6 marketing strategies of Heytea and Nayuki

It is undeniable that "milk tea" is the "spiritual opium" of today's young people, and ordering a cup of milk tea no matter what is the norm in their lives. This normal lifestyle is partly due to the vigorous marketing efforts of new tea brands in recent years.

After all, with the accumulation of "crazy" marketing methods, various "Internet celebrity tea shops" have emerged one after another, making "store check-ins" and "showing off milk tea" the social currency of contemporary young people. Even now, there are long queues in front of stores like Heytea , COCO, and Chabaidao. Why would anyone be willing to queue for hours to buy a cup of milk tea?

In the catering industry, if we talk about which brands understand young people better and know how to use different marketing methods to attract young people, new tea brands must have a place.

In this regard, Morketing took stock of the gameplay of different brands such as Heytea, Nayuki, and Lelecha, breaking down their marketing and operations, and how to capture young consumers. Generally speaking, the marketing of these new tea brands can be summarized in three points: " more, faster, and more stable ."

1. “More” = Freshness

There is no doubt that the marketing frequency of new tea drinks is very high, and these marketing projects, rather than bringing more conversions, are more about continuously bringing "freshness" to consumers. So how do they create a sense of freshness?

1. Bringing “freshness” through product innovation

A tea shop is similar to a restaurant. If a shop always serves the same dishes, consumers will visit the shop less frequently over time. Therefore , regularly adding new dishes according to the season is a core driving force for tea shops to bring freshness to diners and maintain their consumption. It is reported that Heytea launches new products every 1.5 to 2 months on average, while Nayuki Tea launches new products almost every month.

(Left: Heytea; Right: Lelecha)

In terms of new product innovation, the research and development of new tea drinks is often based on the season. Limited editions will be launched in different seasons, and then the new products will be pushed to "explosive products" through marketing, such as "Succulent Grapes" and "Succulent Green Grapes". At the same time, the leading tea beverage brands are showing two major directions in product research and development.

First, grayscale testing and small-step iteration; second, in-depth exploration of various raw materials to be better at raw materials. Take Heytea as an example. When developing new products, they will not promote them on a large scale first. Instead, they will quietly put them online for testing, collect consumer feedback during the testing period, and then adjust the formula. Finally, they will promote the new products on a large scale. At this time, Heytea often turns its "new products" into "explosive products". For example, Heytea’s new succulent green grape recently “crossed over” with Yakult, magnified Yakult, created a series of peripheral products, opened a pop-up store, and promoted it on Xiaohongshu.

In fact, sometimes these new products cannot bring more sales profits to the brand, and may not even compete with classic products, but they can bring continuous new choices and freshness to consumers, helping brands better establish consumer cognition and culture . Of course, the rapid iteration of product research and development is also inseparable from the tea brands' layout of the supply chain.

2. Tea brands will bring "freshness" through frequent cross-border expansion and expand their user base and popularity

It can be said that tea beverage brands are well-deserved "joint harvesters". By cooperating with brands from different industries, they can maintain the stickiness of existing users on the one hand, and reach young people in different circles on the other. Taking Heytea, Nayuki Tea and Lelecha as examples, what are the characteristics of their cross-border marketing?

First, the cross-border attitude is open.

Can you imagine that one day Coca-Cola will cooperate with Pepsi? Relatively speaking, tea beverage brands are more open in their attitude towards cross-border cooperation. Cooperation between the two can bring "mutual benefit", so why not do it?

Previously, Heytea had crossed over with its competitor Cha Yan Yue Se to launch the "Qia Bei Cha Bu" co-branded gift box. At that time, part of the reason was that the expansion and development of Cha Yan Yue Se stores could not reach the level of Hey Tea and it was still a regional brand. The cooperation between the two also attracted Nayuki's Tea to join in the fun, leaving a comment under the Weibo message of Cha Yan Yue Se saying "Do you think I still have a chance?"

Secondly, the cross-border objects are diverse and are not limited to gift boxes.

On the one hand, tea beverage brands have expanded from catering brands to cosmetics brands, and then to daily chemical brands...basically covering all industries. On the other hand, they are constantly improving their cross-border methods, from the simplest joint product gift boxes, to cross-border cooperation with 5 brands on the same theme, as well as larger-scale online traffic, offline flash experiences and other full-case cross-border marketing.

Then, the cross-border development of tea beverage brands always revolves around their own brand tone.

As for Heytea, its cross-border style revolves around "modern and fashionable", and its design sense is very prominent; as for Nayuki's Tea, it focuses on cross-border cooperation with the art world, and has also launched its own IP Nayuki CUP Art Museum, and will cooperate with artists from time to time; Lelecha takes a "retro" style, for example, it cooperates with brands such as NetEase News, Happy Twist, and Fujiya.

2. “Fast” = One step faster

1. Fast follow-up and quick response

Tea beverage brands are not only keen on "riding the wave of hot topics and chasing hot topics", but are also "one step ahead" from the emergence of topics to their implementation. For example, after the “street stalls” became popular, Heytea launched the “Ahey Tea Stall”.

Chasing hot spots can bring huge traffic, but many times, brands find it difficult to convert traffic into sales. Heytea has done a good job of bundling the attracted traffic with sales. Some time ago, on social platforms, many netizens posted photos of their homemade "mini" cups of milk tea. After seeing the popularity, brands such as Heytea and Yidiandian followed suit and launched mini cups. Take Heytea as an example. When consumers order a cup of milk tea in the store, they can get a serving cup for free, and consumers can DIY it themselves.

On the other hand, gifts can be used to boost sales of new products. For example, when you buy a new product, you can get a "mini" cup for free, thereby driving sales growth.

2. Dare to try new things

Since last year, the Metaverse has become very popular, and some brands have used it to conduct brand marketing and occupy the minds of users. Nayuki Tea is the first to try new things.

At the end of last year, Nayuki’s Tea announced its entry into the metaverse on its sixth anniversary, creating a “beautiful multiverse” and releasing the brand’s digital collections in limited quantities across the entire network. At the same time, the company also launched its first virtual brand ambassador, NAYUKI, and released physical NAYUKI trendy toys.

In addition to Nayuki's Tea testing the waters in the Metaverse, after WeChat quietly launched its mini program in 2017, Heytea launched its mini program in the first half of 2018, while Starbucks only had its mini program in 2020. It can be seen that when faced with new marketing methods or trends, tea beverage brands are more willing to be the first to try new things, even if there are high risks and costs behind trying new things.

3. “Stability” = Operation

1. Understand consumer needs through the membership system.

WeChat mini programs are an important tool for tea brands to conduct digital marketing. In fact, consumers can also observe when they arrive at the store that compared to ordering at the front desk, they would rather recommend consumers to scan the mini program to order by themselves. Because compared to food delivery apps, mini programs can often convert a brand's offline customer traffic into online private domain traffic more quickly, and they have their own first-party data. So, how do they do it?

First, after building the mini program, connect it with the brand’s official WeChat public account. Once consumers are attracted by articles or friends’ circles, they can purchase products through multiple channels, which is convenient and fast.

Secondly, although the mini program may seem like just a small tool, it actually combines multiple sections such as marketing, store management, and user system.

On the one hand, it can be used for dine-in and take-out, and consumers can complete their consumption in the mini program without waiting in line. On the other hand, consumers' online purchasing behaviors have all been settled. Behind the mini program, the membership system is the key core of brand operation .

Taking Heytea as an example, its membership types are divided into free and paid types. Paid Heytea Planet members can enjoy more preferential benefits, such as accelerated acquisition of points and growth points, etc., thereby upgrading their membership level and using membership benefits to purchase goods. Moreover, Heytea’s Planet Membership is divided into quarterly cards, half-year cards, and annual cards, and different cards have different benefits.

In summary, this membership system can effectively observe the growth of users, understand user preferences, the geographical distribution of the population, as well as product sales, consumption peaks, etc., thereby forming an accurate user portrait.

At the same time, brands can develop new products and launch related services based on these user portraits. According to HEYTEA data, as of the end of 2020, the "HEYTEA GO" WeChat mini program had more than 35 million members, with more than 13 million new members added throughout the year. In addition, Nayuki's Tea has publicly revealed that its mini program orders accounted for more than 80% in 2020, making it the first choice for users to place orders.

2. Experience first, create the third space

"Space is not only the customer's first impression of the brand, but social needs are also the customer's basic needs," said Peng Xin, founder of Nayuki Tea. When it comes to opening stores, tea brands are not just working hard blindly, but are mainly taking two major directions.

First, design different theme stores based on the characteristics of the city. For example, Heytea's environmentally friendly theme store in Shenzhen Coast City and the Kuanzhai Alley store in Chengdu are all seeking to integrate into the local community and turn their stores into regional "check-in destinations." Therefore, Heytea strives to make each store design unique and with its own brand style, bringing diverse experiences to consumers.

Second, design different theme stores based on the characteristics of the brand’s target audience. For example, Nayuki’s Tea’s theme store “Nayuki Wine House” is specially designed for young women. Whether drinking wine or tea, it is a wonderful lifestyle. And Heytea’s pet theme store, etc.

From the above, we can see that on the one hand, tea beverage brands effectively attract consumers by creating different theme stores and bring consumers diverse experiences. On the other hand, it can also be seen that in the matter of opening stores, they are gradually moving towards segmentation. Open stores targeting specific groups of people, such as singles theme stores, Chinese style theme stores, etc. Of course, the strategy for opening a store also depends on whether the brand has the ability to support it at its development stage.

IV. Conclusion

Overall, tea beverage brands provide different "third spaces" offline, bringing users diverse experiences. On the other hand, the mini program is used as the "basic plate" for tea brand marketing. While providing consumers with a more convenient way to order food, it tries to accumulate all consumers who have purchased in stores and online, and conduct further refined operations based on data feedback.

In addition, various means such as new products, cross-border cooperation, and following hot topics are used to continuously activate consumers' sense of "freshness" about the brand. In fact, the number of players running in the tea beverage market is increasing: Heytea, Nayuki’s Tea, Lelecha, Mixue Ice City, Guming…

In such a highly competitive field, marketing is an important means for them to continuously win over consumers. However, in fact, one marketing session cannot bring great benefits to the brand. To build brand power, multiple marketing sessions are actually required. Only the cumulative superposition of multiple marketing sessions can produce the effect of 1+1>2. It seems that the industry competition will become more intense as time goes by, and marketing will be the key means for brands to maintain their leading position.