BW2025: How Brands Won Over The Hearts of Gen-Z
Last week, HI-COM’s cross-cultural scouting squad spent three adrenaline-charged days on the 240,000 m² floor of Bilibili World 2025 in Shanghai.If you missed it, here’s an extended walk-through of the moments that made 300,000 Gen-Z pilgrims scream, cry, and smash the “share” button – plus all the brand mechanics.
A city built inside a convention centre
Enter Hall N1 and you are suddenly in the heart of “BW City”. Organisers recreated a cyber-punk night market with working ramen stalls, a neon river and a 40-m wide LED sky that shifted from twilight to meteor shower every 20 minutes. 42 mascots (Bili-tan & friends) popped up on balconies and triggered spontaneous crowd “wave” chants – no MC needed here.
Virtual idol concerts turned into co-op games
∞ Day 1: Holographic mega-unit “VirtuaReal LINK” performed on a 270°stage. Every seat had a Bluetooth pulse wristband; when the chorus hit, the colour pattern was crowdsourced in real time from the audience’s heart-rate data (visualised as a beating logo on the jumbotron).
∞ Day 2: A-List VTuber Kizuna AI returned after a two-year hiatus. Fans who pre-registered received an AR “light blade” on their phone; swinging it in sync with the choreography unlocked exclusive Bilibili emojis dropping straight into their account inventory.
Meet-your-avatar goes hyper-personal
Sony’s “Digidom” dome deserves its own paragraph:
∞ 124 8K cameras capturing you in 5 seconds.
∞ Edge servers rendered a 1:1 3D clone and placed you beside Aniplex heroes in a 12-second cinematic trailer.
∞ You exited though a “memory kiosk” that laser-etched the QR code of your clip onto an acrylic key charm before you even left the queue. Average dwell time: 7 minutes; average social shares: 4.7 per guest.
AAA game worlds you could smell
∞ miHoYo’s Inazuma streetscape not only looked right – it also smelled right. Scent diffusers pumped out sakura and tatami notes timed to the day-night cycle. If participants finished a web-event quest in the teahouse, then staff handed them a real omamori printed on fabric that doubled as an NFC badge for an online gacha spin.
∞ HoYoverse also built a life-size “Simulated Universe” elevator. As you stepped in, the doors closed, LED walls ran a 15-second warp animation, the doors then reopened into a mirrored room stocked with unreleased merchandise. Phones auto-connected to a private Wi-Fi that let you pre-order before the rest of the world.
Indie wonderland & creator economy
“BW Garage” hosted 65 debut titles. The buzz magnet: an unannounced rhythm-roguelite from a two-person Chengdu studio. Players who beat the demo received a physical cassette with the OST – retro enough to trend on Xiaohongshu within hours. Bilibili’s own VTubers streamed live from the booth – tipping culture in full swing.
Big-brand magic moments
Sony
∞ Fate/Grand Order battle pods: haptic floor panels + marker-less mocap let you parry with Excalibur. Every successful block triggered bass shakers and a gust of ozone-scented wind.
∞ “Ghost Slayer” Infinite Castle corridor: projection-mapped walls auto-inserted your DSLR portrait into iconic anime frames. Guests left with a printed polaroid and an AR filter that let them re-enact the scene at home.
Canon
∞ EOS Stamp Rally across four themed islands. Complete macro, portrait, cosplay and VR challenges, then print your favourite on a palm-sized Canon SELPHY printer. The rally card became a limited-edition collectible seeded with AR filters that unlocked new poses every 24 hours after the show.
Panasonic (Lumix)
∞ Insta-broadcast station: S5IIX rigs live-streamed every booth in 6K. Spot yourself on the 50-m LED wall, scan a QR, download the 4K frame water-marked “Shot on Lumix”. Influencer collab: 30 Bilibili photography UP hosts ran impromptu masterclasses; their clips hit 10 M views before the weekend ended.
Razer
∞ A 360° motion-capture “Cyber-Rig” let players control a Chroma-lit mech in a 3-minute arena fight. Win and your in-game skin was minted as a dynamic NFT, viewable on your Razer ID profile.
Sustainability = social currency
Sony built benches out of SORPLAS recycled plastic; each had an NFC tag telling the plastic’s origin story. Canon’s photo paper was fully recyclable and doubled as origami instructions for a Bili-tan figure. Gen-Z queued longer for these “green badges of honour” than for some of the AAA demos.
Key take-aways for brands looking for Gen-Z love
- Let them step *inside* the IP – full-body, multi-sensory, shareable in under 30 seconds.
- Reward knowledge, not just wallet size – hidden quests for lore-masters create louder advocacy.
- Collab with native creators – 800+ BW UP hosts amplified activations before booths were even built.
- Instant, personalised UGC is non-negotiable – if it can’t be posted before the queue ends, it doesn’t exist.
- Sustainability must be experiential, not a footnote – turn green choices into collectibles.
At HI-COM, we translate these insights into cross-cultural campaigns that speak to Gen-Z clearly and fluently – whether in Shanghai, Seoul, or San Diego. Get in touch now!
