In order to make users addicted, which routines are used by trendy toys?
Editor’s note: This article comes from “Everyone is a product manager” (Public ID: woshipm) , author: ARK, public number: ARK innovation consulting, original title: “ In order to allow users to addiction, the trend toys with which routine? “.
Recently, it has been shrouded in a mysterious force. This mysterious force not only guides everyone to pull the WeChat group, but even the express brother can’t help but ask: what is this box that is available every day?
Deng Dengdeng wait! The answer is a trendy toy blind box! Every day, I decided to buy gold and buy happiness. I decided to be rational for a moment and analyze how we were trapped by him.
This year, the Beijing International Trend Toy Fair has set off another gust, with limited edition toys and designers signing sales … This is a prosperous era of the trendy toy circle, accompanied by a three-day exhibition with nearly 100,000 people, and buying limited-line news overnight. The organizer, Bubble Matt, is no longer a popular brand in the niche circle, and trendy toys have gradually entered the mainstream and become a fast-growing industry.
A report released by consulting firm NPD Group shows that in 2018, collectible toy categories such as artist toys in 13 countries increased by 26%, accounting for 11% of the overall sales of the toy industry … Has been a leader in the growth of the toy industry. The market share of global collectibles increased by 14% to $ 3.9 billion. Collectible sales account for 8% of the entire toy industry. (1)
Beijing Trendy Toy Show queues for “Grand Prix” Pictures from the Internet
Trendy toys are different from ordinary cartoon toys. It is not an IP that extends from anime, but only by art.Artists and designers incorporate personal artistic styles in the creative process, capturing the image of fans with shapes. In addition to collecting toys, fans of trendy toys will also trade things and even re-create, thus forming a fixed social circle-“Baby Circle”.
The fragmented happiness brought by small toys
The main group of “Baby Circle” is not children, but post-90s and post-00s, and may also be older “big children” (2). This group is curious about novelty; they have a “self-conscious” view of consumption and aesthetic power; they are never too eager to consume things they like, and attach great importance to the timeliness of self-satisfaction. At the same time, due to the squeeze of personal life during working hours, the pressure in all aspects has increased, their fragmented time is reduced, and their sense of well-being is low, and inexpensive toys can just bring happiness and satisfaction.
The entry price of small toys is usually in the range of tens of yuan, and it is launched according to the series. For buyers, they not only buy the doll itself, but also the expectations when buying a new series. They are blindly shaken. Tension and excitement are surprises or disappointments at the moment of unpacking, and also the satisfaction when collecting the entire collection. Just like buying lipsticks, cups and brushes, buying toys is also an outlet for psychological needs.
In addition, dolls usually do not have a story background, do not output a fixed personality and personality, and each person will have his own space for introduction and imagination. The emotional connections established with consumers have largely exceeded The product itself.
Pick my tickle!
From the design of product development and sales methods, trendy toys have also fully stimulated the “itch points” of consumers.
In terms of product research and development, each image will launch new series in different seasons or fixed festivals, constantly giving consumers a sense of freshness. This process allows consumers to generate collection habits and desires, which all form so-called stickiness.
Take BE @ RBRICK as an example: In addition to basic (BASIC), transparent (JELLYBEAN), pattern (PATTERN), flag (FLAG), Horror (CUTE), animal In addition to ANIMAL, there are also separate artist models (ARTIST). These special styles in cooperation with well-known artists are few in number, only 2 per generation.
The 37th series of BE @ RBRICK Picture from BE @ RBRICK 官 网
Sales have also broken the traditional approach. The setting of the blind box is like a ring game at a night market, a character card in a simple noodle, a toy capsule machine in a station and a shopping mall. Its charm is to stimulate people’s curiosity and dissatisfaction, although it is uncertain. Sexuality, randomness, and chance, but you can gain money by spending money without feeling lost. Different styles can also bring continuous happiness.
For advanced players, each series of 氪 Jinjiqi is only a low-profile version operation, and the acquisition of hidden models is also a regular operation. It is a queue to buy limited editions at the trendy toy exhibition, and the collection of rare styles is ” Life is complete. ” This kind of joint name and limited play is also an important means to get out of the circle.
KAWS COMPANION, who is busy with various cross-borders, went from Uniqlo, Nike to Dior. Various cross-border co-brands conveyed a continuous stream of supporters, successfully represented the trendy toys, and finally got art. Industry recognition.
Extend brand vitality with experiential consumption
If you think that Bubble Mart can become a popular trendy play brand just through small boxes and joint names, it may be too naive. Countless brands and product descriptions that have been insanely sought after and quickly fell to the bottom of the valley, just blindly stimulate consumers through marketing methods, but cannot extend the vitality of the brand, and will eventually go silent.
So what did Bubble Mart do right?
From the perspective of retail service and experience, it finds people’s needs in each scenario and defines how to use products and services to meet the needs in different scenarios. It breaks the line between online and offline, reaching more scenes, precipitating user trajectories with experiential consumption, and continuing consumer sentiment.
Bubblemart consumer journey
Multi-channel and low cost entry barriers
First of all, Bubble Matt usually opens stores or smart containers with huge toy “signboards” in shopping malls. It’s easy to take a look when passing by.
Second, brands will communicateThe official public account and APP regularly organize theme events to attract fans of toy designers, senior “baby friends” and ordinary consumers to spontaneously create community topics to spread. Through photos of travelling with dolls and stories about dolls on social platforms, they have continued to reach consumers outside the circle of dolls.
Consumers are overwhelmed and they will only choose what they see. Bubble Matt appears in a conspicuous manner in places that are routinely seen in the circle of friends, shopping malls around the home, etc., allowing the product to “just right” enter the consumer’s sight.
Smart containers in shopping malls
In addition, the 29 yuan badge and the 59 yuan doll are not expensive figures that consumers cannot afford. When you see a friend ’s sharing, whether it ’s being “bewildered” by the doll ’s cuteness or the role of early adopters, you may soon want to “simply play with it”.
Once you start buying, if you do n’t get the toy you want or the hidden one you want, it’s time to “draw another one.” And the person who got “good heart” at one time may also think that he is the “people favored by God” because of the delusion or inflated psychology, and continue to pump.
If you accidentally open the online applet because you received a guess box link shared by a friend, it will be easier to stop it! Kahneman, a professor of economics, once said that in most cases that can be calculated, people estimate the value of what is lost is twice that of the same thing. Although the postage setting of 8 yuan is not high, the mechanism of full three packages exactly hits people’s aversion to loss, so that users are unknowingly led to spend an additional 118 yuan (buy two more blind boxes).
Buy happy ARKers everyday everyday
Online and offline retail ecology
In Bubblemart’s retail ecosystem, it includes online and offline channels such as stores, smart containers, Tmall, box-drawing applets, social platforms, fun apps, and exhibitions. Offline with stores + smart goodsCabinet combination layout, young mall stores in first-tier cities to open stores, and then gradually penetrate the second-tier core cities; first test smart water in unopened malls, on the one hand, you can save store rental costs, on the other hand, you can also test water consumption The purchasing power of the group, preparing for opening a store.
When the steps and effort required by the user can be reduced or optimized, the user will use it more often. Users who want to buy do not have to go offline, as long as they open a small program, they can immediately get the right to buy happily.
Why ARKers is addicted
Emotional connection keeps users engaged
The basis of all addictive behaviors is to mobilize the human body’s own reward system. From the start of buying a toy, users will start to expect that they will earn money. And when blind box gameplay introduces uncertainty, not only will users feel happy every time they get a toy, but they will also feel expectant and excited every time they buy it.
Not only that, the blind box also gives the user the box selection that was originally controlled by the merchant. When he directly touches the box, he has the illusion that he can master the game. As soon as he starts buying the box, he will be happy. Regardless of whether the result is what he wants, he will feel that “it’s almost that”, and a happy mood will follow.
In addition, the emotional connection between brands and consumers depends on high-value products, and this “high-value” is not what the business thinks it is, but actually explored from the user’s perspective. For example: the online applet will give the user 3 prompts when selecting a box. This design is based on the actual needs of consumers. If you have been to their offline store, you will often see someone shaking. Box, trying to judge the toy style in the box by sound.
Applet’s shakebox, prompts and display cards
Conclusion
Gameplay is the way of organizing products. Integrating gameplay with the product itself is the complete consumer experience design. For today ’s consumersIn other words, what they need is gamification, participation, and personalized consumption. The future of retail should be from selling goods to conveying emotions. In addition to product sales, brands must begin to think about how to further tap and serve the derived needs of fans.
Reference:
The NPD Group / Retail Tracking Service
“Sold 4 million Molly dolls a year. How did the founders of the post-85s create a trendy empire? 》, 21st Century Business Review
Cover image from BE @ RBRICK 官 网