"The first cup of milk tea in autumn", a new Internet cyber custom

"The first cup of milk tea in autumn" is no longer just an Internet meme, it is gradually evolving into an Internet cyber custom, similar to the "Double 11" milk tea promotion festival. This consumption symbol is not only accepted by users, but also promoted by milk tea brands and practitioners, becoming a celebration of the beginning of autumn.

"The first cup of milk tea in autumn" seems to be gradually becoming a milk tea promotion festival similar to "Double 11".

This internet meme, which was born four years ago, has not only not become a cliché over time, but has instead become a "consumer symbol" accepted by more people.

The popularity of "One Cup in Autumn" is spontaneously created and promoted by ordinary users and various milk tea brands on content platforms. Drinking milk tea in the beginning of autumn has become a new "Internet cyber custom". People are not looking for a cup of milk tea that costs ten or twenty yuan, but for the feeling of celebrating the festival in a lively and happy manner.

1. “The first cup of milk tea in autumn” is even more popular

On the Internet, young people never give up any opportunity to have fun. As soon as the beginning of autumn comes, everything looks like milk tea, even a cement bucket looks like bubble tea.

Those who have many friends have already started to prove their strength with the takeout all over the floor. Some netizens in the comment section joked sarcastically that "milk tea friends are lining up holding the number plates of love."

What’s interesting is that this year, in the “One Cup in Autumn” event, not only the consumers who received milk tea, but also practitioners in the tea industry were busy.

They have already sensed the "overtime crisis" before the beginning of autumn, and can easily get more than 10,000 likes by posting a photo of themselves about to collapse. The first cup of milk tea in autumn has also been successfully sublimated into a branch by netizens - "the first life of milk tea drinkers in autumn".

In the comment section, people who make coffee couldn’t sit still and complained why you guys are drinking milk tea while we, who make coffee, are suffering too?

The person who makes milk tea has died of exhaustion in the first "life" of autumn, and the person who delivers milk tea is almost breaking his legs from exhaustion, shouting "all the electric bikes have been scrapped by me."

Milk tea shops are here too. Look, my receipt can be stretched from the store to the curb at the door!

There is also a water bill made into a water bill wall. Those who don’t know would think it is an installation art work from some exhibition. Some netizens also joked that it looks a bit like drying sausages. If it is autumn, the season is correct.

There was also a store that ran out of ice, so they went to the next door milk tea shop to borrow ice, but the next door was also out of ice...

All kinds of content have become popular on short video platforms such as Douyin. Users, staff and brand stores are playing with the "Autumn One Cup" meme.

As they were having fun, strong consumer demand emerged: the jokes were so exciting that you would feel guilty if you didn’t order a drink, and there was also the excuse of “Beginning of Autumn” to blame your greed.

Taking advantage of this favorable trend, milk tea brands have begun to launch group buying promotions on the platform.

2. No longer a meme, it’s the “Double 11” of tea drinks

The Sheniu expert ran to the door of the Mixue Ice City store, rolled out the red carpet, cut the ribbon, and had the security guard wash his hands and put on a scarf for him. After all the operations, he happily got the "first cup of Mixue in autumn". Mixue Ice City has become popular with its price power, and everyone joked that buying Mixue is a "symbol of status."

With this kind of interesting and high-quality short video content as a foundation, tea beverage brands continue to strengthen their brand marketing on top of the popularity, and then to live streaming to sell goods, gaining both fame and fortune.

So, how do tea beverage brands specifically turn content popularity into sales growth?

The first is to do large-scale live broadcasts with scenarios and content experience. In fact, almost every tea brand is doing large-scale live broadcasts, and not only on the Chinese Valentine's Day and "Autumn One Cup" nodes, but also on important days such as Children's Day and Women's Day.

Take the Qixi Festival live broadcast for example. Cha Baidao held a Qixi Festival themed live broadcast on August 2. The entire live broadcast room, including the two hosts’ outfits, were all pink and white.

Catering to the romantic theme of Chinese Valentine's Day. According to media reports, @茶百道's official fan account became the first account in Douyin's lifestyle beverage industry to exceed 10 million fans during the event. On August 2, the brand launched a live broadcast with the theme of "One Cup of Love, Happiness Takes Off", and the sales of new products on Douyin exceeded 1 million cups during the event period.

Live streaming has become more diverse, and tea brands’ live streaming has become more and more cultural, rather than just shouting and selling goods. From August 9th to 11th, Bawang Tea Princess and @China National Geographic jointly conducted a cross-border live streaming.

The live broadcast room is titled "Yili, Xinjiang in the morning, Paris in the afternoon". The scenery behind the anchor is the green mountains in the distance in China and the Eiffel Tower in Paris. What the brand pursues in the live broadcast room is a visual effect of unity between scenery and people.

In addition to the basic sales, merchants use product functions to create a sense of ritual and atmosphere, and also make "selling goods" more creative.

During this year's Chinese Valentine's Day and "Autumn Cup", brands such as Mixue Bingcheng and Starbucks started giving gifts online. The official group purchase packages on Douyin were marked "can be given to friends". After purchase, you can use Douyin's gift function to give gifts to Douyin friends or friends outside the site.

Zhiwei tried the gift function, and the process was relatively simple. You bought a group purchase voucher marked "can be given to friends", and there was an option of "Give to friends" below. You can click it to select the card face and blessing message.

There are more than 20 kinds of card faces, with texts including "I like you", "The first cup of autumn", "Happy Chinese Valentine's Day", "The other party has invited you to a date", etc. which are directly related to Chinese Valentine's Day and "One cup of autumn", as well as "Get promoted and get a raise", "Leave work early", "A small thought as a token of respect", "Eat and drink well", etc. which are more suitable for daily life, covering not only festivals but also daily social scenes.

Users can customize their own greetings, and the official page also provides some references. If you are not satisfied, you can "change a batch". After choosing the card face and writing the greetings, you can forward it to your friends with one click. A small pattern simulating a gift bag also appears on the card, which is as ceremonial as a physical gift.

According to official data from Douyin Life Service, as of August 8, the number of people using Douyin's gift-giving product function during the event increased by 65% ​​month-on-month. Mixue Ice City received more than 100,000 gift-giving orders in a single day.

On the one hand, brands are trying to sell conventional products in new ways, and on the other hand, they are also trying to sell new products in new ways. Nayuki's Tea launched a limited edition blue cup during the Chinese Valentine's Day and "Autumn One Cup" this year. The cup body has become Nayuki's limited blue, and a heart-shaped magnetic pendant is also given, which has a very social appearance.

Offline, Nayuki has set up blue-themed check-in spots in multiple stores for people to take photos. Online, on August 5, Nayuki's Tea and Douyin creator @胖超团队 did a live broadcast on the theme of the Little Blue Cup. The live broadcast room was set up on a small outdoor stage. It was both a concert and a launch conference for Nayuki's "Qiuyi Milk", promoting the Little Blue Cup's new product Douyin group buying coupons.

3. Tea drinks need to increase

Tea drinks need "Double 11" and need to "seek change".

New consumption and new markets still need to go to places with the most people. This may be one of the reasons why tea brands are holding on to content platforms, so that they can maximize the gathering of online and offline customer flows.

Let’s look at online first. Local life services have long been a key area of ​​focus for content platforms. Take Douyin as an example. In 2023, the total transaction volume of Douyin’s life service platform increased by 256%. Compared with last year, the platform’s short video transaction volume increased by 83%, and the platform’s live broadcast transaction volume increased by 5.7 times.

The ways in which Internet platforms connect with the offline real economy are not limited to brand-run broadcasts and live streaming by influencers. There are also a number of store exploration experts who create authentic and trustworthy store exploration content, allowing the characteristics of merchants to be seen.

The "shelf theory" of the traditional fast-moving consumer goods industry believes that the display volume and sales volume are directly proportional. If as many products as possible are put on the shelves, corresponding sales will be achieved.

In fact, this also applies to the new consumer sector. The foundation of offline chain stores of tea brands has been laid, the products are mature, and the minds of each brand have mostly been established. The incremental growth lies in finding more "shelves" and more opportunities to "display" and "be seen."

As local Internet services mature, and various marketing tools and product features continue to improve, there will be more "cyber shelves" on the Internet for tea brands to showcase their talents. With the development of the Internet, the imagination space for tea brands online will be far more than the "Autumn One Cup" event.

Written by: Zhou Zhou Edited by: Da Bing This article is written by the author of Operation Party [Zhi Wei], WeChat public account: [Zhi Wei], original/authorized to be published on Operation Party, and any reproduction without permission is prohibited.

The title image is from Unsplash, based on the CC0 protocol.