Yesterday, when we woke up, we found that Luckin Coffee suddenly posted a message on its official Weibo: "Countdown to 3 days!" For the first time in 34 years, this cooperative brand has been jointly named." At the same time, there is also a joint poster picture, the poster on the left is Luckin's classic coffee cup shape, and on the right is... A big group of mosaics?
Luckin Coffee releases countdown poster; Image source: Weibo @ Luckin Coffee
Look closely at this mosaic, why is the color block so familiar? Black, yellow, blue, red... Isn't this the classic color scheme of coconut palm? Luckin Coffee is going to cooperate with Coconut Coconut Juice?
Luckin Coffee's comments section verified our conjecture. Some netizens commented that the "coconut coconut joint name" got an official reply; some users joked that "this can be said", directly put the coconut brand coconut juice P picture on the original poster; more netizens confidently said that "this code is the same as not playing".
Brands and netizens interact in the comments section; image source: Weibo screenshot
In the face of netizens who "solved the case", Luckin Coffee officially said "hard mouth": It is difficult to guess it. We also contacted Luckin Coffee for the first time, and the brand said that it was temporarily inconvenient to disclose.
But in fact, it is not so much that when you wake up and "suddenly" find that Luckin and Coconut Tree are jointly named, it is better to say that there are early signs.
We noticed on April 7 that a Weibo blogger posted that Luckin Coffee is about to launch a new co-branded product with coconut palm juice, and directly posted a co-branded version of the cup cover. Asked a few colleagues, everyone thinks that the classic design of the Luckin logo and coconut palm juice is very realistic on the cup cover, and it does not look like a prank by netizens.
Netizens posted that Luckin Coffee is about to co-brand with coconut coconut water; image source: Weibo screenshot
In addition, we cross-validated conjectures on social platforms. Some netizens posted the same cup cover picture on the Little Red Book, indicating that the joint product has not yet been listed, but the "joint cup cover" has been new.
Some netizens are posting cup sets in the Little Red Book; image source: Screenshot of the Little Red Book
There is also a scene of "lucky netizens" accidentally bumping into the scene of receiving goods at Luckin stores, which has several boxes of coconut palm juice "random in". Why do whole boxes of coconut palm juice appear in Luckin Coffee Stores? Its role is self-evident.
Some netizens accidentally bumped into coconut palm juice in the Luckin store; image source: Screenshot of Little Red Book
Although some employees who claim to be Luckin stores said that the use of co-branded materials before April 11 did not meet the unified regulations, and the official is still in the stage of secrecy, sharp-eyed consumers have collected "evidence" to confirm the possibility of joint signatures between Luckin and Coconut Tree.
On the afternoon of April 8, Luckin Coffee released a poster saying that it hoped to let it perform quietly, and with the "evidence" of netizens, it also confirmed everyone's conjecture about its joint name.
Luckin Coffee has updated a new version of the poster for the "breaking news" of netizens; image source: Luckin Coffee
Hainan Coconut Tree Group said on the official Weibo that it has jointly signed for the first time in 34 years; image source: Weibo screenshot
Then Luckin said in the Comments section of the Weibo, "Please pretend not to know if you can", and hainan coconut tree group also commented that "forget it, tomorrow we will continue to 'act'". And forwarded the Microblog saying that "everyone cooperate, tomorrow's work will continue", and the comedic effect of the joint event was simply full.
Luckin Coffee and Hainan Coconut Tree Group interact in comments; Image source: Weibo screenshot
Hainan Coconut Tree Group forwarded Luckin Weibo; image source: Weibo screenshot
When netizens excitedly discussed whether they could grab the co-brand coffee on April 11, we also hoped to take the opportunity to discuss: Ruixing, which created a "raw coconut latte" hit, whether the co-branded coconut tree can recreate an Internet celebrity? Since raw coconut latte is on fire, why do you still need to cooperate with coconut trees? What is the situation facing the coconut tree of "the first joint name in 34 years" in the coconut water market?
1. Luckin + Coconut Tree = Next Raw Coconut Latte?
How hot is the raw coconut latte launched by Luckin in 2021?
Some media said that just over a month after the listing, Luckin's coconut series products have sold a total of 420,000 cups. By the end of June, Luckin again announced that the figure had exceeded 10 million cups (single-month cup volume)"[1].
On April 6, 2022, Luckin Coffee announced on its official Weibo that as of 19:48 on April 6, the sales of raw coconut lattes had exceeded 100 million cups. What is this concept? If 1,000 people drank raw coconut lattes every day, 365 days a year, it would take more than 274 years to drink 100 million cups.
The sales of raw coconut lattes exceeded 100 million cups; image source: Weibo @ Luckin Coffee
At the same time, Luckin Coffee also launched a theme activity with the theme of "Raw Coconut Latte 1st Anniversary". The brand conducted a #Raw Coconut Latte 1 Anniversary #Topic Interactive Raffle on its official Weibo to attract users to participate in the loud volume.
Luckin released the #Raw Coconut Latte First Anniversary # campaign; Image source: Weibo screenshot
In addition, Luckin also shouted the slogan of "drinking raw coconut latte to 100 million cups" on the same Weibo. When Luckin has higher expectations for the sales of raw coconut lattes, this time choosing to join hands with coconut trees must be hoping to promote the sales of its products.
We also analyzed in the article that the packaging of coconut palm juice actually helped it become a "gold salesman". The packaging size of coconut brand coconut juice is large, there are many color blocks, and the color is bright, which is often jokingly called "earthy design" and "mudslide design" by netizens, but this has also become the brand memory point of Coconut Brand. Coconut Tree Group said in February this year that its sales volume in 2021 increased by 16.82% year-on-year, and the industry estimated that its revenue would reach 4.661 billion. [2]
Coconut tree brand coconut water; image source: Coconut Tree Jingdong self-operated store
This time, netizens can recognize coconut brand coconut juice from a mosaic, and we can also see how the packaging of coconut brand coconut water is deeply rooted in people's hearts.
Some professionals from design agencies have told us that the packaging of coconut palm juice does not seem to be deliberately designed, giving people a "primitive" feeling, but also reflecting the characteristics of the brand's simplicity and sincerity, and spending energy on the product itself. Therefore, it has also gained the favorability of consumers. Under the recognition of coconut water by consumers, it has further promoted their acceptance of joint products of Luckin and Coconut Brand coconut water.
In addition, what can promote the joint products to the next "raw coconut latte" explosion is the "self-contained traffic" of the coconut tree. This PPT-style design unique to coconut juice has even gradually evolved into a "fashion", and has also gained a proper noun "coconut tree wind".
The "PPT style" of the Coconut Tree brand was commented as "a fashion" by netizens; image source: Weibo screenshot
Therefore, the design elements of coconut palm juice have also become the choice of many netizens. Everyone imitates the "soul" of coconut water and creates a second creation. Some netizens created the "Coconut Tree Wind" graduation design, extracting the essence of coconut tree brand coconut water.
Netizens designed the "Coconut Tree Wind" poster; image source: Weibo @ A cat A dog said
There is even a "Coconut Wind Automatic Generator" Mini Program, which provides a packaging template for netizens who want to be lazy even to do "Coconut Tree Brand PPT Design". As long as you write the text in the corresponding position, you can quickly generate a picture of "coconut tree wind".
"Coconut Wind" automatic generator mini program; image source: Weibo screenshot
Looking back at the cup cover picture exposed by netizens this time, it also continues the design of "coconut tree wind", and is accompanied by "authentic co-brand", "fresh coconut meat", "this cup in the atmosphere" and other copywriting that shows the characteristics of co-branded products, and netizens speculate that "coconut cloud latte" is the product name of the joint new product.
This special customized cup set has also been recognized by many netizens. Some people said that "this cup cover extracts the soul of the packaging of coconut palm juice", and others said that "the interactive stems you want to see appear on the cup cover".
Netizens broke the news of the joint cup cover; image source: Weibo @ straight man What is worth buying
The joint name of Luckin Coffee and Coconut Tree Brand Coconut Juice triggered a heated discussion among netizens when it was accidentally exposed. It is not difficult to guess that when the brand co-branded products are officially launched on April 11, more consumers will go to punch cards to buy. Their spontaneous secondary dissemination of products on social platforms will further help brands expand their voices. Perhaps in the near future, luckin X coconut tree co-branded products will become popular.
Second, since the raw coconut latte is on fire, why do you still need to cooperate with the coconut tree?
Judging from the sales data of 100 million cups of raw coconut lattes, it has undoubtedly become a traffic item for Luckin to pull new and repurchase. Since raw coconut lattes are so hot, why does Luckin Coffee not continue to promote existing products, but "suddenly" cooperates with Coconut Tree?
We speculate that this may be related to the current competitive environment. Luckin Coffee raised the price of some products in December last year, and the delivery drinks and self-pick-up drinks in hundreds of stores increased by about 3 yuan on the basis of the original price. Its customer service said that according to the company's decision, the reason for the increase is based on a comprehensive consideration of operating costs such as rent, manpower and raw materials.
There is more than one coffee brand involved in price increases, and Luckin's price adjustment seems to be reasonable in the coffee industry. However, starting in February 2022, many of the new tea tracks that are often compared with coffee have begun to "reduce their own value".
On February 24, The price of Heytea began to decrease, and the price of a single product was as high as 10 yuan. It also said that it will no longer launch products of 29 yuan and above this year, and all products will never increase in price this year. On March 3, Lele Tea announced through the public account that some drinks have been controlled below 20 yuan, and the lowest price of a product is 8 yuan. On March 17, Nesher's tea also announced the launch of a "relaxed series" of 9-19 yuan, and promised to put on new products every month for tea drinks of no more than 20 yuan.
However, the price scuffle brought about by the recent price reductions of Neixue and Xicha may make Luckin Coffee, which has attracted a large number of users with stable quality and correspondingly low prices, some worries. For some users who have no dependent demand for refreshment, their ready-made drink choice is not only coffee, but also new teas that are constantly reducing prices. At the same time, new tea drinks have also begun to introduce caffeinated products such as "fruit coffee", or launch drinks similar to popular ingredients, making the boundary between coffee and new tea drinks more blurred.
Luckin Coffee's first store opened in 2017, and the Hainan Coconut Tree Group behind coconut juice was founded in 1956. Compared with Luckin, Hainan Coconut Tree Group is "much older", and Luckin also affectionately called Coconut Tree Group "Tree Brother" during Weibo interaction. Why did Luckin choose "Brother Tree" to cooperate this time? We have two guesses:
1. Strengthen the "raw coconut" label
Co-brand cooperation with the coconut brand coconut juice brand may help expand the sound of Luckin's "raw coconut series". After Luckin's "raw coconut latte" detonated last summer, it attracted many brands to launch lattes containing coconut milk.
Launch of meteorite raw coconut latte on April 12, 2021; Image source: Luckin Coffee
However, the homogenization of coffee and tea drinking tracks is serious, the threshold of coconut raw materials is not high, and when the differentiation of coconut drinks gradually disappears, how to reflect the unique characteristics of the brand has also become the key to breaking through.
We found that the "Raw Coconut One Anniversary" activity was carried out by Luckin this time, not only interacting with fans on the social platform, but also designing the theme menu of "Raw Coconut First Anniversary" in luckin Coffee's Mini Program Platform. In addition to different types of raw coconut lattes, there are also varieties of coffee such as mocha and Dirty.
Luckin launched the "Raw Coconut First Anniversary" theme menu; image source: Screenshot of the Mini Program
Continue to pull down the theme menu, you can also see Luckin's "raw coconut" series even include milk tea, matcha, poplar ganlurin ice and other tea products. We believe that in the past year, Luckin has chosen to launch a number of "raw coconut" products, perhaps hoping to strengthen the brand's memory point in coconut drinks.
However, in the increasingly inward-roll coffee circuit, many ready-made coffee brands will regularly launch new products, and the product matrix of the "raw coconut" series is not enough. In addition to strengthening consumers' awareness of brand characteristics through "winning by quantity", more differentiated "special models" are also needed to detonate consumers' feelings.
Therefore, we speculate that Luckin Coffee and Coconut Brand Coconut Juice jointly named, perhaps also hope to use consumers' brand familiarity with Coconut Brand to strengthen the connection between Luckin and coconut-related labels, and create a new "raw coconut latte" explosion.
2. Attract new users
Recently, when we paid attention to the official community number of Luckin Coffee, we found that the topic related to the 1st anniversary of raw coconut lattes has also begun to be promoted in community activities. However, while actively interacting with "revitalizing" existing existing users, it is even more necessary to obtain "new increments" if you want to seize fickle consumers.
Luckin official community account released the "raw coconut latte 1st anniversary" related topics; image source: circle of friends screenshot
In addition to community interaction benefits and regular coupons, consumers now want to get "freshness". The joint brand name of Luckin and Coconut Tree will surely attract a group of curious consumers to buy. At the same time, Coconut Tree also has a group of loyal users, which can help Luckin expand the consumer base.
What is more interesting is that when the raw coconut latte became popular last year, some netizens took "instant black coffee with coconut coconut juice" as a "flat version" of the raw coconut latte, claiming that it could restore more than 60% of the taste.
Netizens mixed black coffee with coconut palm juice as a "flat version" of raw coconut latte; image source: Weibo screenshot
Nowadays, as the "authentic co-brand" appears on the co-branded cup cover, perhaps these consumers who want to experience coconut palm juice products will also be more interested in the new products of Luckin X Coconut.
In addition, some consumers said that although the aftertaste of Luckin Raw Coconut Latte is more mellow, the price of "homemade low-grade version" is lower. As of press time, there has been no pricing announcement of the joint products. But if the pricing is reasonable, it will also attract a group of consumers to try.
Netizens shared the "raw coconut latte" of the "homemade low-end version"; image source: Weibo screenshot
The internal scuffle of coffee has not been a day or two, and now the scuffle in the coffee and tea market has escalated again. Luckin wants to increase consumer brand awareness, attract new users, and perhaps use the power of co-branding to "fight fires" to break through.
Can "Coconut plus Everything" still succeed?
After the raw coconut latte exploded last year and was called yyds (eternal god) by netizens, netizens who have always been curious about Luckin are exploring the secrets behind it. With the exposure of netizens to the production of their stores, Fino, the raw material manufacturer of raw coconut latte, also took this opportunity to quietly fire it.
After April 2021, the popularity of coconuts has also increased significantly. According to media statistics, "coconut" surpasses the "mango" element commonly used in drinks and topped the first place in the fruit element of the beverage industry. The popularity of coconut elements has also directly led to a surge in demand for raw coconuts, and compared with February 2021, the price of goods taken by manufacturers has tripled. [2]
In addition to the coffee and new tea track chasing coconut heat, there are also some new consumer brands that focus on coconut elements that have also gained higher popularity and attracted the attention of capital.
Coconut Health Light Food Brand "Coconut Man" completed a multi-million yuan angel round of financing in May 2021, focusing on coconut oil, coconut snacks, coconut jam, coconut baking ingredients and other coconut products. Coconut lifestyle brand "Cocoa 100% Points" Cocoa 100 million yuan full score was completed in April 2021, after a multi-million yuan angel round of financing, and then completed in May of the same year, tens of millions of yuan Pre-A round of financing.
At the time of the coconut element fire, some people regretted for the coconut tree, believing that when there was a new coconut-related consumption trend in the market, the coconut tree did not seize it. Now that Luckin and Coconut Tree have joined forces, can Coconut Tree reverse the focus on its products?
We have noticed that some netizens have also shared coconut brand products in addition to coconut water on social platforms, such as coconut brand natural mineral water and coconut brand coconut water. Judging from the content shared, consumers' acceptance and evaluation of their products are not bad.
Netizens shared coconut brand natural mineral water, coconut brand coconut water; image source: screenshot of Little Red Book
Perhaps the joint name of Luckin and Coconut Tree is also the regret that Coconut Tree chose to recreate the new market trend by itself in order to make up for the regret of not seizing the heat before. At the time of the launch of the "Next Raw Coconut Latte", let more consumers know the various products of the Coconut Brand to further create their "Internet celebrity traffic".
Counting down two days, Luckin and Coconut Tree are about to release a new joint product. Can they surprise the industry and consumers in 2022?
References:
[1] Two years after Luckin was "stolen", March 14, 2022, Rui Company
[2] Behind the new high and opening of the coconut tree revenue: it has been hovering around the scale of 4 billion for nearly 10 years, and on February 10, 2022, the food critic
[3] Coconut plus everything, no one can stop, July 20, 2021, semi-cooked finance
This article is the FBIF Food and Beverage Innovation Original, author: Riri, please contact the authorization to reprint.