: As the leader of tea drink brands, Heytea is widely known. Are there any brand marketing methods that can be used for reference? This article takes Heytea as an example to analyze the brand marketing methods brought by Heytea IP. Let’s take a look.
In the first two articles, we talked about "Sword Sect" Mixue Bingcheng and "Air Sect" Cha Yanyuese. Today we are going to talk about the third pole, "No sword, no move, everything can be a sword" Heytea.
"Global brands and symbols are the purpose and thing we have to do, and the rejuvenation of tea is just a means."
- Nie Yunchen at the age of 19
Starting point: starting from the founder's original intention and the brand's genes, Find the soul of the brand and use it as the core. "There is no sword, no move, everything can be a sword."
basic concept: IP is the manifestation of the brand soul.
core functions: create, lead, and inspire.
1. Representative tea brand: "Tea of Inspiration" - HEYTEA
There is no doubt that the starting point for HEYTEA to become an internet celebrity is its ultimate product and unique IP image (concise line illustrations).
However, the representative of new tea drinks that has grown into China, and now this behemoth, relies on the persistence of the founder and the soul of the brand - to create Heytea with inspiration, soul condensation, and diligent innovation.
Because it has a soul, Heytea's IP has long been no longer limited to a specific illustration, character, scene... or even a specific IP character or personality... the IP has been integrated with the soul and brand.
Just as Dugu Qiubai said in "The Legend of the Condor Heroes":
"After the age of forty, you will not be stuck in objects. Plants, trees, bamboos and stones can be used as swords. From then on, you will practice intensively and gradually reach the point where no sword is better than a sword."
Jobs’s Apple empire, Musk’s mission to Mars, and Branson’s Virgin empire are all like this. This may be the ultimate form pursued by all IPs.
1. Create new IP value with "inspiration"
(1) Continue to inject "inspiration" into the IP image
At the beginning of its birth, Heytea used a unique IP image (style of the famous Japanese illustrator Noritake) - simple black and white lines , with an expressionless yet spiritual face and careless movements... unique in the world.
Heytea, which focused on design and creativity, brought a lot of "surprises" and imagination to the young people of that era, and became an important source of "inspiration".
“Although the concepts of coolness, youth, inspiration, and design we want to convey are very vague, they will not be helpful to the development of Heytea at the beginning. But once in the minds of users, these concepts are strongly bound to the Heytea brand. , that is Heytea’s real success. Even if the pursuers imitate all my things, they can’t imitate this brand.”
——Nie Yunchen
In Heytea’s world view, “Zen” and “minimalist aesthetics” are inseparable, and both are brand-specific. core genes.
What is gratifying is that this typical oriental traditional culture has given birth to new "inspiration" in the contemporary minimalist aesthetic context, expressed in visual language, making drinking tea "cool". After
, Heytea cooperated with various independent illustrators to express "inspiration" and the joy of life through the language of painting, creating a series of images that blended with "inspiration", and gradually formed the visual logic of Heytea IP - —Oriental "Zen" + "contemporary minimalist aesthetics + "inspiration" = X.
Due to "inspiration", IP began to have its own personality.
(2) Incorporate "inspiration" into products and become part of the IP
"HiTea 2020 Annual Report" shows that HeyTea launches a new product every 1.2 weeks on average. Such high-frequency iterations have become a model for tea beverage innovation.
saw this and thought that the core competitiveness of Heytea is continuous product innovation, which would be a big mistake. Product innovation is only the starting point, but the key is to integrate product "inspiration" into the brand and life.
Take the fleshy grapes with "the same skin, but the soul that is unique in thousands" as an example:
It is said that more than 20 million cups of fleshy grapes have been sold, with daily sales reaching a peak of 100,000 cups, and order volume reaching 17%. At its peak, “For every 2 cups of Hey Tea sold, there is 1 cup of fleshy grapes.”
First of all, from the user's perspective, we chose the plump and fleshy Kyoho grapes of the season to replace the black grapes of the past. We continued to develop and experiment with them to obtain the ultimate taste, and extracted the "succulent" named product with social attributes; in terms of the tonality of the
product, Break through the original Some grape tea drinks express a style that combines fleshy grapes with the pop culture trends and aesthetics of the times in China in the 1980s. The earthy cool style is mixed with a strong flavor of the times, and is combined with the "Grape Girl", "Berry Sister", "Yunfeng Brother" and "Wu" The character designs of the Heytea family such as "Long Ge" gradually formed the personality of the product.
Then comes the crossover, taking the purple color of fleshy grapes as "inspiration", fleshy grape purple + Adidas = purple running shoes; fleshy grape purple + Corona = "drunk grape beer"; AAPE fleshy grape purple, MOON FACE women's sweatshirts, Midea Grape purple multifunctional electric cooker, Maybelline grape purple series makeup, Bestore daily raisins, etc.; firmly associate purple with fleshy grapes, and are full of imagination, rather than mindless brainwashing propaganda.
Slowly, Succulent Grape began to conquer the fashion world. Succulent Grape imitation makeup, manicure, pendants, hair color, clothing... Grape purple became a bright color in the fashion world.
co-creates with users and penetrates into life. It continuously launches a series of products such as meaty grape popsicles, meaty grape burst cake, meaty grape sorbet, and meaty grape glutinous rice cakes.
Then, create the personality of "Succulent Little Grape" to complete the interaction with the user. The WeChat community is named "Succulent Little Grape". I like to drink Heytea and prefer fleshy grapes, but I feel that "I have gained a lot of flesh".
In this kind of human interaction, Succulent Grape has become a living "person". A real, three-dimensional product brand for which users are willing to invest more "real feelings" and real money will thrive.
Finally, from a grape to a cup of Heytea’s inspired product, and then to a trend, it became the user’s friend, an expression of consumption, and then upgraded to a way of life. Heytea’s “inspiration” endowed the fleshy grape with There are countless "X's", there are concrete products, there are ideal experiences, there are perceptual emotions, There are cross-borders and diversification, there are content communities and interactions...
If succulent grapes + "X" = infinite possibilities, what is this "X"? It is "inspiration" and is also the soul of Heytea's IP.
In Heytea's IP, products are not important, product positioning is not important, and even product innovation is not important. What is important is whether the product can be integrated with the "inspiration" of life and create a new life experience.
In other words, in addition to product innovation and design aesthetics, current product design must also integrate content, personification, values, ritual, topicality, etc., until it becomes a consumption expression, social currency and lifestyle.
(3) Contextualized "inspiration", achieving unique IP experience
standardization, there are very few new experience values to choose from; contextualized, it can continuously create new experiences and new imaginations.
"From products to stores are all links in the overall consumer experience, and the design of each store is a process of inspiration and interpretation." - Nie Yunchen
In Heytea's view, the brand and brand IP are not promoted comes out, but should be perceived by consumers. Offline space is the best carrier for brands to be perceived and experienced, and it is also the direction for exploring the "meaning" of space.
HiTea may be the first Chinese brand to make drinking tea an "inspirational" and ritualistic thing, and to contextualize the space (European and American DTCs started practicing this as early as 2010).
is more detailed and is the first step in service contextualization.
Starbucks may have pioneered customized services, but Heytea focuses on individuality in “more details.”
He makes the extremely mechanical task of ordering tea full of fun and possibilities, not to mention the various sweetness levels (full sugar, half sugar, less sugar, less sugar, less sugar, low-calorie sugar), ice level, Milky taste etc.Even if a meat grape drinking method is full of imagination:#即 即 即 即 即 即 即 即;#即 即 即 即 5 fairy drinking methods;#即 即 即 即 即 即 即 即 即 即 即 即 ...
is "Peach Peach "This product is composed of three" peaches ": one kind of peach is responsible for juice, one peach is responsible for color, and a peach is responsible for the flesh. Handmade flesh.
is a cup lid of cheese tea. It is rotating and tailor -made for cheese tea. Only in this way can you feel the smoothness of the cheese and the return of tea.
is more detailed is not the comparison of details, not thinner than the details, but the essence of the underlying logic is different. The details are social standards for product angles, and more details are product philosophy of user angle.
—— Wu Sheng
may be that users really have this demand, or it may only meet the "dynamic force" of this generation, so that milk tea is a symbol of love and hate.
from a standard store to a theme store, the endless possibility of incorporating "inspiration" stores.
When most brands are pursuing standardization, they like the "inspiration" of never exhausted. After the breeding of DNA such as Zen and minimalism, it brings users a different social experience. Fresh sense.
- has both the "INS style" standard store, the delivery service "Hi Tea Go" and the baking brand Xizhu Hot Mai, but also the black gold shop that follows the "fashion light luxury" high line; PINK store; DP "Day Dream Plan" store that cooperates with many independent designers and shows a unique space design;
- and the highest -standard flagship store representatives of the highest -level brand experience, LAB store.
In addition, Hi Tea has continuously launched more individual stores and many Heytea to GO pop -up stores with the theme of different cities, environmental protection, and pets. At this point,
condenses the soul -like tea IP with "inspiration", and jumped out of Starbucks's third space and the living space of the Baowu bookstore to create its own, an immersive experience, creating possibility, inspired social space Essence
is like a soul because of the soul.
2. "Everything can be like tea", and the IP of "Inspiration" creates a new connection, leading a new life
"Turn known into unknown to keep a sense of freshness." In the early days of
, the public account of the Xisha as an IP carrier continued to output various cultural content. Whether it was copywriting, creativity, photography, fonts, etc., they were consistent with the brand's soul, and they were interpreted by "inspiration".
has gradually condensed in the soul of the IP IP, brand IP, product IP, and situation IP. Various forms such as music culture and diversified cross -border have begun to create, output, and lead a variety of new lifestyles.
Dangxi tea IP represents "inspiration", "all things can like tea."
(1) Laughing and scolding, all can be like tea
different from the new Chinese positioning of tea face. IP image is limited, but good tea is omnipotent, as long as it has inspiration and imagination.
- is now happy tea vision. It has already jumped out of the imprisonment of stick lines. …. Whatever you want, it can be described as "not stagnant in things, grass, wood, bamboo and stone can be swords";
- is currently happy tea language, time is angry, time is pity, time officials, and time -long time ... vitality ... vitality ... Wonderful, the framelessness seems to be tangible.
is a lottery on Weibo on Weibo, and continues to win the fans of tea Yan Yue, Starbucks, Coco as an example. Three helpless express expressions, in the "wrong payment marketing" method, easily showed interesting souls.
(2) Cross -border co -branded, all of them have been on the border joint name of
for more than three years. This trend is getting stronger and more vigorous in the tea industry. Huan tea is undoubtedly the absolute leader.
According to New Game statistics, from the beginning of 2017 to May 19, 2021, Heytea has linked up with 74 different brands, involved in many popular fields such as food, fashion brands, daily necessities, cultural creation, beauty and skin care, and is known as As a "contemporary brand social butterfly". Of course,
has been on the hot search list more than 20 times, and it has also overturned with Durex, and has a mediocre response with Luxue and Peacebird.
In May 2021, the drink "Wangzha Yougan" co-branded by Heytea and Mr. Powerful can be found in the product packaging and selling points of the popular "Domineering Jade Yougan" launched by Nayuki Tea two months ago. What is triggered is not a rush to buy, but the embarrassment of "picking up people's wisdom".
- "Cross-border Heytea: 74 joint brands in 4 and a half years"
Brand Ape also believes that from the perspective of cross-border marketing, Heytea has done well in the past, but like the general trend, the form of "cross-border" It is losing the freshness and value of marketing. It is better not to cross boundaries for the sake of crossing boundaries; especially for an IP with soul and "inspiration", it is better not to connect without incorporating inspiration. An insincere brand can easily lose users who truly love it.
(3) Digital new retail, everyone can enjoy Heytea
In terms of digitization of user experience, Heytea is becoming a leader.
integrates new digital experiences online and offline. As early as 2018, Heytea launched the "Heytea GO" WeChat applet to build a digital membership system. It is not restricted by third-party takeout platforms and is reflected in users, which is an intuitive improvement in ordering efficiency. And it has completed the accumulation of customer base in the private traffic pool. As of December 31, 2020, the number of Heytea GO WeChat mini program members exceeded 35 million.
Digital customization for thousands of people and stores leads new scenarios. For example:
- adjusts promotions and activities in real time based on single store operations and crowd dynamics;
- has a situational queuing system and multiple ways for members to play;
- users leave messages to launch customized "heart-warming cup stickers" and combine a cup of tea with special affection Drinks are delivered to customers;
- ...
Various complex scenes can be combined to create new scenes.
infinite possibilities of digital management empower new links.
- Site selection is based on group characteristics;
- is allocated based on inventory;
- is developed to be more suitable for taste based on region and time;
- …….
With the deepening of digitalization, Heytea’s digital empowerment is evolving in depth.
HiTea allows the milk tea business to break out of offline constraints and become one of the new retail explorers such as Hema and Douyin: user-centered, scene-based retail under digital intelligence.
3. "Inspiration creates all things", innovative ecology, inspiring a new possibility, a new future
With the help of this "super IP", Heytea continues to explore boundaries and create new scenarios: deepening new retail, sinking Heytea, and integrating vertical and horizontal Start new consumption...
In March 2020, the Heytea Tmall flagship store was launched, and in July of the same year, the JD.com self-operated flagship store was launched. Based on the original Heytea GO applet tested by Heytea Department Store, it took a big step towards e-commerce retail. Opened up a new "inspiration" for Heytea.
In April 2020, Xixiao Tea was launched, with a price range of less than 20 yuan, focusing on tea products and scenes in the sinking market. As of May 2021, Xixiao Tea has opened 22 stores in 6 major cities in Guangdong. More than 2.8 million drinks are sold annually.
started from this, breaking away from the cross-border restrictions, taking Heytea IP as the core, horizontally or vertically, self-produced or co-branded, inspiring more ecological categories: sparkling water, tea bags, ice drinks, cups... The amazing Hi Small Bottle Sparkling Water, with "0 sugar, 0 calories and 0 fat", competes hand-to-hand with the vitality forest and successfully entered a new consumer field.
In July 2021, HEYTEA juice tea will be available in 7-Eleven convenience stores. If you purchase HEYTEA juice tea in a 7-Eleven store, you can jump to the HEYTEA GO WeChat applet to randomly receive a freshly made tea from the HEYTEA store. Consumer rights.
In July 2021, Heytea invested in the coffee brand Seesaw, embarking on its first investment journey.
The process of "inspiration creates all things" is essentially Heytea's "fractal innovation" pointing to the next three years' scenario planning and ecological attack process.
Heytea uses the IP of "inspiration" to achieve its soul, and uses the soul to expand and enrich its "inspiration" IP.
Heytea’s IP = “Inspiration”. Since then, innovation and exploration have been a natural, never-ending, and emerging thing.
This is the essence of Soul IP: IP (image/role/values/connection/action/expansion, etc.) is the manifestation of the brand soul!
2. Advantages and problems of Soul IP
Soul IP is easy to stand out, because a brand IP with a soul will definitely be different from birth.
Soul IP is easy to remember because it embodies the brand DNA and gives it personality, making it easier for people to recognize, remember, use and spread.
Soul IP can easily get out of the circle, because a brand IP with a soul can easily focus on the circle and gain recognition, thereby breaking through the circle.
- Johnnie Walker has given IP (a walking gentleman) the soul of “Keep Walking Forever Forward”, which has continued for 180 years. (Where is the soul of Chinese liquor?)
- Jobs single-handedly gave Apple the soul of "changing the world" and the values of "Think Different", ushering in the era of intelligence.
- The "hippie capitalist" and maverick Richard Branson has injected a rebel image into the "Virgin" brand, always leading the trend, and has always been enthusiastically followed by the younger generation. The Virgin Empire built is involved in media, mobile phones, beverages, telecommunications operations, retail, etc. On July 12, 2021, he became the first businessman to fly into space on a Virgin Galactic space plane.
- The Qixi of "just being yourself". Fido Dido is a cartoon character designed by Pepsi for Qixi in 1987. He was born on a napkin in a New York restaurant and drew his own appearance. He has constant stories, always wears a big T-shirt, is unique and does things. Unexpected; his mantra is "just be yourself" and "usually it's better not to do anything". Fido's behavior, language, and personality were all the rage in the 1980s and 1990s and became a fashion.
- also sells 4 billion innocent juices a year, redefining the brand with innocent IP and "childlike" characters.
However, Soul Sect has a fatal problem - it is very dependent on the founder/core.
First of all, the soul school strongly needs a founder who is focused, persistent, and independent-thinking. If he simply injects soul into the brand, the possibility of success is relatively low.
Secondly, when the founder is here, the soul is full of vitality; when the founder is gone, the soul becomes languid or even disappears. For example, Apple lost Steve Jobs.
Finally, it must be suitable for your own abilities, your own stage, and your own personality.
3. The future of Soul Sect
Soul Sect IP will grow rapidly after leaving the circle. After becoming a towering tree, its ability to survive in the face of environmental changes will become more solid and stable, its life span will be infinitely lengthened, and ecological imagination and exploration will continue. Boundaries are more diverse.
It is not an exaggeration to say that "I can't help myself": such as Heytea's sparkling water, such as Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic, such as Apple making cars...
Especially for Generation Z , the world view, values, codes of conduct, and actions of each super IP can, to a small extent, inspire their passion for life and give them the meaning of life; if they magnify their imagination, they can even change some people's attitude towards life, and even world.
Apple, innocent, Qixi, "Nezha", "Spiritual Journey", "Coco"...
From this perspective, Soul School should be the ultimate form of brand IP.
From this perspective, most new consumer brands can try Soul, because most of their founders have a dream of changing the world, not just to make money.
4. Postscript
As mentioned above, brand customers who want to develop IP are more suitable to start from the original intention of the brand and take the soul route.
First, the founder is from the Xishuangbanna rainforest, and insists on focusing on the effects of rainforest plants on humans;
Second, the brand has a unique rainforest gene, forming a strong differentiation from other brands in terms of product raw materials and research and development;
Third , as a new consumer brand, focusing on a certain circle and winning over Generation Z, the soul-oriented P route matches its existing resources.
Reference:
- "Look at Heytea's product IP strategy from the popularity of Succulent Grape"
- "Cross-border Heytea: 74 joint brands in 4 and a half years"
#Columnist#
Brand ape, everyone is Product Manager Columnist. Public account: Brand Yuanchuang (ID: brand-yuan), a spy of the new business ecosystem, a brand strategy consultant, focusing on brand innovation and evolution!
This article was originally published on Everyone is a Product Manager. Reprinting without permission is prohibited
The title picture comes from Unsplash, based on the CC0 agreement
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