The Master Class of Emotional & Engineered Design.

I'm pretty sure you’ve probably seen it somewhere, goodness knows I have! Maybe on TikTok, in a sneaker store, or in the hands of someone you follow online. It’s got wild hair, a mischievous grin, big cartoon eyes and tiny fangs. They call it Labubu. And on the surface, it looks like just another collectible toy. But the truth is, Labubu is something much more interesting: it’s a little window into the emotional psychology and behaviour of a key consumer.

Why? Because this isn’t just a trend. It’s a wonderful and exciting case study I'm super excited to share. One of the cleanest, sharpest examples I’ve seen for a while of how hype, identity, scarcity, and emotion can intersect to create a buying frenzy that feels less like commerce and more like culture. And if you don’t quite get what the fuss is all about, let me break it down, because behind the plush exterior is a formula I’ve seen play out time and time again.

During my 18.5 years across adidas and Nike, this formula was what we learnt time and time again and when done right, it doesn’t just sell products, it builds real movements. What makes Labubu so fascinating is that it compresses all those principles into one small, strange, emotionally magnetic object.

The first thing we need to understand is the power of uncertainty. Labubu figures are very often sold in blind boxes and you don’t know which one you’re going to get. That simple mechanic triggers what psychologists call the variable reward loop. It’s the same loop behind gambling, gaming, and even our endless scrolling of social media. The thrill isn’t just in the getting. It’s actually in the maybe. In the possibility. The emotional tension between what you hope for and what you might get is powerful and super addictive.

And then there’s identity. Labubu isn’t just cute, it’s also cool. It’s been embraced by artists, stylists, musicians, and celebrities who signal to their audiences that this little creature means something. From BLACKPINK’s Lisa to Kim Kardashian, Labubu has become a sort of avatar for playful rebellion and quirky, creative, slightly chaotic. It doesn’t just sit on a shelf in our office or home. It says something and speaks volumes. It sends a message for you about your taste. About tribe and community and most importantly being in the know.

People don’t want to buy what everyone else has. They want to buy something that makes them feel like they are different. Seen. Expressive. And Labubu delivers that. It’s not that mass-market smiley face. It’s sharp-toothed, mischievous, and a little hard to pin down. And with that ambiguity it is exactly why it works. People project onto it and they get to decide what it means to them.

Ok so there’s also the scarcity factor. Pop Mart, the company behind Labubu, has absolutely mastered the art of engineered scarcity. Limited drops. Special editions. Region-exclusive variants. When the market is structured to always feel slightly out of reach and with that perceived rarity, even if manufactured, what it always does is it makes people move faster, want even more, and make them happy to spend in order to get.

But what fascinates me most about Labubu is its emotional role. It taps into something softer, something nostalgic and something that sparks emotion. Its proportions, facial expression, and slightly off-kilter design feel like a mash-up of our childhood memories: a little bit of Where the Wild Things Are, a little bit of Ghibli and a sprinkle of mischief and melancholy all rolled into one. We live in a world that’s unfortunately increasingly anxious, fast, and definitely digital. Labubu feels physical, personal, even grounding. It’s the kind of object that makes people feel calm, or at least connected to something that's simpler and more human.

And all of this combined… uncertainty, identity, scarcity, emotion accumulates into a behaviour that on the surface might look a little irrational. People queue. They trade. They even spend thousands. But from the inside, it makes perfect sense. Because it’s not about logic. It’s always about feeling something. And that’s the real engine behind even the most modern buying decisions, whether we want to admit it or not.

I’ve seen this same emotional logic at play over so many years doing Adidas, Nike and Sneakerboy sneaker drops, streetwear launches and even physical retail experiences. It’s certainly not exclusive to toys. It’s just that Labubu strips it down and makes it way easier to see.

If you’re building a brand, here’s what you need to take from this and it's something if you haven't heard it before, I say time and time again, people don’t just want to buy things. They want to feel something. They want to belong. They want the thrill of the chase. They want to express who they are. And they want to know that what they’re holding and what they’re wearing, what they’re spending money on means something more than what’s printed on the tag.

Labubu doesn’t dominate because of ad spend or distribution. It dominates because it speaks fluent human. It understands that emotional design, scarcity, and cultural signalling aren’t tricks, they’re the whole game.

And if you’re watching from the outside, still asking, “What’s the big deal with this weird little toy?”

That’s the answer.

By Nick Gray, Founder, IGU Global