Author | Mia
"1 cup of milk tea is equivalent to 6 bowls of rice at most"
"You can't have both good taste and good health"
"I've drunk milk tea, do I still care if I'm healthy or not?"
......
At first, the milk tea in people's mouths was still synonymous with non-dairy creamer and junk food, and after drinking a cup, you would reward yourself for dancing pamela for half an hour.
And now Pamela has come to endorse milk tea, if you are keen enough, you can still find that the major tea drinks have been branded with the banner of health, and some words must be repeatedly emphasized in the promotional copy, such as 0 calories, sugar-free, low-fat, and additive-free......
Every keyword seems to be conveying the subtext of "the more you drink milk tea, the healthier it is" to users.
In 2024, the tea beverage track will gradually be congested and enter a new era of involution. Brands have turned their focus to highlighting the health attributes of their products in order to get rid of the label of "unhealthy" drinks in the market, and many tea brands have begun to gear up.
In March, Shanghai's pilot implementation of "nutrition and health guidance" has attracted widespread attention, under the policy boost and market trend, Bawang Tea Ji, Nai Xue's tea, Happy Lemon and Hangzhou Leyuan and other brands have become the first batch of units to participate in Shanghai's "Nutritional Choice" logo pilot, according to CCTV News, when the pilot grading label, the sales of some high-grade drinks have increased.
In the case of the rapid growth of the overall market environment, tea brands have begun to grab co-branding, rejuvenating the country, adding "new Chinese style", busy listing, and promoting sinking, and the whole industry has entered a new game stage, and now the "consumption + health" marketing model has broken the situation, reconstructing the possibility of health elements in the scope of tea business.
This model, on the one hand, is to be able to cope with the fatigue of the past game in the tea track, and on the other hand, brands need to find new consumption hotspots to continue to promote and open new competition points.
However, on the other side of the health concept of tea drinks in full swing, there are also many brands that "overturn" in health marketing. Mo Yogurt pointed out in the promotion of a drink that it contains "9 kinds of probiotics, more than 2 times milk protein, fermented in 8 hours", and "the protein content is about 2 times the national standard". However, many netizens questioned that the jasmine yogurt that took the high-end route was very likely to use non-dairy creamer.
In fact, it is not difficult for brands to create popularity, but will young people pay for healthy tea? Maybe this is what the market really needs to consider.
Health has become the key breaking point of tea drinking
"Commercial ones have unhealthy ingredients, pure tea is simply impossible, there must be additives", "Flavor tea can play a healthy concept? All kinds of more secret additives, ordinary consumers can't perceive", "I don't know who is healthy, but I must choose a better drink", "I would rather believe it, buy a peace of mind"...... On social platforms, more and more people are starting to share the new healthy products launched by tea brands, but the discussion about whether it is really healthy accounts for the majority of the discussion below the post.
In the field of ready-made tea, most brands have adopted a normalized marketing model, with various new product innovations, cross-border co-branding and peripherals, strong exposure of the new national style, the acceleration of store opening scale, and many considering listing...... Competition in the tea industry has intensified. Now, the wind has changed, and healthy drinks have become the main popular trend of tea brands, and the wind of involution of major brands has also blown to the health track.
AI Mapping by Entertainment Capital
Brands that are keenly aware of the current consumer trends have moved very quickly and stepped on the main battlefield in order to do a good job in the narrative of health themes.
On the whole, the health marketing direction of tea brands can be roughly divided into four categories:
The first is to aim at "ingredient control", emphasizing the quality of raw materials, focusing on real milk and fresh fruits, so as to win praise from word of mouth.
Focusing on the quality of raw materials has become an indispensable marketing foundation for the tea industry, and Shuyi Yao Xiancao is the pioneer of this strategy, focusing on freshness and health at the beginning of 2022, introducing the concept of "plant-based new tea drink" into the product strategy, and gradually turning "fresh and healthy" into the exclusive attribute of the brand with the blessing of popular products.
Followed by Heytea, through the release of the "Quality Real Milk Standard" and the "Real Milk Initiative", and the launch of 3.8 Yuan Mu Zhen Milk, advocating the refusal to use flavored tea and instant tea powder, this action has allowed many consumers to eliminate the "creamer" and "flavor tea" concerns about tea.
The second is the disclosure of ingredients and the launch of a series of healthy products, highlighting the brand's importance to health in the name of returning consumers' right to know.
Capturing consumers' attention to healthy tea drinks, many brands have taken the initiative to commit to the practice of "raw material disclosure". For example, Heytea's classic - roasted brown sugar Bobo milk shows the recipe and ingredient information of the product at a glance in the mini program, and the ingredient list of yogurt brands Blueglass Yogurt and Mo Yogurt directly occupies the entire cup.
It is also intuitively reflected in the caloric problem that consumers are particularly concerned about. Heytea intuitively reveals the calories of the product through the publicity of raw materials, the "product ID card" and health calculator launched by Bawang Chaji through the official account, and the test report and calories of the tea Baidao fresh milk tea products are all to help consumers quickly screen information.
In order, the heat publicity of Hey Tea, Bawang Tea Ji and Tea Baidao
At the same time, with the transparency of ingredients, it is the continuous introduction of low-sugar, low-fat, low-calorie drinks. According to Meituan's "2022 Tea Beverage Development Report", low calorie, low sugar, and low burden have become the new mainstream of tea drinks, and many tea brands such as Bawang Chaji, Hey Tea, Tea Talk, Tea Yan Yuese, and Yuanqi Forest have begun to emphasize labels such as low sugar, low fat, low calorie, healthy, and no burden, and many tea brands have already joined the ranks of using 0 calorie sugar substitutes.
The third is to enhance public credibility through official testing, and emphasize health attributes with the endorsement of authoritative institutions.
In the tea market, the transparency and scientificity of health marketing are becoming the forefront of the trend. In March this year, when the pilot implementation of the "nutrition and health guidance" policy in Shanghai attracted widespread attention, four brands, Bawang Tea Ji, Nai Xue's Tea, Happy Lemon and Hangzhou Leyuan, took advantage of the trend. From the perspective of effect, aiming at a special node such as the "first batch", the manufacturing heat may be more important than the manufacturing product.
It is worth mentioning that the "Nutritional Choice" label comprehensively reflects the content of sugar, fat and other contents in beverages, and evaluates and recommends them, and uses ABCD to classify the health of products, which intuitively helps to achieve "sugar control".
In addition, the chop owner observed that the lifestyle marketing strategy has begun to land, and tea has gradually become associated with a beautiful and healthy life from a simple beverage category.
The "product definers" who grasp the first-mover advantage are often the most capable of competing for the minds of consumers, and Heytea, Bawang Chaji and Luckin are the frontrunners in this health-centric competition.
Seize the commanding heights in the field of health, and invariably, they all go to the lifestyle field to make a fuss. Heytea invited fitness star Pamela to be a "health recommendation officer" and use her popularity to paint the brand with a healthy halo, Bawang Chaji cooperated with Keep to launch an exclusive set of aerobics, and also tried to open up new social spaces in the city through yoga, running, cycling and other activities, Luckin also took active actions, from holding public welfare activities to signing athlete endorsements to becoming an official partner to promote its healthy and active lifestyle brand strategy.
Tea brands are working hard to shape their own healthy image, not only to associate with the concept of healthy life, but also to shape a new generation of healthy tea brands.
If health was only a strategic direction last year, then this year, after experiencing product involution and marketing involution, health has become a key breakthrough point for the brand. It is foreseeable that the health track is being regarded by a group of tea brands as another opportunity to break through the encirclement.
The tea industry is more volatile and more homogeneous
Almost inexorably, tea brands are becoming more and more popular, but from the perspective of consumer perception, it shows an obvious lack of differentiation.
Taking milk sources as an example, many brands are pushing their own high-quality milk sources in order to highlight their competitive advantages, but with the general upgrading of milk bases in the market, consumers have gradually become less sensitive to the "unique milk sources" claimed by various brands. In this case, it is difficult for consumers to clearly distinguish between many brands in the market, and it is even common for one brand to mistake the specialty milk source of one brand for another.
Although major tea brands have targeted the health track, they seem to be unable to achieve product differentiation and find new marketing growth points, and the actual effect is often a homogeneous echo in the uproar.
From the product side, the current healthy tea market is falling into a whirlpool of imitation competition, and the lack of innovation has brought the whole track into an impasse.
To put it simply, everyone is following suit, and I will have what you have. When a brand launches a new co-branded product, other brands will quickly follow suit, for example, when Nai Xue's tea and Dong'e Ejiao co-branded product are launched, Lele Tea will follow suit with Fang Hui Chun Tang.
At the same time, there are many healthy drink options on the market, but they are essentially the same. Whether it is Hey Tea, Nai Xue, Lele Tea or 7 Fen Sweet, major brands have launched their own health care products. Before Lawson launched the concept of "a whole root of ginseng water", brands such as Shuyi Xiancao, Chunfeng, and Hetian Shuipu had taken the lead in launching drinks containing ginseng ingredients, and it was difficult to find the uniqueness of each brand.
Not only that, but in terms of marketing and branding, major brands have also shown a posture of following closely. From launching low-calorie, low-sugar products to announcing calories to partnering with sports bloggers, tea brands are turning to promoting a healthy, sustainable lifestyle as their main focus, and while on the surface the major brands are trying to stand out through this path, in reality the same marketing tactics make the health track look extraordinarily crowded.
Looking back at the current health marketing dilemma of tea brands, it can be found that behind this is actually the infinite involution and homogenization in many fields under the low moat of the tea industry, and this situation has long been reflected.
First of all, cross-border IP co-branding has become the standard configuration of almost every brand, and brands have widely cooperated with IPs in different fields such as film and television, animation, luxury goods, games, and makeup, not only limited to product packaging, but also include peripheral goods and all-round linkage between online and offline.
Specific to the product level, the phenomenon of homogenization is more prominent, in addition to the showdown between the four giants of national style, looking at it, there are almost no tea brands that are not pushing milk tea and rolling up the national style.
Especially on the track of raw leaf tea and fresh milk, not only the products themselves are highly similar, but the accompanying product packaging and store design have also embarked on a similar path, gradually losing their recognition.
In addition, in terms of channel marketing, brands also frequently "collide", Hey Tea, Nai Xue's tea and Lele Tea have adopted highly consistent marketing strategies and visual elements on their respective official accounts, with "H5 animation" and "exquisite pictures" as the main means to attract consumers' attention.
In order, it is the official account page of Hey Tea, Lele Tea and Nai Xue's Tea
This means that in such an involuted market pattern, how to achieve brand differentiation has become a major challenge. Although the current traffic dividend of health marketing is attractive enough, if brands want to take advantage of the harvest, I am afraid they will have to make more efforts to explore and strengthen their own differences.
The new soldier must fight for the place, and health marketing still needs sincerity and novelty
Judging from the development trajectory of "healthy drinks" becoming a consensus, it is a must for some brands to strengthen and occupy the "healthy" label quickly.
It is worth noting that although the market seems to be saturated, there are still brands that show excellent competitiveness in specific segments. Heytea has successfully consolidated its leading position in product innovation and brand image through cooperation with multiple IPs, while Luckin Coffee has relied on its forward-looking marketing strategy to stand out in the fierce market competition. All this shows that despite the homogeneous market competition pattern, the field of health marketing is still full of huge development opportunities.
Through market observation and interviews, Chop Pepper found that consumers' desire for healthy products has not diminished. According to Naixue's 2023 tea user report data, 38% of consumers will actively choose to pay an extra yuan to upgrade to the option of using "monk fruit sugar", and many people are still willing to spend money to "buy health" even though healthy products often mean higher prices.
Xiao Song, a veteran milk tea lover, talked about the reason why he chose healthy drinks, which seems to further confirm this consumption trend, "Although I know that there are few brands that are serious about reducing sugar, I basically order 0 calories of sugar and healthy drinks every time, just to find peace of mind while lying flat." ”
Overall, the psychological motivation behind this is that consumers are willing to base their consumption on some trust and psychological comfort, and although they may realize that the "healthy" label in the market is not entirely accurate, they are still willing to pay for that psychological comfort.
At present, health marketing does provide a marketing direction with remarkable results for the tea industry, and the major brands are sensitive enough to respond to the health mood of the whole people, but brands must pay attention to several important lightning points when rushing to the health track.
One is not to try to mislead consumers with "pseudo-concepts" and create marketing gimmicks through the unlimited use of the "0" label.
Consumers are often trapped in the professional terms of various food additives, and the simple and intuitive concept of "0" and "true" has become a shortcut for them to pursue health, and the pseudo-health concept of "0 sugar, 0 fat and 0 calories" has raised one brand after another, but it has also become a tool for brands to mislead consumers.
For example, after being complained about false advertising in 2019, Mixue Bingcheng carried out a comprehensive menu update to avoid using "real milk promotion" again. Similarly, Yuanqi Forest also planted a heel in its own "0 sugar, 0 calories and 0 fat", because the difference between "0 sucrose" and "0 sugar" was blurred, which caused misunderstanding among consumers in the publicity and led to a decline in brand trust.
The second is to avoid playing word games in consumers' cognition and visual blind spots, damaging brand reputation and losing user trust.
"Ambiguity" on key issues is a common marketing routine used by many brands with the concept of health. Last year, the "jasmine yogurt creamer incident" was widely reported, and consumers were highly concerned about whether its raw materials contained creamer, and the statement released by the brand did not dispel consumers' doubts, but was accused of "blurring the focus and avoiding the problem".
Heytea's "light burden and real health" product also encountered similar problems. Judging from the poster released so far, this succulent grape drink focuses on health and low burden, and the small print next to it is almost invisible marked with the additional condition of "no sugar and remove small ingredients", which blurs the focus of the brand's health promotion, and many consumers have questioned the transparency and integrity of the brand.
Third, don't blur the focus in event marketing to avoid misleading consumers' attention.
From a practical point of view, it is still unknown whether the practice of choosing a spokesperson for marketing promotion can focus on health. For example, Bawang Tea Ji invited a series of celebrities as brand spokespersons, from Zhai Xiaowen, Guo Junchen, and Chen Xingxu as "Good Tea Experience Officers" to Bi Wenjun, Cheng Lei, Xia Zhiguang, Zhu Zhengting, and Tang Jiuzhou as "sugar control runners", although these collaborations are intended to promote "sugar control life", the direct connection between these stars and the product concept itself seems to be weak.
In addition, Zhai Xiaowen and Xia Zhiguang mistakenly referred to the brand as "Tea Yan Yuese" and "Tea King Baji" respectively at the scene, and the follow-up marketing focus seemed to focus on the controversial discussions caused by these slips, while the brand's important "sugar control" product information was not effectively conveyed, and the result was that the public concerns, event hotspots and the brand's marketing demands were not effectively aligned.
Nowadays, consumers' expectations for healthy tea drinks are not only at the level of marketing activities, but they are increasingly concerned about whether the product can reflect the health attributes in essence. Therefore, in the second half of health marketing, brands need to draw consumers' attention back to the product and the brand itself.
In the long run, the challenge for brands is not how to advertise health in marketing, but more importantly, how to actually achieve healthy products, and build and maintain consumer trust and support in the process. More importantly, the competition between brands and products is no longer in any single latitude, and how to ensure the effectiveness of marketing has become a major problem for brands.
In short, when the epidemic becomes the norm, whoever can take the lead in making an upgrade layout in "health" may be able to win the opportunity.