Author丨Nei Sanjun
Editor丨Tangerine
With the rise of Gen Z consumers, the "two-dimensional" culture, which originally belonged to the category of subculture, is gradually entering the mainstream of fashion. In the increasingly fierce competition for tea drinks, more and more brands have begun to embrace the "second dimension" and seek co-branded cooperation with this cultural circle, and the "second dimension" marketing seems to have become a "new social bargaining chip" for brands to establish a connection with young consumers.
However, with the increase of co-branding activities at the circle level, consumer aesthetic fatigue and marketing homogenization are becoming increasingly apparent, and how to achieve differentiation and fully tap the value of IP has become an important topic of concern for the industry.
Yihetang x "Full-time Master" co-create circle activities to leverage consumption potential
Recently,Yihetang x "Full-time Master"The combination has brought a refreshing sense to tea marketing,From the launch of seasonal new products、Carefully planned limited peripherals,To carry out offline activities, etc.,Yihetang has unlocked a series of interesting interactions related to IP,It's like a "convening order",Gather young people who love Guoman and e-sports together"Make dreams",Attract countless fans to flock to the store to check in。
It is understood that on the day of the joint official announcement on May 9, the package went on sale for 1 hour, and the national order volume of Yihetang surged by 6 times year-on-year, and the turnover of many stores increased significantly, of which Henan and Hebei regions rose by more than 85%, Heilongjiang regions rose by more than 400%, and the turnover of more stores increased by even more than 900%. The supply of co-branded peripherals once exceeded demand, which sparked a discussion of "supply cut" on the Internet. The person in charge of the Yihetang brand revealed to Nei Sanjun: "Originally, we set a weekly sales growth target of 15% to 20%, but since the 9th, it has far exceeded expectations, and finally achieved an increase of about 60%. ”
As of 4 p.m. on May 14, the number of views on a single topic on Weibo #Yihetang full-time master co-brand# has exceeded 180 million and the number of discussions has exceeded 80,000......
In fact, "Full Time Master" has been linked with many brands earlier, but it has not surged such a wide range of attention. As a national-level modern e-sports IP, "Full-time Master" has touched countless enthusiastic young people with its value proposition of "ten years of glory, as always". Its animation works have a score of 9.0 on Douban, more than one billion hits on the whole network, and a total of 3 billion animation playbacks...... Like this IP fan group has a certain magnitude, and has formed a relatively "professional" space field. Therefore, co-branding with them should not only rely on the conventional strategy of commercial cooperation, but also pay attention to the "value belief" of specific audiences on the work and shape a complete IP worldview.
At the beginning of the joint planning, Yihetang's "handle diagram" around the co-branded packaging materials and surroundings was leaked, which caused heated discussions on the Internet. On March 30, Yihetang issued an open letter, clarifying that the leaked pictures are only process drawings or proofing drawings in the early stage of design, and are significantly different from the final product. The surrounding pictures released later also confirmed this, and finally resolved the marketing "crisis", and some netizens ridiculed that "Yihetang, you are persuaded by persuasion".
Later, the relevant person in charge of the Hetang brand told Nei Sanjun that for the co-branding of the two-dimensional IP, the details determine everything. Before co-branding with "Full-time Master", they had carefully polished every aspect of the IP, from the story structure and character relationships, to the equal proportional height scaling of each character, lines, and behavioral characteristics, etc., and strived to use more accurate cuts to truly empathize with the circle group. And this year is the 10th anniversary of the birth of "Full-time Master", in addition to commercial cooperation, Yihetang intends to let characters inside and outside the IP take over the baton, and achieve cultural and commercial mutual benefit and win-win results with the upcoming third season of "Full-time Master" animation with a two-way empowerment attitude.
Thanks to the excavation of IP materials, Yihetang not only made this event perfectly landed, but also gained the recognition of IP core fans in terms of marketing content output and peripheral materials, and also let many "new fans" know and understand the classic work of "Full-time Master", further expanding the radiation force of the circle.
Online and offline efforts are made to unlock traffic passwords and achieve circle-breaking communication
In the new chapter of brand cooperation, Yihetang has deeply excavated the intrinsic value of IP cooperation with a sincere and down-to-earth attitude. At the same time, at the implementation level, it has also shown unprecedented investment efforts and sincerity.
In the early stage of the event, Yihetang "Glory New District" issued an announcement on the opening of the large-screen support plan in 4 cities across the country, and from May 6th to May 8th, it landed in Wuhan, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, and Chengdu on time.
In addition, on May 12 and 18, joint offline flash mob activities were held in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province and Zhengzhou, Henan Province, respectively. Fans are convened to interact intimately with the IP characters of live cosplay, continuously expanding the influence of the event and further enhancing user stickiness.
For the co-branded peripherals that consumers are most looking forward to, Yihetang also released a "big move" this time. From the basic three-piece set such as limited character cups, limited paper bags, and limited thermal bags, to co-branded limited straw sets, co-branded limited stickers, co-branded limited laser packages, co-branded limited stainless steel straw cups, and co-branded limited mouse pads, 8 kinds of limited peripherals are covered in all dimensions, which meets consumers' multiple imaginations for the practical scene of "full-time master" IP with one click.
In terms of taste buds, the brand has innovatively launched "Mango Baiqiao" inspired by seasonal fresh fruits, and at the same time, three classic popular drinks have been selected, "Jasmine White Light Milk Tea", "Peach Oolong Plus" and "Yidong Big Watermelon", providing customers with a variety of choices. Among them, the sales volume of "Mango Baiqiao" exceeded 100,000 cups on the same day, and the 4 co-branded products all ranked among the top 6 in the sales list, with a total of more than 150W cups sold in 5 days.
It is reported that the joint name of Yihetang and "Full-time Master" this time has covered 100% of 7000+ contracted stores across the country, covering 300+ cities across the country, and the number of surrounding preparations has also refreshed the most co-branded by Yihetang over the years. It is worth noting that this event will also become a milestone for Yihetang to open a large-scale S-level event, and more marketing activities matching its magnitude will be unveiled in the future.
In fact, the popularity of "Full-time Master" is not an exception, in recent years, Yihetang seems to have a keen insight into the most cutting-edge needs of consumers, and co-branding with multiple IPs has achieved good benefits. Especially this year, its marketing topics are frequently out of the circle, as if "open", taking turns to unlock surprises for the market.
On the second day of the second lunar month, Yihetang released a promotional film "Yuqu Longmen", which won high praise from the People's Daily for its exquisite pictures combined with the creation of a virtual field for the Longmen Grottoes; In March, Yihetang co-branded the national map innovation, revisited the literary classic "Dream of Red Mansions", and used the image of the twelve golden hairpins to restore and rub the materials of "Fat Yan Zhai Re-evaluation of the Stone Record", "Dream of Red Mansions" Cheng Jiaben and Sun Wen's picture books, and the sales volume of the co-branded products exceeded 1 million cups in only 5 days; In April, Yihetang joined hands with the well-known animation IP "Gon's Marmot" to launch a new product of the fresh mint family, cleverly binding the spicy characteristics of the mint series with the product, occupying the minds of consumers, and the national turnover exceeded 120 million in the first week of the event, a year-on-year increase of 16%, with more than 1.5 million cups sold within 4 days, and the exposure was as high as 1 billion......
Some industry experts have pointed out that the core of IP marketing is to inject unique value into the brand, which includes enhancing the brand's personality, sense of value, communication power and reputation, so that consumers' positive feelings about IP can be transferred to the brand. It is with its keen perception of young people's preferences and the in-depth polishing of cultural creativity that Yihetang has gradually realized its expectations.
"From the new" is more than two-dimensional, and the interesting soul is the key
Short-term success may come from luck, while long-term success comes from kernel stability.
In the conversation with the relevant person in charge of the Yihetang brand, Nei Sanjun learned that the value concept of "Yiqu" is the core of the company's overall youthfulness. The brand's series of out-of-the-circle activities are not rigid catering or deliberate following, but originate from the sincere exploration and innovative expression of fun and culture. This enthusiasm from the inside out has successfully touched young consumers and at the same time given the brand a continuous upward vitality.
Looking at the marketing orientation created by Yihetang, whether it is "Full-time Master", "Dream of Red Mansions", or its own IP character Mr. Tang, etc., the brand has always run through the two keywords of "beneficial" and "interesting", and then derived more conceptual branches such as "Yiqu Oriental" to further refine the marketing style. The overall presentation is an in-depth exploration of local elements such as Guoman, Guochao, and Chinese literature, and actively echoes the new era fashion of the younger generation for fun and localization.
In addition, Yihetang's interpretation of the core is not only reflected in marketing, but also in product development and corporate sustainable development strategies. The brand is well versed in the essence of Chinese tea culture, as evidenced by its clear milk tea series, which carefully selects high-quality teas such as black tea, green tea and oolong tea to create high-quality drinks that are closer to the habits of Chinese people. At the same time, it actively undertakes social responsibilities and co-founded the New Tea Foundation with partners to support the revitalization of the rural economy, cultivate new farmers, and then use new technologies to feed back the growth of the brand, forming a virtuous ecological cycle of "cultivation" and application......
As a relatively low-key enterprise, Yihetang does not have many voices on achievements, but with its insight into young culture and cost-effective product strategy, Yihetang continues to strengthen its core competitiveness and leave its own footprints in the market scale step by step. According to Meituan data, in the first quarter of this year, the number of Yihetang tea stores ranked first in the industry, and the store closure rate was significantly reduced.
"Although the competition in the tea market tends to be fierce, on the whole, it is an advanced process of good money driving out bad money, and we just need to do what we should do in all aspects." The relevant person in charge of the Yihetang brand said.