In the context of the rise of the blind box economy and the transformation of the consumer culture of Generation Z, cross-border co-branding has become a core strategy for brands to break through the circle barriers. This study takes Pop Mart's blind box co-branding as a case study to explore how it reconfigures brand growth logic through non-functional value, and to analyze the successful strategy of “reverse co-branding” and the behavioral mechanism of Generation Z's co-branding consumption to construct a community identity. Combined with the questionnaire research and case comparison analysis, it is found that: Blind Box co-branding inspires users to participate in the game through IP attraction and gamification mechanism (e.g. hidden model design), and builds a social closed-loop of “purchase-unboxing-exchange”, which transforms the product into an identity of the circle; meanwhile, it promotes the rejuvenation and transformation of the traditional cultural IP through modularization deconstruction and user co-creation, and realizes the symbiosis of cultural value and commercial value. Research shows that co-branding consumption is essentially the accumulation of symbolic capital by Generation Z. Its value is anchored in community consensus rather than product functionality, and brands need to reshape their marketing strategies with the three-dimensional model of “emotional attachment-symbolic consumption-identity investment”.
Yuanmin Xie (Thu,) studied this question.