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Case Study

Pop Mart: LEGO or Disney?

By Mark J. Greeven, Patrick Reinmoeller and Yunfei Feng

7 pages

September 2021

Reference: IMD-7-2303

In June 2020, Pop Mart, a 10-year history Chinese trendy toy company achieved market value of US$15 billion, higher than LEGO or Hasbro. Pop Mart toys are not traditional; they are not for kids but for Generation Z. It’s business model uses innovative ways to sell trendy toys. It combines designer toys and blind boxes to provide the feeling of excitement and surprise, uses hidden models, which creates a sense of scarcity and appeals to consumers’ desire to own, and implements a tiered pricing structure to cater to the multi-level needs of its Generation Z consumers. Pop Mart’s dream is to become a Chinese toy company most like Disney.

Learning Objective

Lessons draw from Pop Mart for businesses targeting Gen Z
Identifying emotional stimuli and satisfying emotional needs
Artists and IP assets are core for competitiveness
Approaching consumers in digital ways.

Keywords

Innovation, Retail, Toy, Pricing Strategy, Strategy, Asia, China

Settings

Asia, China
Pop Mart, Consumer Services, Retail
2010-2021

Type

Published Sources

Available Languages

English

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This case study is part of a series

CATL: Global battery supremacy
Gojek: Merging with Tokopedia to create a super platform
Pop Mart: LEGO or Disney?
SEA: A $140 billion hidden Alibaba?
Shein: Another Amazon or terminator of Zara?
Youhualin: Digitizing the supply chain in China

This case study is part of a series

CATL: Global battery supremacy
Gojek: Merging with Tokopedia to create a super platform
Pop Mart: LEGO or Disney?
SEA: A $140 billion hidden Alibaba?
Shein: Another Amazon or terminator of Zara?
Youhualin: Digitizing the supply chain in China

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