YOYO's Sweet Birthday Party is Landing in Shanghai!
Fans are celebrating the first birthday anniversary of YOYO, MINISO's original character, through a variety of formats, including the launch of brand-new products, the release of limited-edition items and the debut of dessert experiences. A new hotspot for trendy consumer culture that combines product sales, immersive experiences and social interaction has been staged to appeal to YOYO lovers.
Since the launch of its first product in 2025, YOYO has rapidly evolved from an original Chinese IP to a global trend-setting IP in less than a year. YOYO’s first birthday celebration was an emotional collaboration between the IP and its fans, and also a showcase of Miniso’s IP management capabilities.
From 24 July to 23 August, YOYO’s birthday-themed pop-up stores opened simultaneously in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, launching over 30 new products across a range of categories including collectable toys, accessories, perfumes and soft toys. YOYO’s brand-new blind box series, new collaborative products and a range of MEGA-sized figurines were all on display.
The YOYO Sweet House bakery and dessert experience proved to be another major highlight of the event, with 10 ice-cream and dessert items featuring the YOYO character making their debut. The launch of this baking and dessert experience marks YOYO’s expansion from trendy toys into lifestyle consumption scenarios, representing a new venture by Miniso as it explores diverse business models for its IP.
YOYO’s birthday-themed stores are also set to open in six cities, including Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Nanjing and Hainan. From pop-up shops to themed stores, the festive atmosphere of YOYO’s birthday celebrations is spreading from key commercial districts to more cities.
Behind the buzz surrounding YOYO’s birthday party lies the commercial potential of Miniso’s focus on its original IP. In June this year, monthly sales of the full YOYO product range in the Chinese market exceeded 100 million yuan. In less than a year since its launch, YOYO has expanded into 53 countries and regions worldwide.
On the one hand, Miniso continues to tap into high-quality global IP resources, transforming classic IPs into product experiences that feel more relevant to everyday life, offer a sense of companionship and drive consumer engagement.
On the other hand, it focuses on incubating exclusive in-house IPs such as YOYO, rapidly bringing them to global markets.
From the CCTV Spring Festival Gala to Paris Fashion Week, the Met Gala and the art exhibition at New York’s Grand Central Station, YOYO has risen to become a ‘global trendy item’ thanks to its unique, uplifting aesthetic and fashionable appeal, establishing itself as one of the fastest-growing Chinese original IPs to achieve large-scale international expansion.
YOYO’s birthday celebrations—featuring pop-up events in three cities, themed stores in six cities and a dessert experience—is a latest demonstration of this capability, transforming the IP from a two-dimensional image into a tangible, interactive and shareable consumer experience. From collaborating with international IPs to incubating its own IPs, and from product development to experience management, Miniso has established a complete value chain, demonstrating its systematic capabilities as a ‘world-leading IP operations platform’.
It also provides a practical model that can serve as a reference and benchmark for the globalisation of Chinese IP. Miniso will continue to strive to become a leading global IP management platform, and pledges to provide systematic support to help more original Chinese IPs reach a global audience.
