Pop Mart to Pop Culture via Labubus

Client: Pop Mart

You know those last-minute entries you just have to write? Well, this is one of them.

Nine months of stealth strategy. Seven weeks of cultural explosion. And just 48 hours for us to put pen to paper and tell you the story of how W and sister influencer agency HelloFranses! on behalf of Pop Mart, created the biggest consumer pop culture moment in recent memory. What we’ll go on to explain is a forensic creator strategy that blended the art of influence, insightful behavioural science, and category rigour to incubate a movement, then ignite it. Every placement meticulously curated. Every post designed to fuel obsession while keeping Labubu rare, covetable, and just out of reach. No cringe. No backlash. No PRIME-style collapse. From obscure cult collectible to full-blown frenzy: stampedes, sell-outs, TikTok meltdowns, and media mania. Labubu (sold exclusively at Pop Mart) hasn’t just gone viral – it’s become a bona fide phenomenon. Our results? Chaos on the UK high street. A 300% UK sales spike. Three times more TikTok airtime than #MatchaDates and #HotGirlSummer combined. Vogue, FT, The Times, BBC commenting on its unquestionable prominence – coverage week after week, day after day. But perhaps most impressive and a first for the agency (and modern UK toy retail) in-store sales had to be temporarily halted due to overwhelming demand.