Joey Khong, Trends Manager for the Mintel SEA region, discusses the appeal of PopMart's Labubu, describing it as a cute and playful collectible that resonates with people who want to stand out as unconventional.
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00:00I spoke to Joey Kong, Mintel's Trends Manager for the Southeast Asia region.
00:05I asked him what makes Potmart's Libubu so appealing.
00:10Well, I think the simple answer is that it's cute.
00:15And, you know, I think what I mean by that is that it's cute in a societally agreed way today.
00:24It signals many things. It signals participation.
00:30In this hyper online information sphere, it's a toy.
00:38It's a collectible that is easy for many people to project themselves onto and relate to.
00:46It's playful. It's mischievous. It's funny. It's kind.
00:52And yeah, I think that is something that makes it really resonate with people who want to stand up.
01:00It's being, you know, different, unconventional, a bit weird, a bit odd.
01:05So is it almost speaking for a zeitgeist of where we are in popular culture today?
01:11Definitely. Yeah, it is.
01:14And, you know, there's so many different factors that we can try to intellectualize of it.
01:20Yeah, there's that influence, influencer culture, that online, hyper online aesthetic.
01:27There is, you know, celebrities holding on to them as prized possessions and as part of their image that, you know, balances that premium identity with that down-to-earth regular person.
01:44I'm still in the know and part of the culture statement, you know, when you see celebrities paying a lot of boo-boo on their designer handbag.
01:56Is it aimed at children or adults primarily?
01:59That's an interesting question.
02:04And I don't think it's aimed particularly at children.
02:10If you look at the people who are buying and purchasing love boo-boos, I'd say they are more often than not young adults and adults.
02:21You know, people even in their 30s and 40s are really excited and crazy about their boo-boos.
02:28Do you think scarcity and that sense of it's hard to get to drives the craze?
02:34And scarcity, whether it's just by nature of supply and demand or actually perhaps a little bit part of the strategy?
02:42Well, that's a good question.
02:45I definitely think it is part of the reason why it's so popular.
02:51But I think the bigger reason for its global popularity is that it feels so organic, its popularity.
03:02It feels so authentic as well.
03:04You know, when Lisa from Blackpink was first showed up with it, suddenly over a year ago,
03:12I think that's when it really took off as a global sensation.
03:17And the whole narrative around it and how it was framed, it wasn't like,
03:20it didn't seem like Lisa was sending this huge PR box by Paul Mart to feature it.
03:26But the way she talked about it, it's like she goes to the store.
03:29She was influenced by her friends.
03:31You know, she spends all her money on it.
03:34And, you know, I think that organicness travels to how content creators are displaying it today as well.
03:43You know, as they open these blind boxes and, and the excitement and joy that comes onto their faces
03:51when they get the one that they want, all these things feel really organic.