The end of product marketing is cilantro?

Do you like cilantro? Regardless of the answer, when a glass of cilantro juice, a cilantro pizza, or even a bottle of cilantro perfume appears in front of you, you will definitely not be able to suppress your desire to "complain" and try it. This is why brands often collaborate with cilantro. When controversy and curiosity arise, consumers often cannot suppress their curiosity and pay for the brand's "contrast" stimulation. This is the "traffic code" hidden in cilantro marketing.

Coriander is a magical species. Those who love it want to plant it all over the world, while those who hate it want to pull out all the coriander in the world. The struggle between true fans and haters has made coriander the king of topics in the seasoning world. Coriander has lived up to expectations and squeezed into the food, beverage, and even perfume industries from the seasoning industry...

Not long ago, Huiyuan Juice, which has always been regarded as "mature and steady" by everyone, launched a blockbuster beverage - 100% coriander juice. The pure green coriander packaging and the copy "Your leaves are fragrant ~ I wish you could be by my side", immediately attracted a lot of attention.

Some netizens joked: "Are you buying a drink or a seasoning? You can cook directly with it." "Huh? Have you conquered the fruit world?" "Ah? Although I eat coriander, I am still a little shocked."...

Coincidentally, Pizza Hut also launched a wave of novelty marketing at the beginning of the year. On February 19, it released new products "Lots of Cilantro and Preserved Egg Beef Pizza" and "Cilantro and Lemon". Cilantro and preserved egg, this is not the first time Pizza Hut has launched a cilantro product. The "Cilantro and Red Oil Pig Ear Pizza" in October last year is still vivid in my mind, and I want to shout: How many forms do you have of cilantro!

1. The names that brands have associated with coriander over the years

According to incomplete statistics from Morketing, there are also coriander instant noodles, coriander yogurt, coriander potato chips, coriander lollipops, coriander ice cream, coriander perfume, etc.

The popularity of cilantro marketing is closely related to a top star, Wang Yibo. Cilantro, like motorcycles, skateboards, and street dance, is a strong related label for him. Wang Yibo's traffic is obvious to all in the industry. Some time ago, his endorsement of Cudi forced Luckin Coffee to launch a motorcycle sister exclusive coffee. It can be seen that as long as there is a little movement among the top stars, it is a good time for marketing.

The year 2020, when Wang Yibo became very popular, was also the year when coriander became a favorite of many brands. As one of the brands endorsed by Wang Yibo this year, Amul can be said to have "made the best use of it" and launched coriander yogurt specifically for Wang Yibo's fans. As soon as it was launched, it immediately became a hot topic. Some netizens commented: "The top note has a normal milk flavor, the middle note has a light coriander flavor, and the base note has a celery flavor."

Laiyifen and Shanghaojia also caught the trend of "top stars love to eat coriander". Laiyifen launched coriander lollipops and coriander biscuits, and Shanghaojia made coriander potato chips, all of which successfully leveraged the fan economy under the banner of Wang Yibo's style. Netizens reported that the lollipop tasted mainly sweet and sour, with only a hint of coriander, and the potato chips tasted just like potato chips.

In 2022, the traffic of coriander itself began to show. McDonald's launched a limited edition coriander sundae. The green jam with chopped coriander looks hard to describe, but it is said that it only tastes like lime, and people who don't like coriander can accept it.

The sales period is limited to 21st to 25th, because 24th is World Anti-Coriander Day, and on 25th, cilantro should be “anti-corriander”. Limited time + novelty is a common means of product marketing, and the effect is doubled when combined.

In May last year, Baiyang launched coriander instant noodles, which attracted a lot of attention and sold out on the first day of listing on Douyin. And thanks to the long-tail effect of the product, there are still special sales in the live broadcast room today.

White Elephant's coriander instant noodles are different from the above products that claim to be coriander-flavored but taste far from coriander. This instant noodle actually contains five corianders and coriander powder is also added to the noodles. If the above products are still worth a try for non-coriander fans, then this product can only be enjoyed by coriander lovers.

To support product marketing, White Elephant also set up a pop-up store offline. The pure green space is full of the scent of coriander, which is very impressive. It has the potential to become a regular product as soon as it is launched. The purpose of spending so much effort on landscaping is to enhance consumers' experience and stickiness, and more importantly, to promote the topic to form a greater dissemination momentum on social media.

The collaboration between coriander and food and beverages is acceptable, but it is a bit outrageous that coriander has entered the perfume circle, especially for a luxury brand and an international brand.

LOEWE, a luxury brand known as the "Spanish Hermes", launched a coriander perfume in 2020. It is said that the inspiration came from the Royal Botanic Gardens in the UK. The same series of products also include beetroots, tomato leaves, peas, etc., aiming to restore the natural taste.

Jo Malone has also launched "Lavender & Coriander" and "Wild Strawberries & Coriander". Netizens shared that they thought they were weird at first, but they actually smelled pretty good. It wasn't the pungent smell you'd eat, but a light herbal scent.

2. To become a traffic password, you need controversy and curiosity

If you want to know why coriander is so popular, it is because of its own characteristics. Due to its unique taste, coriander has always been controversial. As mentioned at the beginning, people who like it want to eat it at every meal, but some people cannot accept the taste of coriander in their genes. As a result, coriander has become a topic of debate like the north-south debate on whether to eat sweet or salty rice dumplings, and whether to eat dumplings or glutinous rice balls during the winter solstice.

However, product marketing requires a little bit of irrelevant controversy, which is one of the reasons why the product Ai and Cilantro are co-branded.

Humans are born with a desire to express themselves, on the one hand to gain a sense of identity and belonging, and on the other hand to fight for small rights. In order to simplify this process, people need symbols to represent, which is labeling, such as i-person, e-person, such as McDonald's, Dongmen (Crocodile shoes), and Cilantro. People gain support from their peers by expressing their likes and dislikes for something, and at the same time demonstrate their rights as consumers.

This process is very valuable for brands because people will discuss it extensively on social media, building brand voice and user stickiness.

Another reason is that it is curious enough.

Today’s consumers’ emotional thresholds are getting higher and higher. Some conventional marketing operations can no longer stimulate them. More novel things are needed to catch their attention and make consumers pay for their curiosity.

The products listed in the previous article all use contrast to create a sense of novelty. The consumer demand for trying coriander ice cream or smelling coriander perfume can actually be created.

For most brands, curiosity marketing is a short-term strategy, the purpose is to gain brand exposure and communicate with consumers, and to show a vibrant image, so the product life cycle will not be long. But Baiyang is special, coriander instant noodles are still a regular guest, maybe Baiyang can really help coriander become a popular trend like mustard flavor.

Author: Tiana

Source: WeChat public account "Morketing (ID: Morketing)"