Young people can't drink 80 yuan a cup of "Havoc in the Heavenly Palace".
Written by Zhang Lin.
Edit |Zhao Jinjie.
Starbucks, the godfather of coffee, has also embarked on the road of co-branding, which is not only the importance of the Chinese market, but also a new measure to cope with the increasingly fierce competition in China.
According to the recent financial results of Starbucks for the first quarter of fiscal 2024 (i.e., the fourth quarter of 2023), Starbucks' consolidated net income for the quarter increased 8% to $9.4 billion (excluding the impact of foreign exchange changes), but it was lower than analysts' expectations of $9.6 billion.
Among them, Starbucks China's revenue for the quarter increased by 20% to 7$3.5 billion, net of foreign exchange effects, was up 10% in same-store sales and 21% in same-store volume.
As Starbucks' second largest market in the world, it has become an inevitable move for Starbucks to further tap the potential of the Chinese market by trying more localized marketing strategies such as co-branding, in the face of the fact that Starbucks China contributed the highest revenue growth rate in the quarter"Starbucks China is showing strong momentum and is confident in its long-term development in the Chinese market. Starbucks Global CEO Na Sihan said.
However, Starbucks' first co-branded coffee with China's local cultural IP "Havoc in Tiangong" did not set off a craze on social platforms. Compared with the scene of Luckin and Moutai co-branding and winning several hot searches in a row, and the scene of Weibo swiping screens, as of press time, the Weibo topic reading volume of Starbucks co-branded set of 80 yuan a cup is only 7240,000, and the number of discussions is only 83.
In the face of increasingly fierce competition from local brands, in addition to co-branding, continuous sinking has also become Starbucks' expansion strategy in the Chinese market in recent years. According to the financial report data, up to now, the number of Starbucks stores in the Chinese mainland market has exceeded 7,000, and 857 of the nearly 3,000 cities above the county level in China have entered.
Wang Jingying, chairman and CEO of Starbucks China, said that the follow-up will continue to accelerate the sinking and enter more county-level markets.
When a number of coffee and tea brands have rolled up and conquered the city with a low-price strategy, Starbucks, which is extending its tentacles to more counties, made it clear that it has "no intention to participate in the ** war" and once again emphasized that its goal is to become "the preferred brand in the high-end coffee market".
In the Chinese market, where consumers' money bags are getting tighter and tighter, and "cost-effective coffee" can be seen everywhere, it is still unknown how Starbucks will break the game, but the answer will definitely not be a Starbucks co-branded set of 80 yuan.
After the co-branding has been played by local coffee and tea brands, Starbucks finally can't sit still.
Recently, Starbucks joined hands with the IP of "Havoc in Heaven" to launch a new product for special stars - Frozen TM Latte. This is the first time that Starbucks has co-branded its drinks with a local IP in more than 20 years since it entered the Chinese market.
In addition to drinks, the co-branded Starbucks also customized peripheral products, coffee straws in the shape of Daishing golden hoop sticks, and Daishon-shaped pendants that can make sounds. As for takeaway delivery, according to the official introduction, during the delivery process of about 20 minutes, the coffee slowly condenses, forming layers and adding flavor.
From the selection of co-branded objects to the research and development of products, it can be seen that Starbucks has put a lot of thought into it. The new latte uses "Lao Sun's Golden Hoop Stick" as the shape of the straw, and the special cohesion and layering effect creates the concept of "transformation". At the same time, combined with the big data analysis of the takeaway platform, in response to consumers' dessert taste trends, Starbucks launched French caramel and rum chocolate flavors.
As for the reason for joining hands with the local IP of "Havoc in Heaven", Starbucks China said that while paying tribute to Guoman, it has carried out a comprehensive image combination with Monkey King from beverage research and development creativity, beverage production, takeaway delivery and product peripherals, in order to evoke customers' good memories and redefine the takeaway experience.
There are many people on social platforms who pay for the emotional effect caused by Starbucks' collaboration, but there are also people who feel that the co-branding is too high and the sincerity is not enough. "Obviously you can rob it, Starbucks will give you a straw" "Luckin co-branded 2,000 yuan of wine to 199 cups, Starbucks co-branded plastic toys sold to 40 ""A straw 40, Starbucks looks down on me too much" ......
According to the special star delivery platform, according to different cup types, the ** for buying a single cup of coffee is 38 yuan-41 yuan, but if you add the Monkey King avatar pendant and the periphery of the golden hoop stick, you will have to pay another 399 yuan, a complete drink with peripherals total** close to 80 yuan.
On the social platform, some users who took the lead in trying and checking in posted the surrounding objects, and the plastic straws that changed the color to become golden hoop sticks, and the Monkey King plastic pendants that had a fight with the quality and Yiwu small commodities attracted netizens to complain.
In addition, Starbucks did not design customized packaging for the co-brand, and netizens complained that they "don't understand young people". The reason why many young people are keen to buy co-branded products is largely because of the packaging, or to add color to the punch card, or to commemorate the collection.
Although Starbucks has chosen one of the most well-known content IPs in China and carried out in-depth cooperation such as product launches, in order to consolidate its high-end positioning, it has not made more localized low-price concessions in terms of products.
As of press time, Starbucks has not released the sales data of this joint marketing, but judging from the popularity of Internet discussions, there has been no phenomenal communication at present.
In today's China's ready-made beverage industry, co-branding has become a must-have skill for almost every coffee and tea brand, with brands launching co-branded products almost every week. With a keen sense of networking, local brands join hands with popular film and television and animation IPs such as "Flowers" and Line Puppy, and from time to time they pop up to jump on the high spots of young people.
In the past year, the collision combinations of Luckin and Moutai, Heytea and Fendi, and Naixue Fantesi have been out of the circle because of their joint names. In September 2023, the Sauce Latte jointly launched by Luckin Moutai will become popular, with the first-day sales of single products exceeding 5.42 million cups and the first-day sales of single products exceeding 100 million yuan.
On the other hand, this Starbucks collaboration has not yet shown signs of detonating new products. Li Xiang, a senior coffee practitioner, believes that almost all of the popular coffee brands are tried out, and even if there is user data to provide R&D support, no brand dares to guarantee that the new products will explode. "Comparing Luckin's co-branding and new frequency, it can be understood that it is basically impossible for Starbucks to hit with one hit. ”
Unlike Starbucks' "Slow Picture", local brands such as Luckin are good at chasing hot spots, and their co-branding style is known for being "short, flat and fast", and they have to look for opportunities to "stick" with young consumers almost every week.
Under the fierce market competition, it is becoming more and more difficult to impress young people with decent co-branding, and only co-branding that understands young people better can really get out of the circle. Luckin's sauce-flavored latte is stepping on the psychology of young people to "do big things with little money", so that young consumers can drink the first sip of Moutai at 38 yuan.
Another consumer trend that cannot be ignored is that in the past, consumers may have paid for a premium for brands, but now that consumers' wallets are shrinking, the trend of consumption returning to value-based is more obvious, and cost-effective products with added value are the key to attracting consumers. The price of a full set of Starbucks co-branded products of nearly 80 yuan is enough to dissuade young people who want to check in and try it.
In the face of the strong attack of the back waves, the former godfather of coffee also had to "copy homework", but he didn't seem to understand it.
Jiang Han, a senior researcher at Pangu Think Tank, said that in recent years, Luckin Coffee has successfully leveraged young consumers with a series of successful co-branded marketing activities and brought the co-branding model into the mainstream of the coffee industry. Starbucks' launch of a co-branded product in China is undoubtedly a reference and response to the successful model of its competitor Luckin Coffee.
But at the same time, through continuous trial and practice, local brands such as Luckin have summed up a set of effective co-branding recipes**. It will take some time for Starbucks to complete the localization of its marketing strategy. Jiang Han further said.
Although Starbucks emphasizes "no intention of fighting", Starbucks has also had to compromise in the face of fierce market competition and increasingly cautious consumers.
Although Starbucks China's revenue increased by 20% in the fiscal quarter. However, it is worth noting that Starbucks China's average customer value fell by 9% in the current fiscal quarter. Starbucks China said that the decline in customer unit value was mainly due to factors such as the intensification of the environment.
Wang Jingying also said in the financial report meeting that the 9% decline mainly came from two aspects: first, the sales volume of higher goods decreased, and such goods accounted for a relatively small proportion of the sales mix; Second, we are trying to provide targeted and personalized offers to encourage consumers to increase their purchase frequency.
Lunch Finance observed that on Dianping and takeaway platforms, Starbucks' double-cup discount activities can be seen almost every day, sometimes it is 75% off, sometimes it is directly buy one get one free, and it can also be superimposed with the coupons of the platform itself, and a drink is about 20 yuan after calculation. Starbucks has been issuing coupons through food delivery platforms and live streaming since 2022.
In addition to making efforts at the top end, Starbucks China has also made continuous moves in product innovation, digitalization and marketing.
Starbucks is speeding up the pace of a new move in China. According to the financial report data, in the first fiscal quarter, Starbucks China continued to make efforts in the research and development of new products, and launched a total of 12 new coffee drinks, including the strong cup series and the red cup holiday drink series.
Borrowing the topic of new manufacturing, boosting sales, and making a hit, this is a mature set of local coffee brands. Now Starbucks is beginning to cross the river with Luckin, but compared with the research and development speed of hundreds of new products of Luckin every year, Starbucks is more than one beat slower.
In the face of fierce competition in the Chinese market, Starbucks' slow response is revealed in more ways: after a few years of co-branding, Starbucks finally decided to test the water; A year after Luckin aggressively used the delivery scene to grab market share, Starbucks opened up its food delivery service.
In addition to the common problem of a long decision-making chain for foreign companies, Starbucks' mentality of not only accelerating its sinking but also wanting a high-end brand image has also led to slow action.
As early as September 2022, Starbucks proposed to accelerate its expansion in China, opening 9,000 stores by 2025. In the first fiscal quarter, Starbucks China added 169 net new stores and entered 28 new county-level markets, bringing the number of Starbucks stores in Chinese mainland to more than 7,000.
Food analyst Zhu Danpeng pointed out that the demand for coffee in the third-tier to fifth-tier markets is a new growth point in China's coffee market, and in recent years, the development of the regional county economy, the rise of young people in small towns and the return of talents from the high-tier market have accelerated the growth of the third-tier to fifth-tier coffee market, and also allowed the coffee industry to enjoy the dividends brought by the sinking of the market.
But the competition in the sinking market will only become more fierce. In the sinking market, Starbucks can't avoid a close street battle with local coffee and tea brands that have long been stationed in the county. According to the latest data from Narrow Door Catering, in China, the per capita consumption of Starbucks stores is 3819 yuan, higher than Heytea's 1833 yuan and 17 of Luckin Coffee$18.
In this battle for dividends in the sinking market outside the fifth ring road, the test will be Starbucks' more in-depth localization strategy and faster response speed.