers." Youqi, who has gone through the entire industry chain, began to transform the blind box market in 2018. Fang Nanhai, head of Youqi Cultural Brand, believes that in the context of consumption upgrades, people's enthusiasm for spiritual consumption is getting higher and higher, and the cultural industry will also grow stronger.

Guangzhou is the capital of animation and has a profound cultural heritage. It is also adjacent to Hong Kong and Macau and was earlier influenced by the trendy play culture. Relying on the advantages of manufacturing in Guangdong, seizing the opportunity of the trendy play market, coupled with the relatively low entry barriers for the trendy play designer industry, this is a huge opportunity for many design practitioners and young people.

As one of the origins of domestic trendy toys, Hong Kong leads the country in the cultivation and reserve of trendy designer talents. Speaking of advice to young people in this industry? Chen Runfu, a Hong Kong designer and deputy general manager of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center, believes that more IPs with personal characteristics related to their own lives should be made. In his view, China's trendy games must have an international perspective if they want to go global, which also tests the Chinese trendy games designer's ability to blend and reconcile Chinese and Western cultures.

Industry weather vane

The idea of reverse development may appear

Affected by the surprise economy and social and emotional demand, the popularity of China's trendy games has continued to rise, and it is expected that the scale of China's trendy games market will continue to expand. This big market, which has exceeded 30 billion yuan, is bound to have more new moves in the future.

In interviews, many people in the industry have mentioned that the rapid increase in market size is bound to push back product content upgrades.

In Chen Xiao's view, the future trendy play and animation IP market may have reverse development ideas. For example, Yongsheng Animation is currently thinking about whether it can first produce the image IP and then give it the story content, such as creating animation and movie works for it, so that the entire IP has more affinity and vitality, and the image is more vivid.

In this regard, Sun Yuanwen holds the same view, "How Chinese IP creates better value, the key lies in whether the story can be spread to many consumers. The reason why Marvel is powerful is that there are stories, and Iron Man is not just a piece of equipment."

Fang Nanhai believes that trendy play is a new direction for companies to build IP, a good way to help brands rejuvenate and increase exposure, and it is easier to achieve landing than film and animation. However, it is worth noting that if you only regard the trendy play as a marketing method, when the craze fades, it will inevitably be hit by the market. But the classic IP will not. It will continue to be passed on with the brand's innovation and iteration. How to truly cultivate IP with lasting vitality is a common question that every trendy brand needs to answer.