as a branding expert I

as a branding expert I find the obsession with Labubu dolls so interesting. I really think it's a case study in modern marketing. I'm gonna tell you why. The success of Pop Mart, the Chinese company behind the brand, has been somewhat recession-proof, according to Bloomberg, with its stock and profits rallying despite global economic uncertainty and trade war concerns. The company reported $1.8 billion in revenue in 2024 - a more than 100 percent increase from the previous year. The Labubu dolls and The Monsters tribe contributed about $400 million in revenue last year - a growth of 726 percent from the previous year - making it among the company's top-selling products. The Labubu dolls' parent company is called Pop Mart based in China and they did nearly 2 billion dollars last year. 400 million of which came from the Labubu doll franchise. The first reason I think these is because they are truly a trend and TikTok and social media love to see trends. The fashion set has really adopted these to adorn their luxury bags. Celebrities like Dua Lipa are rocking them on their bags. Lisa who is an OG Labubu fan is constantly talking about them. The second is the fact that they're super collectible. They come in a blind box so you really never know what you're gonna get and that just leads to even more excitement and gets people to really wanna buy more and more. It's not an accident that this reminds us of Pokemon. This is really good marketing. Third is the simple reason that we are all craving a bit of nostalgia and joy at a time when everything feels pretty dark. Case in point there's literally Labubu doll meetups now. I'd love to hear what you guys think. If you're interested in more hot takes like this, subscribe to my substack at the link in my bio.