From "brainwashing hits" to IPO: What did Mixue Bingcheng do right in its brand marketing?

From the viral spread of the "brainwashing divine song" to the in-depth operation of the "Snow King" IP, from the "earthy" marketing in the sinking market to the low-price strategy for supply chain optimization, the listing case of Mixue Bingcheng reveals how it builds a strong brand barrier through user co-creation, anti-sophistication and supply chain advantages, providing a very instructive example for brand marketing.

On March 3, 2025, the sound of gongs for the listing of corporate stocks on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the magical music of "Mi Xue Bing Cheng Tian Mi" intertwined and continued to resound in the venue. Mixue Bing Cheng (stock code: 02097.HK), the global leader in freshly brewed tea drinks, officially landed on the Hong Kong stock market. The mascot "Snow King" and seven cartoon family members took the stage to ring the bell for a successful IPO. Its stock price rose by more than 43% on the first day, and its total market value exceeded the HK$100 billion mark, reaching HK$109.3 billion, surpassing the total market value of brands such as Nai Xue and Cha Bai Dao twice.

As competition in the tea beverage market becomes increasingly fierce, Mixue Bingcheng has not only successfully attracted consumers' attention with its unique marketing strategy, but also made its mark in the capital market, growing from 46,000 stores to a market value of hundreds of billions.

So, from the earliest "brainwashing song" known to the public to today's IPO, what did Mixue Bingcheng do right in its brand marketing?

1. Brainwashing Divine Song: Creating a Code for Breaking the Circle and Fission

I believe many people first learned about this brand from the magical music of "Mi Xue Bing Cheng Tian Mi". This advertising song was launched in 2021. It is based on the American folk song "Oh! Susanna". The lyrics of only 13 words are repeated in a loop and combined with the cute dance of the "Snow King" to achieve viral spread, breaking the circle and successfully occupying the minds of the public.

This advertising song, which cost less than 100,000 yuan, was played over 12 million times on Bilibili on the first day. After secondary creation by netizens, it was translated into English, Russian, Japanese, Thai and other languages, as well as Sichuan, Cantonese, Guangxi, Northeastern dialect and other dialects, forming a communication flywheel of "official creation - user co-creation - algorithm boost". According to the data in its prospectus: this advertising song has been played a total of 9 billion times, making it a well-deserved "brainwashing divine song".

Why is this advertising song so popular?

1. Auditory Aggression

With a tempo of 114 beats per minute and fourth-interval jumps, the "auditory earworm" effect is triggered. The 13-word lyrics (which only occupy a 7-second memory unit) form a minimized memory loop, causing the brain to circulate involuntarily, and the memory retention rate is increased by 83% compared to conventional advertisements.

2. Scene Binding

The store plays songs in a loop every 15 minutes (covering 1.5 times the average dwelling time), and uses sound and light installations to create a sensory matrix of "hearing-vision-taste".

3. Co-creation of fission

The official provided standardized "Cultural Lego", using music, dance, and the Snow King IP to stimulate users' enthusiasm for secondary content creation and sharing, thereby triggering viral fission dissemination.

The above points have successfully enabled this advertising song to complete a three-level transition in the minds of consumers from "auditory memory" to "neural conditioned reflex" to "cultural collective unconsciousness", building an inimitable cognitive moat for the brand.

2. Snow King IP: Creating a derivative matrix and building a "cultural matrix"

The image design of the Snow King IP is the result of the cooperation between Mixue Ice City and H&H Marketing Company, aiming to create a brand symbol that can be quickly remembered by consumers and easily spread. It combines the well-known image of the snowman and gives it elements such as a crown and a scepter, making it both friendly and noble, thus connecting the brand's core value with the warm memories in the hearts of consumers.

After completing the initial accumulation of brand voice and Snow King IP awareness through the "brainwashing divine song", Mixue Bingcheng launched a higher-level IP operation strategy - upgrading Snow King from a flat symbol to a super IP with cultural vitality, becoming a "cultural matrix".

1. Personalized image creation

In order to make the Snow King more vivid, Mixue Ice City gave it rich personality traits and background stories. For example, the Snow King has a birthday, personality, hobbies, and an official position - Chief Quality Control Officer and Lifetime Brand Spokesperson.

This approach makes Snow King not just a brand image, but a character with a unique personality, which enhances users' sense of identity and emotional connection. In addition, Mixue Ice City also uses social media platforms such as Bilibili, Weibo, and Xiaohongshu to publish videos of Snow King's daily life, which increases the brand's fun and topicality.

2. Diversified content creation

Mixue Ice City did not stop at a single advertising song or mascot image, but actively expanded the content boundaries of the Snow King IP. In addition to launching the animation "The Snow King Arrives", it also released short videos, comics and other content related to the Snow King on multiple platforms.

These contents not only enrich the worldview of the Snow King, but also provide more space for fans to participate and discuss. Especially when the Snow King shows distinct personality traits in the animation, it is no longer just a flat icon, but a carrier that can carry more storylines and convey values.

3. Cross-border collaboration enhances brand potential

Michelle Ice City has cooperated with many well-known brands such as China Post and Jiaqi Building Blocks, and launched cultural and creative peripherals with the Snow King IP as the theme, and derived product lines such as dolls, blind box figures, badges, and emoticons, building an IP derivative matrix covering all scenarios. Michelle Ice City even got involved in music festival activities, further expanding the influence and commercial value of the Snow King IP.

4. All-round interaction strengthens emotional connection

Online, Mixue Bingcheng uses live streaming and other forms to strengthen interaction with consumers, while promoting products related to the Snow King IP; offline, it creates an immersive experience environment through store decorations, theme activities and other means, allowing consumers to get close to and feel the charm of the Snow King.

The all-round interaction online and offline has strengthened the emotional connection between the Snow King IP and users, and greatly enhanced users' loyalty and stickiness to the brand.

At present, through continuous investment and development in the Snow King IP, Mixue Bingcheng has surpassed the concept of an ordinary brand image and transformed into a cultural symbol in the true sense. It has also achieved a transformation from simple product sales to a diversified profit model.

3. “Earthy” marketing targeting lower-tier markets

Mixue Bingcheng targets the sinking market and carries out continuous "earthy" marketing. It attracts consumption and wins favor through down-to-earth methods in visual image, product design, marketing activities, etc., and successfully subverts the high-cold narrative of traditional brands. It not only stands out in the fierce market competition, but also wins the favor of a large number of loyal consumers.

1. Visual violence aesthetics attracts attention

High saturation red and white color:

Mixue Ice City chose bright and highly saturated red and white as the main colors of the brand. This color combination is very eye-catching visually and can quickly catch the attention of consumers. Although some people may think that this design is too simple or even rough, it can stand out among many competitors.

PPT-level poster design:

Unlike those brands that pursue exquisite design, Mixue Ice City adopts a design style that looks simple but highly recognizable. Although this design does not meet traditional aesthetic standards, it can create a strong visual impact on social media and advertising platforms, increasing the user's stay time. According to statistics, the 3-second stay rate of this design is 220% higher than that of exquisite design.

2. Low price but not low quality wins trust

Extremely low price:

Mixue Ice City's product pricing is extremely affordable, with products such as 4 yuan lemonade and 2 yuan ice cream cones priced far below the market average. This low-price strategy not only attracts consumers with limited budgets, but also makes more people willing to try and eventually become loyal customers.

Bad promotion:

Mixue Ice City often launches some seemingly "crazy" promotions, such as "buy as much as you want, get as much as you want free." On the surface, this promotion method looks like the merchant is "playing it out," but in fact it can effectively enhance consumers' trust and desire to buy. Consumers often feel that such promotions are more authentic, thus enhancing their loyalty to the brand.

It can be said that through the "earthy" marketing strategy, Mixue Ice City accurately hit the psychological needs of users in the sinking market:

1) Low price but not low quality

For many consumers, price is one of the important factors that determine their purchasing behavior. Mixue Ice City meets consumers' demand for cost-effectiveness by providing high-quality but low-priced products.

2) Earthy but not tacky

In today's society, more and more young people are beginning to pursue a genuine and unpretentious brand image. Mixue Ice City's "earthy" marketing caters to this trend, allowing consumers to feel the brand's sincerity and down-to-earthness.

IV. Conclusion

Mixue Bingcheng's journey from brainwashing hits to Hong Kong IPO is actually a profound revolution in user thinking. The underlying logic of its marketing strategy lies in the precise insight into the needs of consumers in the sinking market and the reconstruction of value - by deconstructing the high-cold narrative of traditional brands, establishing an equal dialogue with users in an "imperfect" and real attitude, and achieving the fission growth of the brand with a low-cost, high-empathy communication method.

By summarizing the brand marketing path of Mixue Bingcheng, we may be able to gain some inspiration.

1. User co-creation and content ecology

The marketing system of Mixue Ice City is essentially an open content ecosystem. Whether it is the viral spread of "Mi Xue Bing Cheng Tian Mi" or the interactive extension of the Snow King IP, the brand always regards users as the core driving force of content production. By providing standardized symbols, music, visual elements and other "cultural memes", it stimulates the enthusiasm of users for spontaneous creation, forming a closed loop of "brand setting the stage - user performing - algorithm boosting". This decentralized communication model greatly dilutes marketing costs, while the communication efficiency increases exponentially.

2. Anti-refinement and equal consumption rights

In the wave of consumption upgrade, Mixue Ice City has torn apart the middle-class illusion carefully created by new consumer brands with the reverse operation of "extremely rustic is trendy". Its highly saturated store design, magically repetitive advertising melodies, and straightforward and crude promotional slogans are essentially respect for the aesthetic discourse power of the sinking market. This "anti-refinement" strategy not only reduces the brand's communication costs, but also becomes an emotional outlet for the younger generation to fight against consumerist anxiety - when high-priced milk tea becomes social currency, consumers holding 4 yuan lemonade are voting with their feet, completing a silent consumer equality movement.

3. Supply chain optimization and low price strategy

The low price of Mixue Ice City's products forms a striking contrast with its huge output (about 9 billion cups) and terminal retail sales (58.3 billion yuan). The establishment of this business logic relies on its supply chain system that has been cultivated for many years: from self-built orchards, central factories to national logistics networks, costs are compressed to the extreme through large-scale procurement and digital management. The low-price strategy is not only a marketing gimmick, but also a survival rule that forces the supply chain to upgrade - when other brands invest their budgets in celebrity endorsements, Mixue Ice City converts every penny into benefits for consumers, building a growth flywheel of "low price-scale-supply chain optimization-lower pricing".

When Mixue Ice City reached the peak of a market value of 100 billion yuan, the challenges had just begun. How to cope with the impact of consumption upgrades while maintaining the "earthy" gene? How to make the Snow King IP cross the cultural cycle and avoid image aging? These questions may be more difficult to answer than ringing the IPO bell. But what is certain is that this "earthy" marketing experiment has already written a new footnote for the industry: the real brand power is not a sophisticated lie from a high place, but a wild force that dares to take root and grow in the soil.

Author: Chen Kesi Source: Brand Market Relativity