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Author | Bai Lu

Although it is already the beginning of autumn, the "autumn heat" in Shanghai should not be underestimated. Sitting at his workstation, Ah Huan was thinking about whether to order a cup of iced milk tea to cool off. As soon as he opened his phone, he was attracted by various joint packages.

Here, the joint package of Luckin Coffee and Black Myth: Wukong was on the top of the homepage, and the limited peripherals were sold out in seconds; there, the joint venture of Yogurt Pot and My Little Pony was in full swing; Nayuki was even more exaggerated, holding Teletubbies in one hand and Sailor Moon in the other. Faced with the dazzling joint peripherals, Ah Huan had forgotten that he just wanted to drink something.

In recent years, competition in the new tea market has intensified. In the past few years, the raw materials of the roll made the yellow-skinned orange popular, and later the price of the roll was 9.9 yuan per drink. Now, developing product peripherals seems to have become one of the effective ways to enhance brand image and increase customer stickiness.

A new type of consumers has also emerged on social platforms, ranging from "buying drinks and getting peripherals for free" to "buying drinks for the peripherals". Some people drink several cups of milk tea a week just to collect stickers and postcards, some people post about drinking milk tea on behalf of others while they are in other places, and there are also young people with a keen sense of business who re-create the peripheral packaging bags and sell them at high prices.

The competition in the new tea beverage market has already spread to the edge of the product.

We sell drinks, we deliver emotions

If we were to select the most popular track in recent years, new tea drinks would definitely be on the list. When you open the food delivery app in the early morning, you will find that the closing time of milk tea shops is getting later and later. When you click on the dessert and beverage category, you can still see many beverage shops that do not miss the night business, such as Cha Baidao, CoCo, and Tamsai Tea House. There are more milk tea shops on the streets of offline business districts than consumers. There can be 10 milk tea shops on a 100-meter street. Some netizens even commented: "What? Has anyone died of thirst on this street before?"

Especially during peak consumption seasons such as summer and early autumn, major new tea brands are trying their best to gain a foothold.In addition to continuous innovation in the products themselves, brands have also put a lot of effort into peripheral products and services, and are busy with joint ventures and peripheral design. Some new tea brands launch at least one joint product almost every month, hoping to find new growth points and breakthroughs.

Young people, especially fans of the ACG world, have become the target of competition among major brands due to their high level of activity and strong willingness to consume. ACG IP, film and television, cultural intangible heritage and game IP have become the first choice for cross-border cooperation with brands because of their broad fan base and high cultural recognition.

What do this group value most? Naturally, the packaging bags, character stickers and standees printed with characters, and "sold out" has become a common phenomenon in joint ventures. When Jingzhe Research Institute sorted out the joint activities of some tea brands in August, it found thatThe co-branded peripherals on the market are no longer the arrangements and combinations of "superimposed logos" in the past, but "peripheral gift packs" mainly consisting of themed cups, cup sleeves, acrylic boards and postcards, combined with co-branded theme stores.

Of course, there are also some slightly more creative peripheral designs. For example, on White Valentine's Day this year, Heytea cooperated with Otoyuki's "Hiru y yore" to launch a limited edition "marriage certificate" peripheral. Consumers can combine their own photos and character cards into a marriage certificate photo and put it in the certificate, with the character's signature stickers to customize their own certificate. At the same time, co-branded paper bags, thermal insulation bags and other peripherals were launched.

In order to get a "marriage certificate" with their "husband" in the game, many players willingly lined up. On the day of the event, HEYTEA sold more than 1.38 million co-branded theme wedding certificates. At the same time, many stores were overwhelmed with orders, and some stores sold nearly 3,000 cups of co-branded drinks on the same day.

In addition to co-branded peripherals, more and more tea brands have begun to develop their own peripherals. Theme cups and various bags and handbags are the most common beverage shop peripherals. Even mobile phone cases can be found in milk tea.Jingzhe Research Institute browsed the mini program pages of many tea brands and found that most brands have peripheral areas. Some peripheral products are added to the product options as default gifts. Whether users want to buy them or not, they will have some, or they will be given a few when there is an event.

During the Chinese Valentine's Day not long ago, many tea shops launched new products and gave away various peripheral gifts. CoCo gave away love diffraction filter glasses and sticker pearl pendants, Cha Li Yi Shi put Chinese Valentine's Day porcelain cups and themed bracelets on the shelves, and Lelecha, Bawang Cha Ji, and Yi Dian Dian also launched Chinese Valentine's Day limited events.

It is under this kind of attack from peripheral shells that many consumers have fallen into it unconsciously.Although they already have a bunch of cups, eco-friendly bags and small figurines at home, when faced with increasingly exquisite and high-value peripherals, they still open their wallets and change from “buy drinks and get peripherals for free” to “buy drinks for the peripherals”.

What you drink is not important

In order to attract as many consumer groups as possible, beverage shops often choose to collaborate with IPs that have a certain degree of popularity and fame. According to statistics from Shiwei Technology, mainstream tea and coffee brands collaborated a total of 122 times in 2023, with an average of a new collaboration event every three days.

In order to make cross-border collaborations have a stronger driving effect on market conversion, most joint activities are time-sensitive and scarce, so that core fans try every means to collect a complete set of peripherals. In order to obtain limited-time and limited-edition peripherals, many fans often buy designated packages in joint theme stores multiple times within a period of time.

Ah Huan told Jingzhe Research Institute that he ordered 10 cups of milk tea in a week in order to collect the co-branded peripherals of "Love and Producer" and Coco. "I usually don't order Coco for milk tea, but last time I saw a co-branded game I like, I excitedly looked at the package. There are packages for 1 person, 2 people, and 5 people. Because the package for 1 person does not come with an acrylic photo card, I choose the package for 2 people every time I order."

Regarding the tea drink co-branded game, Ah Huan thinks that for more than 30 yuan, in addition to buying two real drinks, you can also get a set of character peripherals, which is quite cost-effective. "A postcard and an acrylic photo card together will cost at least 10 to 20 yuan, and if it is an official flagship store, most of them are pre-sale mechanisms, and it will take 3-4 months or even half a year to get it. In addition, the co-branded cards are basically exquisite, so it is a good deal if you buy them."

*Photo provided by the interviewee

However, co-branded products can also have flavor "turnarounds". For example, the special drink "Tengyun Americano" that Luckin Coffee collaborated with "Black Myth: Wukong" was criticized by netizens on the day it was launched as "particularly difficult to drink" and "a bit sour". Some netizens placed orders for the co-branded peripherals, but ultimately failed to finish the "Tengyun Americano".

Ah Huan also complained to the Jingzhe Research Institute that the taste of the co-branded milk tea between Love and Producer and Coco is nothing special, and even on Xiaohongshu, many people said it was unpalatable. "In addition to the taste, the package setting is also a bit tricky. You can only choose one character when you share the package with 2 people, so you have to buy it 5 times to collect the photo cards of the complete set of characters. Because I didn't know when the co-branding would end, I was worried about missing it, so I ordered 10 cups of milk tea in a week."

Ah Huan told Jingzhe Research Institute, "Since the collaboration is time-sensitive and regional, some players will miss out on the collaboration. If they want to collect all the peripherals, they can only pay a high price or find someone to drink for them. Someone else will drink your milk tea for you, and if you want peripherals, you have to pay for the postage.Drinking on behalf of others is not purchasing on behalf of others. This transaction occurs only when you cannot buy the co-branded products there, but you want the peripherals. In this case, you basically have to post your needs on social platforms for a fee.”

According to Ahuan's description, the Jingzhe Research Institute searched a large number of posts about drinking on behalf of others, buying on behalf of others, and purchasing at high prices on social platforms. On Xiaohongshu, there were more than 70,000 notes with the keyword #奶茶代喝#.

In addition, A Huan also revealed that some consumers will put these peripheral products on second-hand platforms."For example, the complete set of co-branded peripherals of CoCo and Love and Producer has been sold for more than 200 yuan on Taobao, and some characters are out of stock. Even the milk tea packaging bags have been re-made and sold."

On Xianyu, the Jingzhe Research Institute also found that the market for co-branded peripherals has begun to take shape, and some users even specifically buy co-branded milk tea to resell the peripherals.

Jingzhe Research Institute randomly clicked on the homepage of CoCo and Love and Producer peripherals, and the page showed that an acrylic photo frame and a rotating stand were priced at 10 yuan, plus stickers and cup holders, a character's peripherals can be sold for 30 yuan. If you want to collect all five characters' peripherals, it means you have to spend at least 150 yuan. Because most peripherals are not free shipping, and when you buy peripherals at such high prices, consumers can't even guarantee that the products are brand new and unopened.

The timeliness of the co-branded peripherals is also continued in the second-hand market.Ah Huan said that if he saw an expired collaboration on a social platform, he would buy character peripherals at a high price within his means. But on the other hand, Ah Huan also said that he was somewhat "desensitized". "The collaborations between tea drinks and IPs are a bit too frequent and lack novelty. They are either stickers or photo cards. The only thing that has changed is the character cards. The collaborations between IPs and brands are like mathematical permutations and combinations, which easily make me feel consumption fatigue."

Like Ah Huan, Gui Yujiang, a post-95s girl working in Shanghai, is also generous in collecting peripherals. However, what she is interested in is not the co-branded peripherals, but the "rubber duck" - the original peripheral of LINLEE, a brand specializing in hand-beaten lemon tea.

"I will buy their lemon tea specifically to collect ducks. I usually don't buy from other stores because they require a certain amount of money or give away free accessories when you buy several cups. LINLEE gives away a duck and accessories when you buy one cup. Since it's close to my office, I usually buy offline so that I can choose the accessories myself."

Gui Yujiang told the Jingzhe Research Institute that he placed a row of colorful ducks on his computer, and there was also a big "Duck King" on the desktop."Before, I would buy accessories on Taobao or look for other dolls and toy accessories to dress up my duck. Matching is fun in itself. When I go to work, I look at my success and my mood becomes better. But after collecting too many, I feel a little distressed because I feel like I can never finish them all."

*Photo provided by the interviewee

In fact, many netizens have the same troubles as Gui Yujiang, such as those netizens who collect "Tea Saves the Planet" mahjong peripherals. Although it is normal to get a small gift when ordering milk tea, it is rare to get a mahjong for free when buying a cup. This has aroused the desire of many netizens to collect, and they plan to drink more milk tea to make up a mahjong table.

If we calculate based on the number of 144 standard mahjong pieces and the price of 15 yuan for a cup of drink, it would cost at least 2,000 yuan to collect a set of mahjong. However, the mahjong peripherals of "Tea Saves the Planet" are blind boxes, and consumers cannot choose specific mahjong pieces. They usually encounter duplicate mahjong pieces. Therefore, on social platforms, you can also see netizens discussing exchanging mahjong pieces under the posts.

In fact, whether it is co-branded peripherals or self-owned peripherals, the complex products and bundled sales have caused many netizens to complain whether milk tea has also entered the game market. Drinking milk tea has become drawing cards and opening picture albums. If you want to get the peripherals you like, you have to drink milk tea non-stop. In the end, you spend money and gain a few pounds.

Internal upgrade, not just the periphery

How crowded is the tea beverage market today? According to data from Zhaimen Canyan, as of August 5, the total number of stores under the "milk tea beverage" label reached 431,753, a net increase of 35,518 in the past year. In particular, the number of stores of some leading new tea beverage brands has skyrocketed, and they are heading towards the "10,000-store era".

The reason supporting new tea brands to accelerate their expansion is mainly due to the optimistic prediction of the "lipstick effect", that is, despite the economic recession, people will still buy some luxury goods or small items to improve their living conditions, and milk tea is one of them.

According to iResearch, the market size of new tea drinks in my country will reach 333.38 billion yuan in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 13.5%. Therefore, facing the generally optimistic growth trend within and outside the industry, many new tea drink brands have also plunged into the situation of accelerated competition.

Consumers on the market side have not been idle either. From 2020 to the present, most consumers have experienced several rounds of iteration and integration of consumer psychology: initially focusing on health, then turning to rational consumption, and then strongly identifying with emotional value.

The psychological changes of consumers have also pointed out the direction of internal circulation for brands in the market.

In order to meet the health needs of consumers, most new tea brands on the market have basically abandoned traditional raw materials such as milk powder and saccharin, and replaced them with high-quality tea, fresh milk, fresh fruit and other raw material bases, which to a certain extent has replaced desserts and freshly squeezed juices. In addition to marking calorie values ​​on the menu, some tea brands have also specially launched different sugar control and fat reduction products to provide consumers with zero-calorie sugar options and optimize products in terms of sugar.

While ensuring quality and health, the prices of new tea drinks have been reduced again and again.Once upon a time, high-end new tea drinks were the favorites of young people, and the average customer price of 20-30 yuan was common, and some people had to wait for several hours to drink a cup. But when the high-end market became saturated, many tea brands began to "lower their posture" and collectively reduce prices. The average price basically dropped to more than 10 yuan, and the cheapest even dropped to less than 10 yuan.

In order to attract attention and increase brand exposure, new tea brands spare no effort in packaging design.

For example, HEYTEA collaborated with the luxury brand FENDI and used the classic packaging color scheme of yellow background and black text for its new products; NOWWA collaborated with a former senior print designer of GUCCI to launch a new co-branded product, Damascus Rose Sea Salt Latte; Bawang Chaji, which has been growing rapidly in the past two years, has used a "tribute" method to incorporate design schemes or elements of luxury brands such as DIOR, GUCCI, CHANEL and Valentino into its own product packaging, becoming one of the most frequently appeared "order show-off" objects on social media.

Jingzhe Research Institute in previous articles"2023 Internet Celebrity New Tea Drinks: Paying Tribute to Big Brands and Going Out of the Circle"It has been pointed out that the competition among new tea brands at this stage is often a competition to see who can attract more consumers' attention. From the initial hit products to the later brand collaborations, they are all competing for traffic and boosting sales for brands through frequent new products in a limited market space.

However, when product peripherals become the new battlefield for the new tea beverage brands to compete internally, and the center of competition in the industry extends outward from products, one cannot help but ask: What exactly are the new tea beverages competing for?

From a business perspective, the new tea beverage consumption market is still centered on products, providing "thirst-quenching" product value. Even in the internal circulation stage of packaging upgrades, it is still upgrading products and related services.

However, starting from joint activities and product peripherals, the marketing actions originally intended to attract fan circles and drive product sales have become the core value. The functional value of the new tea drink of "quenching thirst" is only the original motivation for initiating a consumption behavior.

When consumers start looking for drinking services in order to obtain limited-edition peripherals, the original product value gradually disintegrates, and brands need to promote consumer behavior by providing more value beyond the product. But this also creates a new problem: if consumers don’t care what they drink, or even don’t drink the products they buy, but just place orders for peripherals, then why don’t merchants sell peripherals directly?

In fact, the fundamental reason why new tea drinks began to gain popularity is that the market has gradually become saturated, and new tea drink brands and their products are also facing serious homogeneity problems.

Compared with the uncertain risks of product innovation, the success rate of driving short-term sales conversion through joint activities or product peripherals is obviously higher, so joint activities and peripherals have become the main competitive means for many big brands. Behind this competitive strategy of peripherals, what is actually competing is the financial strength and IP resources of the brand.Although the actual profit behind it is unknown, the co-branded peripherals have indeed increased cash flow for big brands and provided strong support for brands to open up for franchise cooperation.

Under the trend of "rolling peripherals", we can also find that brands such as LINLEE's little duck and "Tea Saves the Planet"'s little mahjong have tried their own peripherals, which have jumped out of the high-cost operation mode of brand co-branding and are conducive to cultivating fans for the brand. However, compared with the co-branding of big IPs, self-owned peripherals are more of a test of the brand's creative ability in product development.

Returning to the underlying competitive logic of the consumer market, in any environment, what brands need is strong product power, a strong brand image and solid user loyalty.Today’s new tea brands seem to be competing for peripheral products, but in fact, when there is nothing left to compete for with their products, they rely on their own creativity and external resources to continue to maintain brand exposure and compete for sales conversions. However, this is ultimately just a stopgap measure.

As market competition intensifies, simply relying on product enhancement may not be enough to maintain a brand's competitive advantage. Brands also need to pay attention to aspects such as user experience, service quality, and brand image building to form comprehensive advantages in order to stand out in the fierce competition.

*Ahuan and Gui Jujiang in the article are pseudonyms.