FGA CHAT | Shi Junkuang: Building an AR mobilization in the toy industry

The guest of this issue of FGA CHAT is Shi Junkuang, the founder of Dilong Group in Hong Kong, China.

His father, Shi Weixiong, started from scratch and founded an educational toy company, Hong Kong Yigo Group, and became the world's hottest toy leader.Shi Junkuang made bold innovations on the basis of the toy industry laid by his parents and developed a series of AR toys .

The AR toy he developed won the German iF Design Award and the Italian A'Design Award in 2018 and 2021, and won unanimous praise in the industry.

At the same time, this series of AR toys has also been recognized and praised by consumers in the consumer market. The global sales volume has rapidly reached more than 500,000 units, and it is still growing at a considerable rate every year. This post-90s toy industry rookie came into our field of vision with a beautiful report card.

01 Broaden your horizons and discover new opportunities

Shi Junkuang is no exception.

Shi Junkuang traveled across the oceans since he was in middle school and went to the UK to study alone. While studying in the UK, Shi Junkuang did not just be a student who did not hear things outside the window, but kept observing the people and the environment around him.

"When I was in the UK, I met many friends from different countries. I saw cultural diversity in them. Their perspective on the world is very different from that of my friends in China. But different Although the country’s educational concepts and methods have their own merits,But the things to learn are the same. For example, I have some classmates from western countries. Their childhood is very happy. They don't need to study hard, and they are playing most of the time. But in Hong Kong, China, a child has already started tutoring homework at a very young age, and has been studying many things by endorsement. ”

This kind of polarized education method has made Shi Junkuan more interested in research.

(Shi Junkuang's toy family was born in

8 )

Shi Junkuang, naturally began to consider the differences in the world he perceives from the perspective of toys.

"After I finished my study and work in the United States, I came back to Yigao to help. I found that our previous generation spent most of their time in China and did not understand the global cultural differences well, so they did not recognize the opportunities in the differences. When I learned about the cultures of my classmates from different countries from middle school, I found that each country and region has very different ways of learning.

Chinese children are very hard-working. The way of learning is mainly by endorsement, but in foreign countries, many of them use play to explore the theory itself. If this concept is put in China, the next generation can learn faster.

When I was still in the United States in 2014, I was already exposed to some educational apps. I have always had an idea, I want to combine APP with toys. Because the traditional toys are bought back, they may feel boring after playing for a week, and then they will be put on the shelf. But if the toy and the APP are connected together, the APP can be continuously upgraded, and new knowledge can be continuously injected, which can truly be a long-term entertaining and entertaining."

02 The toy industry needs AR general mobilization

more and more mobile phones are now in the computer and choose 8span today. In the " Notice on Preventing Minors from Indulging in Online Games" released in 1991, it is required to implement real-name systems for online games and limit the length of time that minors can use. Many game platforms officially launched the anti-addiction system for minors to play For games, the daily accumulation must not exceed 3 hours during legal holidays, and the daily accumulation must not exceed 1.5 hours at other times.

Parents blindly forcibly stopping it will only backfire and stimulate the child's rebellious mentality, causing conflicts between the two parties.

Shi Junkuang saw this pain point, and he thought that since they are all playing, they can play something more meaningful.

"We can see that many children are playing video games now , Play on computers, mobile phones, iPads, etc. Research data from a toy safety testing company shows that the growth of virtual reality (AR) toys is about 18.5-20 points per year, so our toy thinking also needs to be changed.

The first product created by Shi Junkuang after the founding of the Emperor Dragon Group is a children's teaching telescope that combines AR and APP. This telescope has been widely acclaimed once it came out.

"I connected the telescope to the mobile phone APP, plus a cartoon that children like very much. Children can pick up the telescope and use the APP guidance to find the location of the planet they want to see, such as Venus and the moon , Mars, etc. After they observe, they can use the cartoons on the APP to learn the stories behind them."

(AR telescope)

This product won the German iF Design Award. This made Shi Junkuan feel some unexpected surprises, and the "Oscar" award in the design industry gave him great encouragement.

In Shi Junkuang's eyes, AR toys are not the privilege of a few people, and should bring happiness and hope to children around the world. He hopes that AR toys can be popularized all over the world. This is the general trend under technological progress, and it is also a contribution to global education equality.

Therefore, Shi Junkuang has strictly controlled the price of the product, and this has made Dilong's products once again received full praise.

"When I went to Germany to receive the award, I asked the judges why they liked my product? They said that other products with similar functions might cost two to three thousand yuan to buy, but our price is only It costs three or four hundred yuan, and the price difference makes them very fond. They said something very profound to me: "You may not know that many children in poor areas also hope to learn this knowledge, but they will always I can't afford such an expensive telescope. If your product is placed in these areas, parents can afford this telescope, so that their children can also learn about astronomy. This makes us feel that this product is particularly meaningful .'”

03 Business management needs respect and listening

Detours. He encountered talent problems that many entrepreneurs would find difficult, especially the development of AR toys, which requires talents with both scientific research and innovation capabilities.

Shi Junkuang slowly figured out the talent training suitable for Emperor Dragon The road.

"When the company was first founded, I was always looking for different designers, but they were all replaced after only two months because I felt that their ideas and logic were wrong. But when I changed four or five people, I found that this was not the way. My requirements may be relatively high, and it is also more difficult to find qualified talents on the market. Slowly I started to try to train employees, I found that training can really change a person, and their progress is very fast.

Actually, it’s not that the person invited is wrong, but the training system is not perfect. So I pay special attention to training in management. For example, if some old employees are leaving, I ask them to write down their experiences so that new employees can learn more quickly.

Except for the identity of the start-up company manager, Shi Junkuang has another identity that cannot be ignored, that is, the next-generation successor of the Ego Group. In Shi Junkuang’s eyes, the identity of the second-generation entrepreneur is not a shackle.It is the motivation to motivate and spur yourself .

Shi Junkuang felt that his ideas were not shared by many people when he first returned to work at Yigao. He did not force his colleagues to accept his ideas, but set up a new company to realize his ideas. He believes that as the second generation of an enterprise, the adjustment of mentality is very important, and it is necessary to learn to respect and listen.

After working hard and achieving results, the attitude of the company's employees towards Shi Junkuang has also changed. His ideas and style of doing things are slowly being accepted by more people.

"Before I won the award for this product, many people were not very optimistic about me. I can understand their doubts. All I can do is insist on doing my own thing. When I do After some achievements, they have greatly improved me. They had never thought that such a product could sell so well before. Some toys only reached my one-year sales in two years. When they saw the products I developed When they can really lead the company to a new stage, they will agree with these decisions.

Of course I will ask them many times, because after all, as a young man, the experience is still very lacking. . So a team must learn to understand and respect each other. For the second generation, the first thing I have to do is to respect them and understand their ideas, and then they will respect my decision."

has been deeply involved in the toy industry, allowing Shi Junkuang to have a childlike innocence while maintaining rationality and caution. He firmly believes that toys will have an impact on a child's life.

"For children to learn better things,To do some positive guidance for their future, our entire company has such a mentality and goal. We must ensure the safety and accuracy of toys, and always remind ourselves that what we are doing is something that will have a huge impact on the future.

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