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Soooo, do you Labubu? The furry creature went viral this year thanks to Dua Lipa, Blackpink’s Lisa, and Kim Kardashian all buying into the adorably bizarre, plushy monsters. The results were millions in sales, long lines, and frantic scrambles as people tried to get their hands on this latest trendy phenom. Labubus Chinese parent company, Pop Mart, reported global revenue for Q3 (July through September) jumped by about 250% compared to a year earlier, and sales in America were up by more than 1,200%. But it goes beyond Pop Mart, as brands from South Korea, Japan, and other Asian countries are finding more inroads into American culture. Just as American cultural influence has spread around the world via Levis, Coca-Cola, McDonalds, Apple, and more, now Asian brands are making it two-way traffic. Mixue, a Chinese ice cream and tea chain that recently overtook McDonalds as the largest fast-food chain in the world, opened its first U.S. store in New York City in September. Luckin, a Chinese coffee chain, is coming for Starbucks after opening a shop in NYC, too. Chinese automaker BYD surpassed Tesla in EV sales globally last year and is eyeing American expansion. Korean skincare brand CosRX drives 90% of its revenue from international sales, with major traction among Gen Z Americans. Taiwanese restaurant chain Din Tai Fungwith 21 U.S. locationsnow has the highest average per-location revenue of any American restaurant chain$27.4 million per store. [Photo: Freer/Adobe Stock] A new report from global ad agency network TBWA looks at some of the qualities that drove these companies’ overseas success. The report takes a deep dive into how exports like K-pop, matcha, anime, and Labubus have rebranded Asia for a new generation of consumersand explores what U.S. brands can learn from it. With the rise of K-beauty, J-beauty, and now in a world of Miniso and Pop Mart, we’re seeing brands from Asia really building emotional connection with consumers, says Jen Costello, TBWAs global chief strategy officer. Its not cheap, fast, low-cost, plastic crap, but it’s actually being supported by increasingly breakthrough products that have a real role in culture. [Photo: BYD] Found in translation The report outlines four underlying cultural valuesdeep mastery, unapologetic emotion, thoughtful friction, and social etiquettethat the new wave of Asian brands are particularly strong in. These obviously arent exclusive to Asian brands, just common threads among them. Deep Mastery Deep mastery revolves around the idea that as culture is increasingly saturated by AI-generated content and digital art, consumers are craving skill-based learning, time-honored craft, and enduring expertise. One brand example is Toku Saké and its focus solely on doing “one thing exceptionally well,” which is creating slow-brewed, small-batch sake. The idea is that specialization, rather than expansion, can be the new growth strategy for brands. View this post on Instagram Unapologetic Emotion Unapologetic emotion signifies a cultural pivot away from irony, sarcasm, and emotional detachment, where sincerity was often dismissed as “cringe.” The report says audiences are growing bored of performative nihilism, and find freedom in honest emotional expression. Here, Pop Mart’s Labubus are the brand example, rooted in the Japanese culture of kawaii (cuteness). Thoughtful Friction Thoughtful friction challenges the idea that speed and seamlessness equal freedom. Instead, the report contends, the promise of effortless everything leads to digital addiction, burnout, and waste. The report uses South Korea’s pay-as-you-throw food-waste system that requires residents to purchase special, volume-based bags, creating a daily constraint that incentivizes people to think twice before discarding waste and to buy only what they need. Costello says the concept of thoughtful friction surprised her the most. It’s unusual for brands to reject effortless experience in favor of creating intentional friction. It’s counterintuitive to the way that a lot of brands think, she says. Especially for Western brands, it’s always about making it seamless. It is always about reducing friction. It is always about making it easy. But there is value in making people think for just a moment and having that be rewarding. [Photo: 8th/Adobe Stock] Social Etiquette The report defines social etiquette as an outlook that counters the hyper-individualism encouraged by the main-character energy cultural narrative, which has led to widespread incivility. It functions as “soft infrastructure” to preserve social harmony. The report says marketers should recognize that after years of “casual everything,” clear codes of conduct feel “refreshingly helpful.” One example is how Singapore Airlines has built its relationship between crew and passengers with high mutual respect, and has even considered rewarding passengers who demonstrate good behavior on flights through its loyalty program. New export confidence Pop culture and our ability to share it has made the world a much smaller place. The report posits that these core values have played a significant role in Asian brands making inroads with Western audiences. It’s also supported by a boom in tourism. (Visits to Japan soared y 16% last year, and Japan, Thailand, and South Korea are among the top 10 destinations for Gen Z travelers, according to travel visa service Ztartvisa.) Emmanuel Sabbagh, TBWA\Asias chief strategy officer, says this overall cultural boost has given brands from Asia more confidence in talking to international audiences. For many, this is the very first time theyre seeing appeal from the West, says Sabbagh. They feel way more confident to be who they are and to express who they are to the rest of the world. Its a big shift. They say that this is their way to go bigger, stronger, not changed for the West. They want to be more themselves. Traditionally, Asian companies have been stronger on product than building brands, particularly ones that translate to the West. That challenge remains for many of them. Sabbagh says the brand culture in America is very mature, in terms of how the logo, experience, and story are all tied together. [Photo: Sundry Photography/Adobe Stock] Thats where brands from the East are not as strong as they should be, Sabbagh says. Even a brand as big as Uniqlo, think about how they can go bigger into what is the promise, what is the real brand platform, what people will look for in that specific brand.” Sabbagh adds that many Asian brands hyper focus on process and manufacturing, but that leaves incredible white space for them to grow on the brand side of things. “The brand is what they are missing as the vehicle to go to the other side of the world and to be stronger in their own market,” he says. The aim of the report isnt to get Western brands to mimic their Eastern counterparts, but rather to use their success to identify insights that work for their own audiences. The whole point is to make sure that you’re not just trying to hold up a mirror to these values, but find your version of it, find your truth in it, find what makes it real for you, says Costello. This isnt about going out and trying to replicate exactly what Pop Mart or Miniso have done.
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E-Commerce
Whats one thing every leader can do to make sure employees are happy at work and engaged with their jobs? Make sure they can trust in you, your organization, and one another. Thats the finding in a 2024 meta-analysis of studies with more than 1 million participants. When leaders seek to improve employee well-being, they typically think about things like remote work, flexible schedules, and wellness offerings such as gym memberships. But trust may be the most valuable perk of all. A 2024 meta-analysis by an international research team led by Minxiang Zhao and Yixuan Li of the Renmin University of China psychology department examined 132 studies on trust from around the world. The studies had a total of more than 1 million participants. The researchers focused on two types of trust, interpersonal trust and institutional trust, exactly the two types that can occur in workplaces. They found that both types of trust correlate with social, psychological, and to a lesser extent, physical well-being. If trust is so important, how do you get more of it? Unlike some other things, you cant mandate trust, and you cant demand that employees trust you, your company, or one another. But you can provide a workplace culture where trust can flourish. Here are some ways to do that. 1. Be transparent If you want employees to trust you and your company, its obviously important to treat them fairly. But its almost as important to let them know whats going on. You may have to find a delicate balance between sharing competitive information and keeping too much to yourself. But half the employees in a recent survey said lack of information about what was going on at their companies was their biggest source of stress. Keep that in mind when considering whether to share bad news. 2. Be predictable Many years ago, a CEO known for turning troubled companies around told me that his employees should never have to guess how he would answer a question. He told them his top priorities so they could always predict what he would say. He never wavered from those priorities. We may be fascinated with leaders like Elon Musk who often change their minds. But we trust those like Warren Buffett, who consistently say the same things year after year. The more they can predict what you will say and do, the easier it is for employees to trust you. 3. Be trusting yourself It may be hard for employees to trust you if, say, they know youre using software to monitor their keystrokes. Admittedly, treating employees with trust can backfire in the short term if you trust the wrong person. But in the long term, research shows that more trusting organizations tend to perform better, even in the often mistrustful retail industry. I believe the reason for this is that, while we can easily see the cost of employee dishonesty when it happens, we dont always recognize that our mistrust comes at a high cost as well. If an employee has their bag searched every time they leave work, they wont feel the same trust or affection for the company that they otherwise might. And its human nature for them to try to figure out a way to sneak items out despite the search. 4. Help employees trust one another Setting up competitions that pit employees against each other for important things like compensation can bring about acrimony and mistrust among them. Here again, the short-term gain may not be worth the long-term loss. Employees who trust their coworkers are more likely to collaborate effectively with them. Theyre also likely to be happier, and to stay in their jobs. Relationships at work are often the biggest deterrent to leaving a company. You can help foster those relationships by asking people to collaborate on important projects and letting them share the credit equally. You can also create teams across different functions so that employees get to know their colleagues outside their immediate areas. And of course, any opportunity for employees to socialize, get together outside of work, or work together on community projects can help create those relationships and that trust. In my book Career Self-Care, I explore workplace happiness, and how relationships at work can contribute to that happiness or detract from it. The more employees can trust in you, your company, and one another, the happier and less burned out theyll be. Its your job as a leader to make that happen. Like this column? Sign up to subscribe to email alerts and you’ll never miss a post. The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists re their own, not those of Inc.com. Minda Zetlin This article originally appeared on Fast Companys sister publication, Inc. Inc. is the voice of the American entrepreneur. We inspire, inform, and document the most fascinating people in business: the risk-takers, the innovators, and the ultra-driven go-getters that represent the most dynamic force in the American economy.
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E-Commerce
Tim Cook has led Apple for the past 14 years. In that time, the company’s market cap has jumped from $348 billion to $4 trillion. While his predecessor, Steve Jobs, might have been a leader in the field of innovation, few CEOs have shown the business acumen of Cook. But according to a report in the Financial Times, Cook’s run as CEO could be over as soon as next year. The report has set off a guessing game as to who will take over the tech giant when Cook departs. (Apple did not respond to a request for comment on the FT story.) The name most commonly mentioned is John Ternus, Apple’s senior vice president of hardware engineering, though reportedly no final decisions have been made yet. Ternus wasn’t always the first choice. Jeff Williams was once seen as Cooks most likely successor, but he ended his operational responsibilities in July and plans to retire in the next six weeks. Craig Federighi, Apples senior vice president of software engineering, and Greg Joswiak, senior vice president of worldwide marketing, have also been mentioned as possible successors in the past. However, both the Financial Times and Bloombergs Mark Gurman have said Ternus is the heir apparent. So who is the person who could inherit Apple as it approaches its latest crossroadswith product design more important than ever and AI coming to the forefront? Meet John Ternus At just 50, Ternus is the youngest top executive at Apple, but he’s hardly a newcomer. He has been with the company for nearly 24 years, leading the hardware engineering division since 2013. That puts him in charge of the teams behind the iPhone, iPad, AirPods, Mac, and more. Over the past five years, he has become a more visible presence at Apple events, unveiling the iPhone Air in early 2025 and showing off Apple’s first silicon chip, the M1, in 2000. His engineering background could assuage critics who have complained Apple has become a less revolutionary company under Cook’s leadership (despite the hundreds of products released during his tenure). Ternus started his career in tech at Virtual Research Systems, working on VR headsets for four years before joining Apple in 2001, which let him work on several products that would prove to be iconic for the company. By 2013, he was overseeing Mac and iPad development and added the iPhone hardware to his list of supervised products in 2020. He is said to be well-liked at the company and by Cook, helping to contribute to product road maps and future strategies for Apple. Will Cook retire? Cook turned 65 this month, which has warmed up the talk of his eventual retirement, but he has previously downplayed questions about whether he plans to step down. In January, Cook was a guest on the Table Manners podcast and said his retirement, whenever it should happen to occur, wont meet the traditional definition. He added he likely has many years left at Apple, though with the caveat that he doesnt want to be a CEO for the rest of his life. I dont see being at home doing nothing and not [being] intellectually stimulated and thinking about how tomorrow can be better than today, he said. I think Ill always be wired in that kind of way and want to work.
Category:
E-Commerce
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