If the layout of the liquor track is to broaden the product line and attract more consumers through wine, then the layout of the new tea track by wine companies is more aimed at the young consumer group of the tea track. In fact, looking at the cross-border cases of the wine industry, it is not difficult to find that it is not a new thing for wine companies to co-brand new tea brands. The editor of the business scene learned that wine companies such as Luzhou Laojiao, Meijian, and Xiangjiao Liquor had previously co-branded with new tea brands to launch wine and tea products.
Industry insiders pointed out that the core of the co-branded tea brand of wine companies is to recognize, embrace, please and satisfy the new generation. However, after embracing young consumers, how to make the new generation accept traditional baijiu is the primary problem that liquor companies need to solve.
Wine + tea is bound to CP
The 5 stores of the tea and pleasant tavern were opened at the same time, focusing consumers' attention on the "integration of wine and tea" again. In fact, for wine companies, cross-border co-branding with new tea brands is not new. In 2023, Meijian and Chabaidao will jointly launch the alcoholic product "Zhenmei Drunk Green Tea", with an alcohol concentration of less than 0.5% VOL, Luzhou Laojiao and Nai Xue's tea will launch a co-branded gift box, which includes a bartending card, 2 bottles of Luzhou Laojiao Tequ Liquor and 1 bottle of Nai Xue sparkling lemon tea, and Xiangjiao Liquor and Chayan Yuese will jointly launch the "Half of the Tang Dynasty" alcoholic drink.
Judging from the Xiaohongshu platform, the alcoholic product "True Plum Drunk Green Tea" jointly launched by Meijian and Cha Baidao has been viewed 1.694 million times. Many consumers said on the platform that "real plum drunk green tea" has a fresh taste and delicious taste. The co-branded gift box launched by Luzhou Laojiao and Nai Xue's tea has also attracted the attention of many consumers on the Xiaohongshu platform. Many consumers affirmed the packaging design of the gift box.
Looking at the development of the wine industry in recent years, many wine companies have set their sights on new tea brands. Shen Meng, chief strategist of Guangke Consulting, said that compared with wine companies, new tea brands are closer to young consumers, which is in line with the general perception of current wine companies, so co-branding with new tea brands is a new marketing trend. Through co-branding, wine companies can indirectly reach consumers through new tea channels.
Liquor industry veterans said that unlike the traditional marketing methods of liquor companies, the marketing methods of new tea beverage brands better understand the needs of young consumers. The co-branding of wine companies and new tea brands will help expand the brand's influence among young consumers. In fact, both wine companies and new tea brands have their own consumer groups, and co-branding can increase brand awareness and exposure. At the same time, co-branding can increase the brand's recognition and favorability in the minds of consumers, thereby increasing sales and market share.
Jin Yufeng, director and managing partner of Zhongyuan Fund, further said that the co-branding of wine companies and new tea brands is first of all an innovative attempt, followed by chasing the trend, and finally expanding the customer base.
Young is king
According to the "2023 New Tea Drink Research Report" released by the New Tea Drink Committee of the China Chain Store & Franchise Association and Meituan Takeaway, in 2023, the new tea drink will recover strongly, and the market size is expected to reach 149.8 billion yuan, and the total number of stores will exceed 500,000. It is estimated that by 2025, the market size of new tea drinks is expected to exceed 200 billion yuan.
As a beverage preferred by young consumers, the scale of the new tea beverage market has expanded rapidly in recent years. Young consumers are keen to share, check in and take photos on social platforms. The choice of co-branded new tea brands by wine companies is also aimed at the huge young consumer group behind the new tea drink track and the popularity of the track.
The editor noticed that on the Xiaohongshu platform, the number of views on the topic of wine companies is far less than that of the topic views of new tea brands. The "#贵州茅台" topic was viewed 62.879 million times, the "#泸州老窖" topic was viewed 19.238 million times, and the "#梅见" topic was viewed 12.521 million times.
On the other hand, the number of views of the topic of "#茶颜悦色" reached 670 million, the number of views of "#奈雪的茶" topic reached 330 million, and the number of views of "#蜜雪冰城" topic reached 3.12 billion. From the data, it is not difficult to find that compared with liquor companies, new tea brands are more concerned on the social platforms preferred by young consumers.
It is worth noting that when browsing the co-branded products launched by wine companies and new tea brands, many users who share relevant content are mainly young consumers. At a time when traffic is king, traditional liquor companies also seem to hope that their brands and products can successfully reach young consumers with the help of the younger marketing methods of new tea brands.
Shen Meng said in this analysis that the cross-border co-branding of new tea brands by wine companies is because of the rich marketing methods of new tea brands. At the same time, co-branding can achieve higher topicality, and wine companies can use the new tea brand and the traffic brought by co-branding to increase their sales while getting close to young consumers.
How to boost "vitality"
According to the "2023 Online Alcohol Consumption Trend Report" jointly released by the China Liquor Industry Association, JD Supermarket and JD Consumer and Industry Development Research Institute, the proportion of young consumers who consume more than twice a week reached 69.6%, 28.3% higher than the average.
According to data released by Meituan, the "post-90s" generation is the "main force" of consumption in the new tea market. In 2022, the proportion of "post-90s" consumers will reach 50.96%. At the same time, the "post-00s" are another "new force" that is gradually rising in the consumption of the new tea drink market, and it is the only age group that has increased for three consecutive years, with the proportion of consumption increasing from 9.6% in 2020 to 13.42% in 2022.
From the data, it is not difficult to find that whether it is online consumption of alcohol or new tea consumption, the overlap of consumer groups is relatively high, and young consumers are the mainstay. From the perspective of consumption habits, young people prefer online channels compared with offline consumption preferred by middle-aged and elderly people. Traditional wine companies used to rely more on offline channels, but as online channels have gradually become the first choice for young consumers, wine companies are also strengthening their online layout to further connect with young consumers.
Although wine companies have a lot of younger layouts, consumers don't seem to have long-term enthusiasm for wine co-branded products. The primary issue facing wine companies is how to really impress young consumers.
Xu Wei, vice president of LKK Rococo Innovation Design Group, said that for wine companies, the wine field must deeply study the user group, the products that users like and the relationship between them and the value of wine, so as to create an interaction point between wine and user groups.
Jin Yufeng further said that the younger layout of wine companies has been carried out for many years, but from the current market feedback, the overall progress is not ideal. As for whether to attract young people, it depends on the mental cognition of the two brands, the theme design of the co-branding, and whether the promotion methods are novel and interesting.
Zhai Fengrui/text
Source: Screenshot of Nai Xue's tea official account and screenshot of Xiaohongshu