Hey everyone, this is Tommy. I wanted to take a moment to recap our experience launching Channel COSU x Mr. Surprise. If you’re curious about how we got into Mr. Surprise, and everything that went into this pop-up campaign, this is for you!
We decided to host our first ever public launch at our community's most popular toy store, Mr.Surprise. Located at the Midland and Finch plaza in Scarborough, this shop is a hub for toy enthusiasts, offering POPMart products and organizing initiatives that support local artists.
It felt right to start our journey in a place we call home. My brother Jackie and I grew up in Scarborough, spending our childhood in this vibrant, gritty east-end community. The supportive environment here laid the foundation for our confidence to pursue something bigger.
We created Channel COSU as an expression of our childhood, and values. The wholesome character and vibrant designs we made were inspired by all the digital content we consumed via comic books, YTV, maplestory, and select anime series. There was definitely a lot of Asian influence based on our environment and upbringing.
Our character Napa dives deep into the narrative of digital consumption and over-consumerism of mass media. Napa is an alien, and just like us, he spends a lot of his time watching human content. When you bring him to your home, he's now in your channel, watching you.
At the start of 2024, we applied through Mr. Surprise’s standard process for their Artist Alley. We didn’t hear back for months due to the long queue of talented artists waiting for their turn. Rather than giving up, we leaned on our network for support.
I reached out to Chris, co-founder of Jollybeast whose brand had collaborated with Mr. Surprise earlier in the year, to learn more about their story. During a catch-up meal, we gained valuable insights into his business, their best practices, and some common mistakes to avoid. More importantly, our shared love for art toys and supporting creatives rekindled our friendship. By the end of dinner, Chris offered to refer us directly to Mr. Surprise—a game-changing opportunity.
Recognizing our shared vision and strong alignment, we secured an in-store pop-up takeover with Mr. Surprise from November 7 to November 14, 2024.
Due to the overwhelmingly positive response from the community and the relationship that we developed with the Mr. Surprise team, our Channel COSU pop-up was extended by an additional 3.5 weeks, running until December 8, 2024. What began as a one-week takeover evolved into a month-long immersive activation, exceeding all expectations.
Our top selling product during the pop-up was our mystery pins. There are 10 different pin designs for you to collect. You can actually buy a few packs here if you're interested. Reflecting on the experience, stepping into a retail space filled with renowned and iconic IPs brought its own set of challenges in capturing the consumer’s attention. However, what truly matters is how you maximize the opportunity. We’re incredibly grateful for the exposure of introducing Napa to the community and having that direct opportunity to engage with the audience.
This campaign was a huge milestone for us. Being able to do a pop-up in one of our favourite toy shops, and then getting the duration extended was really all thanks to our COSU-mers. By taking opportunities into our own hands, we made this happen. We hope this campaign recap was able to provide you with some additional insights to our current developments. If you haven't noticed, we have our Napa - founders edition available for sale right now (until quantities last). Limited to only 150 pieces and is COSU's very first toy release. The founders edition comes with an exclusive gold remote and gold couch legs.
If you enjoyed this behind-the-scenes look, we’d love for you to join our mailing list and follow along as we continue to grow!