Many cities and museums in China are now offering their own creative cultural plush products, which are gaining popularity among consumers.
Hashtags such as "Chinese have their own version of Jellycat (a British toy brand)" are trending on social media platforms.
At the 13th Suzhou Creative and Design Cultural Industry Expo in Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province, a museum plush toy market, the first of its kind in the country, was introduced.
The market attracted a large number of visitors, with many excitedly queuing up to discover and buy the distinctive products on offer.
"An hour before the doors opened, visitors were already queuing up at the entrance, eager to get their hands on the 'crab' plush toys. In just 10 minutes after opening, 600 'crab' plush toys were sold out," said Liu Xiaoping, a staff member of the cultural and creative department at the Suzhou Museum in Suzhou.
Featuring products from 11 cultural and museum institutions, the market displayed about 20,000 plush creative cultural products. Throughout the expo, sales of these plush toys, priced between 30 and 300 yuan (approximately $4.19 or R73.36 and $41.9 or R733.63) each, totaled an impressive 663,000 yuan (around R1.6 million) in just three days.
In fact, plush creative cultural products had already gained popularity prior to the recent trend.
In June 2022, a creative cultural product inspired by the iconic bronze sculpture at the Gansu Provincial Museum in Lanzhou, northwest China's Gansu Province, captured the attention of the internet and became a sensation.
During the 2023 Spring Festival, the Suzhou Museum released a plush replica of the bronze sword of Fuchai, the king of the State of Wu during the Spring and Autumn Period (770 B.C.-476 B.C.), and it went viral on the internet with numerous related posts surfacing online. This particular product has sold nearly 60,000 units to date.
This year, plush toys expanded their reach to encompass a broader spectrum of interests.
Following the viral sensation of numbingly spicy hotpot dish Malatang from Tianshui, northwest China's Gansu Province, the Gansu Provincial Museum saw an opportunity to leverage this trend by launching a variety of plush toys inspired by the beloved dish, which swiftly became a consumer favourite.
The museum opened pre-sales of the plush toys on its flagship store on Tmall, the online marketplace of Alibaba, attracting nearly 200,000 customers who hurried to make purchases within a week. This sudden spike in demand resulted in an impressive 343% year-on-year surge in store sales.
Plush toys have brought a new dimension to the growth of the cultural and creative industry. Many places across the country have embraced this trend by introducing plush creative cultural products that showcase their distinctive regional and cultural traits, attracting younger consumers to purchase these delightful creations.
Plush creative cultural products also generate emotional value for consumers.
Statements such as "It's so soft and comforting, just seeing it makes me happy" and "The cute faces and cozy feel never fail to brighten my day with a quick squeeze" highlight why young people are drawn to plush toys. The appeal of these toys stems from their charming designs, soft textures, and emotional significance, making them impossible to resist for consumers.
The rising popularity of plush creative cultural products mirrors a shift in consumer behaviour towards prioritising emotional satisfaction and investing in products that bring joy and comfort.
According to the 2023 annual report on consumer rights and interests protection in China, published by the China Consumers Association in May, consumers are now looking to find emotional satisfaction through their purchases. This indicates that emotional well-being will play a growing role in the decision-making of young consumers and become a significant trend in the consumer market going forward.
How to keep the momentum going for plush creative cultural products? According to Xu Zhe, a staff member of the cultural and creative department at the Suzhou Museum, the key is to create engaging content and top-notch products. Furthermore, it is crucial to effectively utilise offline exhibitions, online interactions, and other promotional channels to engage target consumers.
This article was first published on People's Daily Online.