According to a 2026 KPMG report, China's designer toy market size will reach approximately 82.5 billion RMB in 2025, representing a year-on-year growth of 40.5%, and is projected to exceed 213.3 billion RMB by 2030. Over 90% of young people recognize "emotional value," and nearly 60% are willing to pay for emotional satisfaction—making IP co-branded products no longer just an "added bonus," but an "essential option" to leverage young consumers' purchasing power.
This trend has intensified brands' desires to create IP co-branding content. The problem is: as the market expands, content strategies tend to converge—brands want the IP to "do something," desire "story-driven" content, and seek "buzzworthy marketing points."
However, the logic for classic, nostalgic IPs is precisely the opposite.
Different IPs, Different Propositions
Before delving into classic IPs, it is essential to clarify one principle: IP co-branding content is not a uniform proposition; different types of IPs require fundamentally different content logics.
Trending viral IPs (such as Zootopia 2) follow a content logic of "riding the momentum"—leveraging movie excitement and topic windows within tight turnaround times to position brands inside the IP's high-traffic field. Content needs to be fast, precise, and capable of passing strict copyright reviews by the licensor.
Sports event IPs (such as FIFA or F1) follow a content logic of "atmosphere perception"—allowing consumers to feel "this is the World Cup" or "this is F1" even without match footage. Content needs to convey the IP's identity through symbolic design within copyright boundaries.
Classic nostalgic IPs operate on an entirely different content logic—they do not need to ride momentum because the IP itself is the momentum; they do not require symbolic design because the IP's image is the ultimate symbol. What they require is restraint.
Classic IPs' Emotional Heritage Needs No Content "Explanation"
Monchhichi is a classic IP created in 1974 by Sekiguchi in Akihabara, Tokyo, spanning over 50 years of global history. Its emotional resonance spans across generations—some owned it in childhood, some discovered it through parents, and others re-discovered it in adulthood, finding emotional resonance in feeling "understood."
Consumers of this classic IP differ fundamentally from consumers of viral trending IPs: they do not need to be "persuaded" to like the IP. They already love it, and that affection carries the weight of time.
When creating co-branded content for such IPs, the most common mistake brands make is trying to "over-dramatize the IP"—forcibly constructing a narrative framework to make Monchhichi "tell a story," "complete a mission," or "express a viewpoint." The issue is not whether the creative idea is good, but that the direction is wrong: it consumes the IP's emotional capital rather than activating it.
Consumers love Monchhichi because it is simply Monchhichi—that round, thumb-sucking, slightly goofy, but overwhelmingly adorable little character. When content attempts to "add drama," Monchhichi ceases to be the soft-hearted character people cherish and becomes "a character borrowed by a brand to tell a story."
Restraint Is Insight
For the MINISO × Monchhichi co-branded collection, FansAI's creative logic for the AIGC content was simple: let Monchhichi wear items from the MINISO collection and just be itself within MINISO's brand environment.
Outfit changes. Scene integration. No complex narratives.
This "simplicity" was not an absence of creativity, but an accurate judgment of classic IP communication logic—the content's purpose was not to manufacture new memory points for the IP, but to allow the IP's inherent charm to flow naturally within the brand's setting.
Monchhichi put on the co-branded hoodie, carried a MINISO shopping bag, and waved in front of the store—what consumers saw was not "MINISO promoting new products," but "Monchhichi visiting MINISO." The brand's product line achieved organic exposure through the IP's "daily life" rather than through "advertising."
The difference between these two feelings is precisely the difference between restraint and over-dramatization.
Technical Execution: Precision Behind Restraint
Restrained content judgment does not mean relaxing technical execution. Classic IPs often demand far stricter image accuracy than creatively complex projects.
As an independent Japanese IP with nearly 50 years of history, Monchhichi's licensor enforces strict precision down to hand proportions, facial features, and fur texture—this aligns with the precise perception consumers have built over decades. Any minor detail discrepancy will be noticed and disrupt the emotional reassurance of "this is the Monchhichi I know."
FansAI locked down Monchhichi's visual details using custom 3D character modeling, built dedicated reference frame libraries for different outfit styling scenarios, and utilized dynamic generation to ensure that during dressing, movement, and interaction, precision remained intact—soft fur texture, adorable curves in hand movements, and facial expression consistency across scenes were where the project's technical resources were most heavily invested.
The visual success of "simple" outfit changes rests on the "far-from-simple" control of visual precision.
Takeaways for Brands
An 82.5 billion RMB market size means that competition in IP co-branding will continue to intensify—more brands are executing co-branding campaigns, and consumer aesthetic thresholds are rising simultaneously.
In this environment, the content value of classic nostalgic IPs is being re-evaluated: they do not need complex creative ideas to "manufacture memory points," because they are the memory. Brands need to find ways to let the IP appear naturally in their environments, rather than making the IP "perform" for the brand.
Different IP co-brandings require fundamentally distinct content judgments. Viral trending IPs need speed and copyright agility, sports IPs need symbolic design, and classic nostalgic IPs require restraint and visual precision—there is no one-size-fits-all solution, only an accurate understanding of each IP's emotional architecture.
This is the insight FansAI continues to validate across MINISO's series of IP co-branding projects: content science is not merely technical execution; it is understanding the emotional logic of an IP before starting, and determining what content approach allows it to truly thrive within a brand setting.