MINISO Blind Box Festival: This Time, We're 'Tearing' Open Joy
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Welcome to this edition of "Produced by WSD."
In recent years, the blind box economy has become a new consumer trend favored by many young people. Data shows that in 2021, China's blind box industry reached a market size of approximately 13.91 billion yuan, expected to hit 30.02 billion yuan by 2024. Driven by the trend of interest-based consumption, "unboxing blind boxes" has become a popular way for young people to pursue emotional value in an era of information overload, satisfying their desire for novelty and experience.
Blind boxes, a creative product category launched by MINISO, aim to expand their market share and further cement the consumer mindset that "for blind boxes, go to MINISO." MINISO, in collaboration with WSD, embarked on a journey of mental seeding on Xiaohongshu.
If you want to make a splash and aim for global impact, how can you stand out from the crowd?
As shown above, why is a small, exquisite blind box immensely magnified and suspended high?
This internet-breaking giant blind box "hanging for attention" event marked MINISO's first blind box festival held in July 2023.
However, MINISO, dedicated to global expansion and building a super retail brand, clearly has ambitions beyond this.
MINISO aims to take the hugely popular blind box craze in the Chinese market global, allowing the blind box phenomenon to shine worldwide!
But, things are never that simple!
After research and insights by WSD, it was discovered that taking the blind box festival global faced two major challenges:
1. Global awareness of MINISO's blind boxes is insufficient
Most consumers still associate MINISO with daily necessities like water bottles, wet wipes, and travel accessories, and are not familiar with its blind boxes.
However, MINISO’s blind boxes have collaborated with over 80 major IPs, featuring fast updates and appealing prices. This tells us we need to change the low-profile status of MINISO’s blind boxes, striving to make MINISO synonymous with blind boxes.
2. Competition Heating Up
Leading competitors entered the blind box market early with strong fan loyalty; mid and tail brands are also creating festivals and riding the wave of the blind box economy. Everyone wants a piece of the action, so how can MINISO stand out?
To tackle these challenges and create a festival for global trendy toy categories, we urgently need to innovate in festival event design while finding common ground in public perception.
One memory point + one surprise factor + multiple ceremonial experiences, creating a unique global blind box festival.
1. One Memory Point: Tear!
Blind boxes are linked with the mystique of luck, and most people buy blind boxes seeking surprises and joy.
"Tearing" precisely summarizes the universal action of opening a blind box; it's straightforward, understandable, and comes with a thrill.
The theme of MINISO’s blind box festival — "Tearing Open Happiness" — precisely conveys such a thrill and emotion.
02. One Surprise Factor: First Come, First Served Luck!
Good luck has become a common emotional symbol!
Thus, MINISO decided to magnify this anticipation of good luck to the extreme, with each blind box carrying a dose of hope and surprise, and each opening potentially bringing unexpected fortune. We hope through this unique experience, every participant can find their moment of personal luck upon opening a blind box.
03. Multiple Ceremonial Experiences: Addictive Festival Fun!
MINISO’s blind box festival’s promotional narrative was divided into pre-festival, during-festival, and post-festival stages, creating a triple-layered "festival syndrome."
Pre-festival, MINISO teamed up with a variety of KOLs on Xiaohongshu for pre-event seeding, leading to a chain of "tearing" box videos that left everyone confused and curious in the comments section.
Meanwhile, a naked-eye 3D video in Hangzhou, China, kicked off the global blind box festival's offline activities by tearing open the curtain.
Taking advantage of the momentum, offline creative check-ins, wishing for good luck, and flaunting wealth events were also spread online.
From making wishes, wrestling, to finally unboxing the heart-thumping models, the TV drama-like plot kept more users hooked!
This comprehensive online and offline activation maximized festival anticipation!
During the festival, which was also the explosion phase, MINISO launched a combo: the first offline blind box flagship store, the "tear" party, simultaneous online broadcasts, and seeding... sparking a blind box circle check-in and team-building frenzy! It also ushered in the peak of voice on Xiaohongshu!
Post-festival, in the global blind box festival's finale, MINISO planned the fourth wave of seeding on Xiaohongshu, collaborating with international influencers to produce blind box-related content, IP collaborations, and notes tied to the New Year, pushing main products.
International friends' participation not only validated but also reinforced the global impact of this blind box festival!
MINISO tore open happiness and tore through the globe
Watch out! This blind box festival exploded!
Following blind box-themed activities in multiple global cities, it was truly a carnival for blind box enthusiasts!
The blind box craze really spread globally, and flagship stores worldwide saw bursts of business and new highs!
MINISO's global festival-making went viral, with visible marketing effects
Data shows that this MINISO blind box festival was undoubtedly a "dazzling success."
Four rounds of Xiaohongshu seeding created 31 viral articles, achieving a 100% viral article output rate, including four mega-viral articles with 100,000+ interactions.
On Xiaohongshu, the keyword "MINISO Blind Box Festival" surged from zero rapidly, and "MINISO Blind Box" achieved multiple peak rounds.
In related brand keyword searches, the blind box category solidified its TOP 1 position, helping the blind box become one of MINISO's star explosive products.
Xiaohongshu KFS+ brand resource integrated marketing ignited UGC content explosion, refreshing the interactive peak of MINISO’s global blind box festival topic.
Offline activities drew 12,000+ domestic visitors, with Xiaohongshu exposure reaching 24 million, and MINISO blind box sales increasing 215% month-on-month.
These data all demonstrated the success of MINISO’s global festival-making, also establishing MINISO as a model example of creative marketing.
At the 15th annual Tiger Roar Awards in 2024, the WSD x MINISO blind box case also successfully won a Gold Award (only 1.6% of entries win gold), earning industry recognition!
Notes From WSD
Contemporary young people are the main consumer force, and when they buy products, they're buying not just the products themselves but the experiences they bring, ranging from personalized experiences, social interaction, novelty, to story-driven experiences. This creative festival marketing by MINISO not only maximized emotional value but also deepened young people's identification and love for MINISO.
Looking back at the core marketing strategy: using various forms of communication content, binding "tearing" with the MINISO blind box festival; using consumer-favorite wish marketing, maximizing emotional experiences to the extreme; using a variety of creative check-ins, connecting every link of offline event marketing. The interconnected execution chain let this "MINISO Global Blind Box Festival" tear open joy everywhere it reached!