An Exploration of the Transition of Chinese Cultural and Creative Brands from “Story-Driven” to “Symbol-Driven”— Taking the Practices of the Duffy Family and Pop Mart as Examples

Yuqi Hu

doi:10.54254/2753-7064/2025.ND28100

Communications in Humanities ResearchOpen access

An Exploration of the Transition of Chinese Cultural and Creative Brands from “Story-Driven” to “Symbol-Driven”— Taking the Practices of the Duffy Family and Pop Mart as Examples

Research Article

Open Access

An Exploration of the Transition of Chinese Cultural and Creative Brands from “Story-Driven” to “Symbol-Driven”— Taking the Practices of the Duffy Family and Pop Mart as Examples

Yuqi Hu ^1*

¹ Hunan Normal University

^*Corresponding author: 202230116078@hunnu.edu.cn

Published on 23 October 2025

CHR Vol.90

ISSN (Print): 2753-7072

ISSN (Online): 2753-7064

ISBN (Print): 978-1-80590-461-8

ISBN (Online): 978-1-80590-462-5

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Abstract

In the context of the accelerated restructuring of the global cultural and creative industry pattern, more and more cultural brands are gradually shifting from the traditional "story-driven" model to the "symbol-driven" model. This marketing strategy, with visual symbols and emotional markers as the core not only significantly reduces the cost of content production and cultural communication, but also achieves efficient cultural output. Thus, it promotes the spread and recognition of local culture on a global scale. This study takes Bubble Mart and Disney's Duffy family as the main cases to systematically analyze their brand construction and communication paths, deconstructing around three dimensions: the symbolic layer, the emotional layer, and the cultural layer. At the symbolic level, focus on character design, visual systems, and the identification of IP symbols. At the emotional level, analyze the emotional connections, community identity, and consumer resonance generated by users through symbols. At the cultural level, explore the cultural values behind symbols and analyze how local aesthetic elements can be expressed internationally, exploring how Chinese cultural and creative brands achieve cultural dissemination through a “background-free” symbolization strategy, and how to shape a leading Chinese cultural brand and provide theoretical references and practical paths for the international development of Chinese cultural and creative brands.

Keywords:

symbol-driven, cultural communication, symbol recognition, emotional recognition, cultural recognition

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References

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References

[1]. Internet Sorting, The commercial secrets behind Labubu's phenomenal popularity: how a trendy toy drove 375% growth overseas, 2025-08-14, https: //www.baogaobox.com/insights/250804000015899.html

[2]. Mao, Z. H. (2008) On Baudrillard's Theory of Symbolic Consumption. Legal System and Society: Ruishi Edition, (13): 2.

[3]. Zhang, W. P. Zhang Y. P. (2025) The Construction and Communication Characteristics of Disney Brand IP Images. Media, (05): 51-53.

[4]. Zhao H. (2023) Self-satisfaction of blind box consumers in the context of symbolic consumption: The case of Pop Mart. Communication and Copyright, (15): 89-92.

[5]. Huang, F. M. Yuan J, C. (2021) Analysis of the Reasons for the Rapid Development of the Blind Box Industry: A Case Study of “Pop Mart”. National Circulation Economy, (03): 21-23.

[7]. Li, C. L. (2021) Analysis of the Current Status and Design Research of Regional Cultural and Creative Products. Art Education Research, (02): 65-67.

Cite this article

Hu,Y. (2025). An Exploration of the Transition of Chinese Cultural and Creative Brands from “Story-Driven” to “Symbol-Driven”— Taking the Practices of the Duffy Family and Pop Mart as Examples. Communications in Humanities Research,90,25-31.

Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.

About volume

Volume title: Proceedings of ICIHCS 2025 Symposium: Voices of Action: Narratives of Faith, Ethics, and Social Practice

ISBN: 978-1-80590-461-8(Print) / 978-1-80590-462-5(Online)

Editor: Enrique Mallen , Kurt Buhring

Conference website: https://2025.icihcs.org/

Conference date: 17 November 2025

Series: Communications in Humanities Research

Volume number: Vol.90

ISSN: 2753-7064(Print) / 2753-7072(Online)

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