"At that time, the first thought when I came to Beijing was to have a drink of 'a little bit'. In 2018, Ms. Ding, who lives in Lanzhou, Gansu Province, went to Beijing to watch a concert, but her first stop was a bubble tea shop.
At that time, "a little bit" was undoubtedly the "first generation of Internet celebrities" in the bubble tea shop, and the overwhelming pictures on the Internet attracted many people to salivate, and it was common to queue up in front of the door.
What is embarrassing is that it has entered everyone's field of vision so "vigorously" because of a number of rumors of bankruptcy. Although the "little bit" official blog personally refuted the rumors and called it "fake, fake, fake", it is still difficult to hide the facts.
Actually, it's not just "a little bit", Antler Alley, Gongcha, typhoon shelter ......Some of these "yyds" that used to be in the minds of young people are hard to find.
Is it because consumers are getting worse, or are these brands not working?
The industry is iterating rapidly
Some brands are left behind "a little bit".
Recently, on social **, some netizens in Nanchong, Dalian, Suzhou and other places said that a little bit of local stores were closed. According to a catering data query platform, as of February 11, 2021, there were more than 4,000 stores. As of November 2, 2023, the number of stores is 3,018.
More than just a little, data from a retail data monitoring platform shows that the number of Happy Lemon stores in China has decreased from about 690 in 2022 to 246 currently, and nearly 450 stores have been closed.
Happy lemon past store type. **Happy Lemon official Weibo account.
Zhang Yi, CEO and chief analyst of iiMedia Consulting, pointed out in an interview with China News Service that new tea brands have entered the Red Sea era. "In the past, as long as there was a good brand and a good storefront, the tea store basically did not worry about selling. Because of this, tea brands have sprung up, and for consumers, there is not much difference in taste and product category. Probably from the beginning of 2022, there will be a competitive scene in the entire market that can be said to be a war against each other. ”
For brands that are gradually at a disadvantage in the competition, Pan Helin, co-director and researcher of the Digital Economy and Financial Innovation Research Center of Zhejiang University International Business School, believes that it is because there are too many choices of new tea brands and serious homogenization, consumers are gradually losing focus and experiencing aesthetic fatigue.
When searching for "a little bit" on the Internet, there will also be complaints from netizens such as "the sugar content is too high" and "the delivery fee is too high".
Luo Xueming, chief expert of Guangdong Modern City Industrial Technology Research Institute, pointed out in an interview with China News Service that the traditional milk tea production process and formula often contain high-sugar and high-fat ingredients, and modern consumers are paying more and more attention to healthy diets and have concerns about high-sugar, high-fat, especially foods with food additives. If influencer brands cannot adjust their product mix to meet consumers' demand for a healthy diet, it will be difficult for them to remain competitive in the market.
A little bit of it is obvious that I have realized this. In its recent Weibo release, there is a low-calorie strategy, recommending four sugar-free drinks.
Trick marketing adds fire to the "battlefield".
You love me, I love you, Honey Snow Ice City is sweet. "Mixue Bingcheng combines the Snow King IP with its own theme song to achieve first-class communication for a while.
In the first half of this year, Heytea co-branded with the famous Italian luxury brand Fendi, and you can take home a set of co-branded drinks with peripherals for 38 yuan. The ordering mini program has been sold out in 1 minute for many consecutive days, which shows how popular it is.
In addition, Nai Xue's tea co-branded "Wulin Gaiden", Shuyi Burning Fairy Grass co-branded "Fengshen", and Mixue Bingcheng co-branded Egg Boy Party ......Different from the gloom of declining brands, the marketing of popular tea brands is very happy, especially the emergence of co-branded products, which attract consumers to pay for them willingly. Even a little bit of refuting the rumors is a "hurry" statement that it wants to launch a joint event.
A joint activity of a bubble tea shop in a large supermarket. The country is a through train photo by Gao Yanjiao.
Luo Xueming said that from an objective analysis from an economic point of view, the phenomenon of co-branding of tea brands reflects the changes in the market and the diversification of consumer demand. Co-branding can provide freshness and a unique consumer experience, allowing brands to leverage each other to create a win-win situationFrom a marketing point of view, the benefits of tea brand co-branding include expanding brand awareness, increasing product sales, enhancing brand image, and achieving market share growth and expanding consumer demand for tea brands.
At the same time, from the side, to achieve resource sharing, reduce marketing costs, increase the brand's degree, and bring more choices to consumers, improve the competitiveness of the market.
Regarding the effect of co-branding, Pan and Lin said that it is a plus point for popular models, and it does not play a decisive role in the development of the brand. He believes that the "popular" tea brand mainly relies on two things, one is a large single product, a popular model, continue to seize the trend, and take the path of differentiation;The second is by location. "It is also 'Nai Xue's tea', and when it comes to a single store, the performance is also significantly differentiated. Therefore, the choice of popular style and location is indispensable. ”
There are no shortcuts to evergreen
Brand positioning is crucial
According to the "2023-2024 Survey and Analysis Report on the Operation Status and Consumption Trends of China's New Tea Industry" released by iiMedia Consulting, the market size of China's new tea drinks will reach 3,333 in 2023800 million yuan. With the diversification of new tea consumption scenarios, the continuous innovation and expansion of categories, and the continuous rise of consumers' enthusiasm for new tea drinks, it is estimated that the market size of China's new tea drinks will reach 3749 in 2025300 million yuan.
Under the huge market scale, how to become an "evergreen" in the industry?Luo Xueming pointed out that brand positioning is very important. Tea brands need to be clear about their target consumer groups and the product features they offer in order to stand out in a highly competitive market. It also needs to be integrated with the local culture, satisfy the customer's sense of identity, and focus on product development and innovation. The formula should be closer to natural health. As consumers increasingly demand healthy eating, tea brands should focus on the health and nutritional value of their products and offer more natural and organic tea options to appeal to increasingly health-conscious consumers.
In order to develop in the long run under fierce competition, it is necessary to continuously introduce new products and meet the taste needs of consumers in order to remain competitive. Tea brands should devote more resources to product research and development, exploring more combinations of flavors and formulations to provide unique taste experiencesAs well as through market research and promotion means, understand the purchase behavior and consumption preferences of target consumers, so as to effectively convey brand value, and adopt corresponding pricing, channels and strategies to enhance brand awareness and reputation and pay close attention to the macroeconomic situation, and reasonably adjust the operation strategy to adapt to market fluctuations and changes in consumer demand.
When talking about the long-term development, the interviewed experts all mentioned the transformation of low-end tea drinks. Pan and Lin pointed out that the scale of the tea industry has basically touched the ceiling, and the future will be dominated by stock competition, and high-end tea drinks should be able to go further if they can maintain differentiation and uniqueness, and there are too many low-end tea substitutes, and the prospects are not optimistic.
Luo Xueming also believes that low-end tea brands should think about how to improve product quality and service levels to attract higher-end consumers and further enhance the value and influence of the brand.