"Zhao Zong, let's not talk about IP or contracts tonight. I just want to talk to you - what do you think about Designer Toys?"
Zhao Chen picked up the teapot, gave Wang An a refill, and also refilled himself.
"Wang Zong, what do you think the track Designer Toys is essentially selling?"
Wang An almost did not hesitate. "Emotion."
Zhao Chen nodded, they discussed this issue last year.
He motioned for him to continue.
"A Blind Boxes sells for fifty-nine yuan. When taken apart, it is a plastic doll seven or eight centimeters tall. In terms of material cost, it is less than ten yuan."
Wang An's voice is not high-pitched, but every word carries a certain determination that has been thought about over and over again in countless late nights.
"But what consumers buy is not the plastic, but the dopamine that hits them the moment they open the box.
It is the social currency that is awarded Moments when you draw the hidden money. It is the satisfaction of having a complete series on the bookshelf at home.
None of these things can be calculated by cost accounting."
"So Bubble Mary is not a manufacturing company."
Zhao Chen took over his words,
"What manufacturing companies sell is cost plus profit. What you sell is Psychological Surplus after the emotional value minus the purchase price."
Wang An's eyes lit up.
It is very rare for this sentence to be said by an investor.
Most investors have studied Bubble Mary for more than half a year, and finally came to the conclusion that "it just sells plastic toys, isn't it?"
They can understand the sales per square meter, the repurchase rate, and Gross Margin, but they can never understand why an adult woman is willing to spend fifty-nine yuan to open a box that she doesn't know what's inside.
When Zhao Chen said the four words "Psychological Surplus", his tone was as plain as if he was talking about an economic concept that has existed for a hundred years.
"Zhao Zong, you got to the bottom of it." Wang An's voice was slightly raised,
"So Bubble Mary's competitors have never been other toy companies.
My competitors are milk tea shops, movie theaters, escape rooms, and all other businesses that are robbing young people of their fragmented emotional consumption time."
"That's why you open the store into the best shopping mall, next to Starbucks and Heytea." Zhao Chen said.
"Yes. Because my target customer group is the same group of people as Starbucks.
She bought a latte worth thirty-eight yuan at Starbucks. After finishing the drink, she threw the cup away, leaving nothing behind.
But she spent fifty-nine yuan to dismantle a Blind Boxes here, and the dismantled Mololoy would be on her desk for three months, half a year, or even longer.
Every morning when she sat down at her workstation, the first thing she saw was the doll."
Wang An's hand drew a vague circle on the table.
"Zhao Zong, do you know what this means?"
Zhao Chen looked at him and said nothing.
"This means that my product has a longer emotional life cycle than a cup of coffee."
Wang An's voice was lowered, but its power was stronger.
"The emotional value of a cup of coffee returns to zero after drinking it.
But the emotional value of a Blind Boxes will continue to accumulate as it stays in consumers' lives.
That doll is placed on her desk to remind her once a day - this is her little blessing."
Zhao Chen picked up the tea cup and took a slow sip.
Wang An's words, if another listener, might think he is bragging.
But Zhao Chen knows that what he said is the truth.
Before his rebirth, he had seen the craziest year of Bubble Mart.
Mololoy's Blind Boxes series has been sold for dozens of times its original price on the second-hand market. The price of the hidden model can even buy the latest iPhone.
Those young people who were trying to grab Blind Boxes lined up in a long line at the door of the store. They poured in like a tide the moment it opened, and the Blind Boxes on the shelves were cleared out in a few minutes.
That's not buying toys, that's a new religion of consumption.
And Wang An is the person who accidentally lit this fire.
"Wang Zong, let me ask you a question." Zhao Chen put down the teacup.
Wang An sat up slightly.
"In Bubble Mary's IP matrix, Mololoy, Pucoky, Diemoo, Labobo--what do these IP images have in common?"
Wang An thought for a few seconds.
"A sense of healing." He said, "All the images have one thing in common - no aggression.
Big eyes, round faces, soft lines. They don't express any sharp emotions, not angry, sad, or provocative.
They just stay there quietly and look at you."
"So they can become containers of emotions." Zhao Chen said.
"Yes." There was a hint of excitement in Wang An's voice,
"Consumers project their emotions onto the IP image.
What emerges when you are happy is a happy Mololoy, and what emerges when you are sad is a Mololoy who accompanies you.
IP itself is empty, it is consumer emotions that fill it up."
Zhao Chen nodded.
"Wang Zong, let me ask you a second question. Bubble Mary In five years, what will be the largest source of income?"
This time Wang An did not answer immediately.
He was silent for a long time, tapping his fingers unconsciously on the table.
"Not Blind Boxes." he finally said.
Zhao Chen's eyebrows moved slightly.
"Blind Boxes is the starting point of this stage, but it is not the end."
Wang An's voice slowed down, as if he was sorting out an idea that he had thought about for a long time but had not yet fully expressed.
"Blind Boxes brings users in and allows them to form purchasing habits and emotional connections. But five years later, Bubble Mary's income structure will be completely different."
He held up a finger.
"First, IP authorization.
Images like Mololoy and Labobo can appear anywhere in the future -
Clothing, Beauty, food, home furnishing, digital products.
The premium space for the joint model is much larger than that of Blind Boxes itself."
second finger.
"Second, content. Bubble Mary cannot survive just by selling goods forever.
Mololoy needs to have its own story, its own worldview, its own animations and movies.
Disney built an empire with a mouse, not because Mickey Mouse dolls sell well, but because Mickey Mouse lives in everyone's childhood memory.
If the life cycle of IP is to exceed ten years, it must move from the shelf to the content."
The third finger.
"Third, globalization.
China's trendy toys are already selling well in Southeast Asia, but the European and American markets are the real gold mines.
Labobo's global licensing is one of the things I value most.
Its image style is naturally close to European and American aesthetics and does not require too many localization modifications like Mololoy.
If Labobo can be used to pry open the market of North America and Europe, the ceiling for Bubble Mary will not be tens of billions, but hundreds of billions."
Wang An put down his hand and looked at Zhao Chen.
"Zhao Zong, I have never said these words to any investor.
Because they will think I am crazy. How can a company with annual revenue of less than one billion talk about hundreds of billions?"
Zhao Chen picked up the teapot, poured out the cold tea in the Wang An cup, and refilled it with hot tea.
"Wang Zong," he said, "Do you know what the revenue of Disney was in its first year on the market?"
Wang An shook his head.
"I don't remember the exact number, but it must be less than your current Bubble Mart."
Zhao Chen put down the teapot, "With the goal of 100 billion, it's not that you are crazy, it's that others don't look far enough."
Wang An picked up the teacup with a steady hand.
He took a sip of tea, put down the cup, and suddenly smiled.
"Zhao Zong, when I was talking about IP with you this afternoon, I went through such a big circle and used so many negotiation skills. Now that I think about it, it's quite boring."
"Why?"
"Because you don't need me to go through all the hoops."
Wang An looked at him, with a calm look in his eyes after he had let go of all his defenses.
"You knew what I wanted from day one. You were just waiting for me to say it myself."
Zhao Chen did not deny it.
"Zhao Zong, regarding the IP, I will do as you say."
Wang An said, "Whether it's authorization or additional issuance, it's up to you. I won't argue."
Zhao Chen tilted his head slightly. "Aren't you afraid that I will take Mololoy and Labobo away and not renew your contract in ten years?"
Wang An shook his head.
"You won't."
"Why?"
"Because when you asked me the question just now, you already had the answer.
I said Bubble Mary's biggest source of income in five years is not Blind Boxes. I noticed that this answer is the same as what you thought."
Wang An's eyes met with his,
"You're not asking me, you're confirming. Confirming that I think the same thing as you."
The private room was quiet for a few seconds.
Su Xiaotang and Chen Xi at the next table didn't know what they were talking about. They both laughed at the same time. Their laughter was crisp and clear, filling the short silence here.
Zhao Chen picked up the tea cup and raised it to Wang An.
"Wang Zong, is Designer Toys."
Wang An also picked up the teacup.
"For Designer Toys."
The two teacups clinked together, making a crisp sound.
Wang An put down the tea cup and added something as if he suddenly thought of something.
"Zhao Zong, Labobo's first release in the first quarter of next year, I want to put it on Shan City."
Zhao Chen was slightly startled. "Why?"
"Because Henglong is in Chongqing."
Wang An smiled,
"I want your team to be the first to see how high Labobo can fly in the hands of Bubble Mary."
Zhao Chen looked at him and slowly raised the corners of his mouth.
"Okay. I'll wait for you at Chongqing."