Same as when Pandora opened the magic box，The popularity of 188bet boxes，From people’s curiosity。

Based on the "Consumption Illustrated Guide for Young People Living Alone"，188bet consumers are mainly young people，“Company”It is the spiritual necessity in their lives，In the context of the popularity of empty-nest youth，Blind boxes can bring a sense of companionship and relief，This is also what Wang Ning often talks about“That little sense of luck and satisfaction”。

Psychological research shows，Uncertain stimuli will strengthen repeated decision-making，Lucky bag introduced from Japan in the last century、Gachapon，To the early boom in the domestic dry noodle market，188bet gameplay has always existed。Until 2015，Bubble Mart transformed into a trendy toy，Pass“IP+188bet”How to play，Push this business to its peak:

2017-2019，Bubble Mart revenue from 1.5.8 billion yuan skyrocketed to 16.8.3 billion yuan，Net profit increased nearly 300 times，When listed in Hong Kong in 2020，Bubble Mart’s market value once exceeded 100 billion，Facing doubts about 188bet boxes from the outside world，Founder Wang Ning doesn’t seem to care，“Henry·Bergson said，Those who cannot hear music，Thought the dancer was crazy。”

However, 188bet’s highlight moment did not last long.

Market value of more than HK billion，It has been cut in half compared to when it was first launched，“188bet enthusiasts applaud，Investors can’t understand”It has become the current situation of Bubble Mart。January this year，KFC and Bubble Mart jointly launch a 188bet set meal，Sold out even though it was on the shelves，However, the irrational consumption and waste of resources induced have been criticized by society and officials，Recently, Bubble Mart has also suspended its customized 188bet business。

After the music ends，How many people are still dancing？This is a problem left to Wang Ning in the secondary market。According to "Southern Metropolis Daily" report，“Many people have given up on Bubble Mart，Re-labeling of box machine Thunder model、Secondary sales, etc.，What most bubble fans like is not the Bubble Mart Company，But a good IP。”With the ebb of 188bet economy、Tighter supervision，Pop Mart is accelerating“De-blind boxing”，Explore the non-188bet market。

stimulation—pleasure—addiction

Bubble Mart founded in 2010，The main business at the beginning included self-developed products and 188bet boxes of domestic and foreign trendy brands、2D peripherals、BJD doll、IP derivatives and other fine groceries。But it took five years，As a terminal channel and platform for selling cultural and creative products，Pop Mart’s performance has not improved much。

Until 2015，188bet introduces a toy doll called SonnyAngel: this figure is about 8 cm tall，There are hundreds of styles，Sales reach tens of thousands per month，Many limited editions are sold out upon arrival，There are even long queues in stores，This brings new ideas to Wang Ning，In the same year, 188bet transformed: from a retail company，Change to include upstream IP design、Midstream retail、A platform enterprise integrating downstream second-hand trading and baby modification。

Photo source: Weibo @Sonny Angel_Official

Different from Kaws、Bearbrick、Takashi Murakami、Nara Yoshitomo and other high-priced affordable luxury routes，Most of 188bet’s products are priced at tens of dollars，Intended to lower the experience threshold of the trendy play category，This also puts 188bet on the fast track:

From Wang Xinming, the designer who signed Molly，To cooperate with popular IPs such as Pucky，The designer licenses the IP to Bubble Mart，The latter is produced in an assembly line and sold as 188bet products。In the process of consumption，188bet has produced another group of consumers，They became loyal fans of Bubble Mart。From a marketing logic perspective，IP creation and community marketing are the two magic weapons of Bubble Mart。

Everyone knows，The 188bet is based on collection，But it doesn’t have much story to support it，As for 188bet consumption behavior，No more than three dimensions，First, the pleasure of unboxing，The second is to collect a complete set of obsessive-compulsive disorder，The third is the illusion of corporate control，Considers blind boxes are a key component of fan culture。

But as a commodity，The most attractive thing about blind boxes is their appearance，For example, the prototype of Molly is a pouting person、Confident and arrogant little girl，Bubble Mart also highlights the pouty feature in the 188bet design，This is essentially a form of pop art，(Note: British painter Richard·Hamilton summarizes Pop Art as popular、Temporary、Mass-produced、Young、Exciting、Charming and corporate-like artwork)，For young consumer groups，They may not be able to support art appreciation in all aspects，Bubble Mart is a good entry-level product。

“If you buy a 188bet, you don’t know what’s inside，You don’t know what you will get，It’s more mysterious，There is a kind of excitement and curiosity。”A serious fan told Xinmu，The unknown and mysterious nature of the 188bet is the biggest attraction，Different types of blind boxes have different collection and artistic values，and，Young consumers can deepen existing offline social relationships through blind boxes，You can also expand your social circle。

Side B of the 188bet

Throughout the development trajectory of 188bet, controversy has never ceased.

First，188bet boxes belong to the subculture circle of young people，Unable to be understood by outsiders，Pop Mart’s profit logic also makes many investors say they don’t understand the story，Even before 2018，Trendy toy markets such as 188bet boxes have hardly received support from large-scale financing，This situation continued until Bubble Mart was launched。

Secondly，It is generally believed，The competitiveness of the 188bet comes from the gambling effect of the sense of unknown and surprise。Wang Ning adds hidden styles to regular styles，Due to artificial scarcity，The high premium brought by 188bet speculation，It suddenly became the secret to getting rich，Attracting countless consumers to become its loyal fans，The 188bet has also been labeled as a hype、Gambling tag。

I bought the 188bet from the beginning because of curiosity，I want to buy a rare model，People invest money and energy to get the hidden 188bet，This is the same as“Sunk cost”、“Lucky mentality”、“Herd mentality”There is a certain relationship，In this way，Addiction is inevitable，Just like when we were kids and we played collectible cards，will be because of getting a certain card，Buy a box of crispy noodles，As one fan said，“In order to get the hidden money, I inadvertently finished the whole box，I bought many unplanned blind boxes but still haven’t bought the blown-out hidden model。”

The pursuit of the unknown of blind boxes，Similar to “Skinner Box”'s psychological experiment，A white rat that experienced a probabilistic reward experiment，Even if food does not drop，Also keeps pressing buttons，188bet consumption is different but the same purpose。Although Wang Ning has publicly stated，“Pop Mart will become the most Disney-like company in China”，But looking at the way IP is operated，Pop Mart and Disney can be said to be very different。

Whether it’s Mickey Mouse、Donald Duck、Disney Princess，Still an outsourced "Star Wars"，Disney’s IP features are based on rich story content to create a rich IP image，And then attract purchases through peripheral products。Looking back at 188bet，Its IP path is more like pure commercialization，In Wang Ning’s opinion，“There are stories that can give birth to some good IPs，If there is no story, IP cannot be born”，Fragmentation time，More content lies in brainstorming，“Molly has no content，It empties its own soul，You can put your soul in it。”

It’s worth pondering，Among the early 188bet’s own IPs, the most popular one was Molly，High sales have allowed 188bet to turn a profit several times，But as Molly was overtaken by Dimmo and Skullpanda，Molly’s revenue share increased from 41 in 2018.6% down to 11 in H1 2021.5%，Although Dimoo has gradually become the largest IP，But it did not become the second popular Molly，This also reflects the short life cycle of 188bet IP。

Photo source: Weibo @POPMART 188bet

Trend culture iterates too fast，Pop Mart’s core IP life cycle aging is accelerated，The 188bet exposes the Achilles heel of poor story content。At the press conference in March last year，Wang Ning once proposed the layout direction of trendy paradise，Compared to Disneyland、Fantawild Paradise、Universal Studios，The amusement facilities are mostly the same，Even without considering the huge operating expenses，Lack of story as soul，Will Bubble Mart Park be footed by consumers?，Also a problem。

To some extent，188bet is not a real business，More like a way to play。

For example“Forbidden City Taobao”Introduced“Palace Baby”Theme 188bet、Wangzai Cowboy’s 56 Ethnic Blind Boxes、Morning Stationery’s One Piece series 188bet、Brand beauty 188bet、Fresh 188bet、Daily necessities blind boxes, etc.，“188bet+”Marketing models have blossomed everywhere，Favored by different brands from all walks of life，It is even said that everything can be blind boxed。

One waxes and wanes, the other waxes and wanes，Bubble Mart, which became famous through 188bet boxes，But turned to devote himself to“De-188bet boxing”。

At last year’s results conference，Wang Ning emphasized，“Pop Mart is not a 188bet company，It is an IP-based trendy toy company”，The interesting thing is，Pop Mart has publicly refused to be called a domestic "domestic" more than once.;The first share of 188bet”，In last year’s financial report, the income from blind boxes was completely hidden。

Using IP for co-branding is regarded by Bubble Mart as an antidote to get rid of 188bet boxes，Because Bubble Mart targets young female consumers，So from Holiland、Moncler，To Fresh、Kiehl’s、IPSA，Sephora、Little Odin and Orange Duo，Pop Mart’s joint brand layout spans food、Fashion，Mainly focused on the beauty industry。But in the eyes of consumers，The above product types pay more attention to quality，As for the packaging design, it is relatively minor，So the Bubble Mart collaboration didn’t cause any big waves。

Picture source: Weibo @好利来

Bubble Mart launches the MEGA collection series of high-end oversized figures to the market，Including 400% (28cm) and 1000% (70cm) two sizes“Daba”。But Dawa and other products are expensive，On the one hand, it reduces the gross profit margin，On the other hand, the 188bet products originally promoted to the public have been promoted to high-end niche，People have also lost the sense of surprise when opening blind boxes，Even though Bubble Mart said it would build MEGA as a key IP，But the market response was not enthusiastic。

Add Aofei Entertainment、52TOYS、&ldquo under Miniso;TOPTOY”，and Dreams、MedicomToy、Twelve Buildings Culture、Shared by a large number of domestic and overseas competitors such as Kule Chaowan，Fierce external competition、Single profit model、IP and business risk，Not just Bubble Mart，This is also an industry challenge faced by 188bet brands。

Can’t get rid of Bubble Mart“188bet“’s hat，Because in the eyes of consumers and investors，It has already been equated with the 188bet。Wang Ning changed his mind“Molly has no soul”’s remarks，Trying to give these dolls a vivid meaning of life，However, a short 24-second video animation is not enough to fill the increasingly empty body of the 188bet。

Start from 188bet，Finally IP，For the Bubble Marts，This road is not easy。