Reporter of Every Journal: Song Meilu Editor of Every Journal: Dong Xingsheng Ruixing Coffee is also playing "small card". On January 22nd, #伊烊千玺瑞素小卡# was on the hot search list. Under the entry, many fans were posting orders and exchanging cards. This is a marketing campaign ini

Every reporter: Song Meilu Every editor: Dong Xingsheng

Ruixing Coffee is also playing "small card".

A reporter from "Daily Economic News" noticed that the price of a single small card on the second-hand platform has reached 30 yuan, and the price of the whole set exceeds 100 yuan. However, offline Luckin stores did not experience the same hot scene as when the “Soy Sauce Latte” was launched. Two days after it went online, reporters visited many stores and were told that there were still remaining small cards.

After Luckin announced Yi Yang Qianxi as the brand spokesperson, the fan effect was obvious and it became a hot topic on social media many times. In the past year, new tea and coffee brands have cooperated with young idols, and "peripheral products" and "small cards" have also become important marketing tools. At the beginning of the new year, Cudi Coffee officially announced Wang Yibo as its spokesperson, which also triggered a "new type of business war" between Cudi and Luckin at the beginning of the new year.

Why do coffee brands join forces with traffic stars? Can the fan economy drive performance growth?

A single card on the second-hand trading platform is 30 yuan, and the sales volume of store packages is "not too much"

The "small card" trend was relatively popular in Korean entertainment in the past. Most of them are bonuses for celebrity peripheral products such as albums and photos. The content on the card is usually the unpublished content of performing arts stars. Public portrait photos. Such small cards are usually not sold directly and mainly rely on second-hand trading platforms for circulation.

On January 22, a reporter visited a Luckin store in Beijing and found that the small card activity did attract some Yi Yang Qianxi fans to come and buy. The store's large screen also displays Yi Yang Qianxi's exclusive photo card set: a two-cup set starts at 36 yuan and comes with one photo card, and a three-cup set starts at 54 yuan and comes with 2 photo cards. It is reported that there are a total of 4 types of gift cards, and the specific card faces are random blind boxes. Judging from the pictures posted by fans, many of them got duplicates. In order to get 4 cards with different faces, some fans bought dozens of cups of coffee.

Picture source: Photo by reporter Song Meilu

In terms of price, the average price of a small card set coffee is 18 yuan per cup. The reporter noticed that there are a total of 19 types of coffee in the three-cup set, 12 of which have a daily price of 9.9 yuan per cup. On the second-hand trading platform, the small card currently sells for about 30 yuan per piece. In Luckin Coffee's Douyin live broadcast room, the sales volume of "Yi Yang Qianxi Small Card Exclusive Package" has reached 12,000, and Douyin group buying shows that the total sales of the two packages exceed 40,000.

But breaking away from the fan circle and looking at the entire market, Luckin’s marketing campaign was not as popular as the previous “Sauce Latte” joint marketing campaign. According to the clerk, the number of small cards in each store is allocated by the headquarters, and there is no limit to the distribution every day, while supplies last for the same batch. On January 24, the small card activity had been online for two days. A reporter from "Daily Economic News" consulted more than ten Luckin stores in Beijing, and only one said that the small cards had been distributed. When asked about the sales, a store clerk responded: It doesn't count. many.

In the co-branding circle of new tea drinks, Ruixing can be said to be "far ahead". There will be 12 co-brands in 2023, including animated characters "Tom and Jerry" and "Line Puppy", as well as real-life co-brands such as "Lu Xianren" and "He Guangzhi". But what really set off the Internet was the launch of the joint product "Sauce Latte" between Luckin and Moutai in September last year, which created phenomenal popularity. The sales volume of a single product on the first day was 5.42 million + cups, and the sales of a single product exceeded 100 million yuan. Refresh single product record.

is reflected in the financial report. In the third quarter of 2023, Ruixing Coffee achieved operating income of 7.2 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 84.9%. Operating profit under U.S. accounting principles (GAAP) was RMB 961.7 million, with an operating profit margin of 13.4%. Luckin Coffee stated in its financial report that due to the dual effects of accelerating store layout and continuous product innovation, superimposed on a strategy centered on digitalization, the number of new customers of Luckin Coffee exceeded 30 million this quarter, and the average number of monthly transaction customers reached 58.48 million. Hit another record high. As of the third quarter of 2023, Luckin Coffee’s cumulative consumer customers have exceeded 200 million.

It is worth noting that the new product launched at the same time as Yi Yang Qianxi’s small card set is the “Year of the Dragon Sauce Chocolate” drink co-branded with Moutai, which also did not reproduce the popularity of last year.

"This is just another joint brand of Luckin, trying to gain a sense of presence among the fan base influenced by traffic stars." Regarding the feedback from the market, Internet analyst Zhang Shule said, "No matter how you do marketing, In the end, the consumer experience will all fall on the product. If a product does not have strong innovative features and unique experience, it will be difficult to become a hit by relying on the attention of idols."

New tea drinks and coffee are aimed at traffic artists just for "freshness" "?

At the beginning of 2024, the first "business war" in the coffee industry was started by spokespersons.

On November 27, 2023, the day before Yi Yang Qianxi’s birthday, Ruixing officially announced Yi Yang Qianxi as its global spokesperson. Kudi Coffee, which is regarded as Ruixing’s “rival”, officially announced that Wang Yibo would become the brand spokesperson on January 5, 2024. On the same day, Luckin launched the "Motorcycle Sister (Wang Yibo's fan name) exclusive" package, which was dubbed a "new type of business war" by netizens.

In the past year, coffee and new tea drinks have been moving closer to popular celebrities in choosing spokespersons. In April 2023, Naixue’s tea official announced Zhang Linghe as the brand spokesperson; in June, Chali Tea signed Xiao Zhan as the brand spokesperson; in October, tims Tianhao Coffee announced Cheng Lei as the brand’s warm ambassador; in November, Lucky Coffee It is officially announced that the first brand spokesperson is Ju Jingyi.

Picture source: Lucky Cafe official Weibo

Young idols have become an important means of brand marketing with their fashionable and trendy image and strong fan base. New tea and coffee brands hope to quickly expand market share and enhance brand awareness and reputation through cooperation with young idols.

Zhang Shule believes that the core reason for brands to choose popular celebrity endorsements is to attract a wave of attention among young people. "Not just advertising, but also hoping to introduce fan traffic into the store through the spokesperson's peripheral products." In addition to endorsements by

, the new tea brand will also increase its popularity through short-term cooperation such as brand sponsorship and naming. For example, in Jay Chou's "Fant" On the 22nd anniversary of the release of the "West" album, Nai Xue's Tea teamed up with Bohe App to launch the "Fantasy Music Universe" joint milk tea; Bawang Cha Ji collaborated with Wang Jiaer's concert; Linlee collaborated with Zhang Yixing's concert, etc.

"The younger generation is the main force in the new consumption track, and young idols are naturally more likely to attract the attention of young people born after 1995. This is the basic base, and then we can tap potential consumers through co-branding with traditional brands and two-dimensional brands." Zhang Shule explain.

According to Meituan data, the post-90s generation is the “main force” in the new tea drink consumption market, accounting for 50.96% of consumers in 2022. The post-00s generation is another "new force" that is gradually emerging in the new tea drink consumption market. They are the only age group that has grown for three consecutive years, with their consumption proportion increasing from 9.6% in 2020 to 13.42% in 2022. The "2023 Douyin New Tea Drink Track Special Report" released by Juduo Engine shows that 67% of users who place orders for tea drinks are under 30 years old. Behind

's low price and grabbing "people" is a change in the direction of efforts.

Zheshang Securities research report data shows that the concentration of the freshly ground coffee industry is higher than that of freshly brewed tea. Currently, there are about 170,000 freshly ground coffee stores in my country, with more than 100 chain brands, and the top 5 brands (number of stores) account for the market share The rate is about 21%. The research report believes that the focus of competition for subsequent brands in the coffee market lies in the expansion of lower-tier markets. "The current layout of freshly ground coffee brands is still dominated by high-tier cities in East China. The focus of competition for subsequent coffee brands is the expansion of the sinking market, that is, the increase in penetration. The difficulty of competition lies in consumer education in the sinking market. Leading brands enjoy brand and scale advantages. While competing for land, the consumer base and coffee culture determine the ceiling for short-term store openings."

The trend of idol endorsements in the new tea market has brought certain commercial value for companies to get out of the circle, but traffic is not a universal "magic weapon." Zhang Shule said: "The biggest advantage of finding traffic celebrities to endorse is naturally the attention economy, and it can attract traffic and retain customers through peripheral derivatives, but the disadvantage is that idol halo cannot solve the bottleneck of product experience innovation. Once the novelty wears off, marketing will gradually become ineffective. .”

Daily Economic News