Global sales exceed 300 million, selling well in overseas markets!

Although originated in Southeast Asia, trendy toys have spread all over the world.

In recent years, "trendy toys" have become well known to the public. Coupled with the vigorous development of the domestic entertainment industry, a number of excellent companies have emerged in China's trendy toy industry, one of which is StarPony.

Sub-brand global sales exceeded 300 million

StarPony was founded in 2020 and is affiliated to Guangzhou StarPony Technology Co., Ltd. It has three sub-brands: MeWaii, OUOZZZ and Babeside, covering the adult, children and baby markets respectively .

According to public information, the company's core team members come from Alibaba, Huawei, UC, Xiaopeng and other star companies. The company's founder and CEO Shi Cangjian once served as the president of Alibaba Games and has rich experience in entertainment, children's industry and global business. This strong staffing has laid the foundation for StarPony's development.

Shi Cangjian's choice of toy business was related to the market environment at that time. As a major toy country, China produces 70% of domestic and foreign toys, so China's toy supply chain has advantages such as fast new product launch and high cost performance. However, at that time, China's toy industry was more about selling goods, and did not pay attention to the development of brands and IP. At the same time,

Compared with popular categories such as 3C and clothing, there were no high-quality overseas brands in the toy category at that time. This shows that Shi Cangjian's vision was not limited to the domestic market from the beginning.

After its products and team became relatively mature, StarPony turned its attention to overseas markets. At that time, StarPony first launched toy products in China for market verification, and then "localized" them according to the cultural characteristics and usage habits of overseas users to achieve global sales.

Facts have proved that this model is feasible. According to a report by 36Kr, the sub-brand OUOZZZ has sold nearly one million units on its independent website and Amazon within one year of its launch , ranking first in the European and American markets among similar products; and its hyper-realistic children's doll brand Babeside has also sold more than 300 million units worldwide , becoming a leading brand in the European and American online markets.

StarPony's new product development focuses on design, intelligence, and IP. Up to now, the company has been able to provide more than 1,000 toy styles, and its products have been sold to more than 140 countries around the world, with more than 150,000 positive reviews. At the same time, its products have long been ranked at the top of Amazon's Body Pillows hot new product list and Amazon's Plush Pillows best-selling list .

( Image source: StarPony LinkedIn interface )

While focusing on online channels, StarPony has not relaxed its layout of offline channels. According to the company's official website, MeWaii has established solid cooperative relationships with well-known offline retailers such as TJMaxx Group, Five Below and Cracker Barrel in the United States.

At present, StarPony has completed three rounds of financing, of which the A round raised more than 10 million US dollars.

Social media is essential for brand success

In our previous understanding, the popularity of an IP is closely related to the popularity of movies, animation, games, etc. However, StarPony did not rely on this "understanding" but took another approach to incubate its own IP.

According to the 7-times theory (7-exposure theory), a potential customer is likely to buy a brand or product after seeing it more than 7 times, and social media platforms are an important channel for StarPony to attract potential users and show itself to them frequently.

On social platforms, StarPony has promoted its sub-brand MeWaii, and its exposure has accumulated over 100 million. In particular, TikTok, which has been very popular overseas in recent years, has become an important stage for incubating IP.

According to information, MeWaii was founded in 2022. Its name is a combination of "me" and "kawaii", which means comfort and pleasure . The brand reaches customers through online and offline channels, including official websites, Amazon, Walmart Online, and TikTok , as well as offline retailers such as Cracker Barrel, Five Below, TJmaxx Group, and 7-Eleven.

On TikTok, StarPony registered multiple accounts and released a large number of videos based on MeWaii IP characters, including fun animations, product displays and discount information. Currently, there are more than 5,000 videos under #MeWaii, including many TikTok celebrities showing MeWaii dolls (in a collaborative way).

Take an account with 3.4M likes and 118.3k followers as an example. Its avatar is MeWaiius’s original IP Berry and Jerry, a pair of cows. These animations based on IP characters have been regularly released on TikTok, and some of the videos have been viewed more than 1 million times.

In this account with 118.3k followers , the video mainly shows the daily life of Berry and Jerry as a couple - just like the daily life of ordinary couples, Berry and Jerry quarrel, have sweet moments, and play pranks on each other. This daily life has resonated with and attracted discussion from many overseas netizens, and has thus gained widespread attention.

(Image source: TikTok screenshot)

Of course, TikTok not only plays a role in exposing StarPony, but also in attracting traffic. StarPony added links to its official website and MeWaii's independent website on its TikTok account. At the same time, StarPony's TikTok store has accumulated sales of more than 100,000 units (according to EchoTik data).

In addition, StarPony’s marketing strategy has also expanded to other social platforms such as Instagram and YouTube, allowing StarPony to be exposed and penetrated on other platforms.

IP is very important for trendy toys to go overseas

At present, many excellent trendy toy brands have emerged in China, such as StarPony and Pop Mart, but they all have one thing in common - they attach importance to IP.

It can be said that IP is an important part of the trendy toy industry, one of the sources and core competitiveness of trendy toys, and the most scarce link of trendy toys. A good IP can not only give trendy toys unique stories and characters, but also increase the collection and entertainment value of trendy toys; at the same time, it is also more conducive to the expansion of brands in overseas markets.

According to the current market, IP can be roughly divided into two categories: image IP and content IP. StarPony and Pop Mart's original IP belong to the former, while Disney's Mickey Mouse and Hasbro's My Little Pony belong to the latter. The key to image IP is to create a recognizable image and convey the brand's value and philosophy through this image. These excellent trendy toy brands have well explained this with their success.

When creating an IP, in addition to considering "differentiation", it is also necessary to consider the cultural preferences and consumption habits of consumers in different regions, so it is also crucial to "localize" the IP. Take Pop Mart as an example. Its three popular IPs "SKULLPANDA", "MOLLY" and "DIMOO" in China received mediocre responses in Thailand, but CRYBABY, which was collaborated with local Thai artists, has been a hot seller. It is worth noting that this "localization" includes not only language and image, but also story content and marketing strategy.

From a global perspective, the trendy toy market is still in a stage of rapid development, which means more opportunities for Chinese trendy toy companies. Against this background, Chinese trendy toy brands are going global at an unprecedented speed and scale. The popularity of brands such as StarPony and Pop Mart overseas not only provides valuable experience for the Chinese trendy toy industry to go overseas, but also brings new vitality to the global trendy toy market.

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