DMA 2026 Podcast: How POP MART keeps its IPs coveted

From Labubu to Crybaby, POP MART has built a global following around collectible characters and the artists behind them. But in a market where consumer attention is constantly shifting, building a lasting community takes more than creating the next viral sensation.

"I see fandom as something that you build over time," said Jeremy Lee, head of Middle East and South Asia at POP MART.

Speaking on Marketing Connected's podcast at Digital Marketing Asia 2026, Lee tells Rezwana Manjur, editor-in-chief at MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, how the company builds fandom through artist engagement, social listening and collaborations, while keeping its intellectual properties relevant to consumers.

Catch the full interview here:

Manjur: How do you measure fandom? Is it simply by how much merchandises are sold, or are you looking at other areas as well? Tell us a little bit about that.

Lee: I would say it's quantitative and then it's qualitative. So for quantitative, that's your real-life statistics. Which series is a hit? Which are the particular IPs that are doing very well? What's the contribution of sales by different IPs? Those statistics give us a very accurate picture in terms of who is doing better in terms of fan engagement or sales of products.

Then I think there's a qualitative part, which is a bit softer. You may not see [results] immediately, but it's equally important. The qualitative part very much goes back to social listening. So, for example, at this point of time, what are people talking about Skullpanda? What are people talking about Labubu?

What people are saying about the IPs two months ago could be very different two months later, and I think being attuned and being current with what is being said is actually quite important.

That information gets looped back to the marketing teams, the IP teams, and then gets looped back to the artists. That is important because then the artists know what's actually happening and that then influences their next design or their next product.

Manjur: But people do and say very different things. People might say something on social media, do something completely different in their real lives. So how do you know what feedback you're getting from social media is actually accurate enough for the artist to then amend his views and thoughts in the next IP creation?

Lee: I think an example could help to make this more concrete. If you look at the previous Skullpanda plushie designs, they were a bit more extravagant, a bit more elaborate. What it also meant was that the plushies were very precious. Comments on social media were, "Oh, it's so precious. I may not want to take it out". Some said, "Oh, it's a bit too heavy to carry around, so I'll rather leave it at home." Therein lies the problem because a lot of them actually do want to bring it out. Comments were saying, "It's nice, it's elegant, but I wish it were a bit lighter."

That feedback seemed to be recurring, and that caught the attention of the IP team, who then went back to the Skullpanda artists. They later came out with a lightweight version of the Skullpanda, which was about 20% lighter.

We heard what fans said that was important, we took that into account, put that into design, and then we came up with something and they liked it.

It's a positive cycle. The comments after were great.

Also tune in to the full conversation on Spotify:

Tune into the rest of this conversation on your favourite podcast platforms, by searching up Marketing Connected. For all the visual people out there, we’ve got your back as well, with our vodcasts on YouTube.

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