Mixue Ice City turns "green", the Snow King has the traffic code

This article first introduces what happened recently to Mixue Ice City and proposes how Mixue Ice City has mastered the traffic code to form various phenomenal communications. Then the full article explains Mixue Ice City’s marketing and finally proposes the IP created by other brands. This article is suitable for brand owners to read and learn marketing methods.

Mixue Bingcheng was "ridiculed" again.

"Has Snow King been cheated?" Many sharp-eyed netizens discovered that some stores of Mixue Bingcheng have quietly changed the color of their doorheads. Upon closer inspection, it was found that not only the doorheads but also the decoration inside were green. At first glance, it felt like they had come across a copycat product.

But things are not that simple. Not long after, the official postal account claimed responsibility for the post, and it turned out that it was a joint effort by Snow King and "China Post".

The Snow King was included in the list, and many netizens started to make memes: "Dear Rui, when you read this letter, I will be included in the list", "I have also learned the dopamine fashion style", "Now please call me Niuhulu Amixue Guifei".

In fact, in addition to the classic red and postal green, Mixue Ice City has also changed to black, blue and yellow, and even built a Snow King Castle.

Mixue Ice City's various "hypes" have become a new type of Internet performance art. But if you think this is just entertainment, then you lose - these marketing methods are the wealth code for Mixue Ice City to dominate the new tea beverage world.

Since 2021, Mixue Bingcheng has become popular on the entire network with its magical song "Mi Xue Bingcheng Sweet Mi Mi". Now that Snow King has been "inducted", Mixue Bingcheng is making animations, and it is promoting a CP with Luckin Coffee, it seems that Mixue Bingcheng's marketing meridians have been opened up, and the mascot Snow King, who is "ugly and not so beautiful", has become a top streamer.

Compared with popular online brands such as Heytea, Nayuki, and Chayanyuese, Mixue Ice City, which started in third- and fourth-tier cities, was not so eye-catching before. However, through various tricks and interactive marketing, Mixue Ice City has been on Weibo hot searches many times and dominated Bilibili. Various ghost jokes have emerged one after another, and the Snow King IP has become a powerful weapon to attract fans.

How did Mixue Bingcheng master the code of traffic and create various phenomenal communications?

1. Mixue Ice City is included in the list? This wave of marketing is amazing

When he woke up, he found out that the Snow King was cheated on? Netizens who knew the truth said, don't worry, he is actually "registered".

Recently, Mixue Bingcheng officially announced that it will collaborate with China Post to launch a post office theme store. The store is located on Xiaozhai West Road, Yanta District, Xi'an. The main color of the store has changed from the original "Mixues Red" to "Postal Green", blending perfectly with the post office next to it.

The postal co-branded theme store is a continuation of Mixue Ice City’s consistent color marketing.

In the summer of 2022, consumers were surprised to find that Snow King had turned black. Snow King, which usually has a red and white theme, turned black. The logos on the stores also turned black, and black Snow King dolls appeared in offline stores. The official explanation is an interesting story - Snow King was tanned while picking mulberries in the summer. Based on this, Mixue Ice City launched a new series of "Mulberry" drinks to the market.

In July this year, Mixue Ice City quietly did something big and built the "Snow King Castle" in the Chengdu Qingbaijiang base. As Mixue Ice City's first IP castle in China, this theme castle covers an area of ​​nearly 2,000 square meters and has multiple theme areas such as the Snow King's throne, the Snow King's ice cream factory and the Snow King's treasure house. Users can deeply experience a variety of game projects and get to know the Snow King in depth. Many netizens commented, "This is a Disney that is more suitable for Chinese babies."

I thought that the above operations of Michelle Ice City were enough to "smash" the industry, but in the blink of an eye, the Snow King began to enter the animation industry. While other brands understand the two-dimensional world and co-brand the two-dimensional world, Michelle Ice City has chosen to become the two-dimensional world.

At 10 a.m. on August 25, Mixue Ice City's first self-produced animation "Here Comes the Snow King" was launched on iQiyi, Tencent, Youku and Bilibili. The film tells the story of the Snow King making new friends while searching for the scepter, and leveling up and fighting monsters together. Within 50 minutes of the film's launch, it had received nearly 310,000 views on Bilibili.

When Mixue Bingcheng is doing all kinds of things, Luckin Coffee is always around.

Some time ago, some netizens complained that Luckin Coffee was two-thirds ice and that it was finished in just two sips. As a result, a large number of "small accounts" disguised as Mixue Ice City appeared in the comment section, commenting "What's wrong with Xiaorui, it shouldn't be intentional", "Xiaorui put so much ice, are you going to freeze the customers to death?" Later, when Mixue Ice City was exposed to have too much ice, many accounts with Luckin's avatars also came out to comment, "What's wrong with Xiaoxue?", "Xiao Mi shouldn't be intentional".

When Snow King released its animation, Mixue's "scams" launched a new offensive, "Dear Rui, when you didn't even design your mascot, I had already won an Oscar." Netizens with Luckin's avatar quickly responded, "Xiaoxue didn't focus on making milk tea to make animations, unlike us who only focus on making coffee."

Mixue Bingcheng and Luckin Coffee, which have embarked on the path of "mutual yin and yang", have become a pair of happy enemies in the eyes of netizens.

The brands that are best at marketing in the new tea and coffee tracks have formed the "Rui Xue" CP. At a time when the beverage industry is extremely inward-looking, marketing of group warmth has become a common understanding among brands.

2. The “Conspicuous Bag” Snow King Goes Out of the Circle: Marketing is King

Looking at all the tricks that Mixue Ice City has come up with, they are all inseparable from the IP of Snow King.

Starring in the MV of the theme song of Mixue Ice City marked the beginning of the widespread attention for the "Snow King". In 2018, H&H created the image of the "Snow King" holding an ice cream scepter and wearing a crown for Mixue Ice City. Since then, Mixue Ice City has played this IP to the extreme. In the summer of 2021, with the theme song "You love me, I love you, Mixue Ice City is sweet", Mixue Ice City quickly became popular and its popularity soared. The magical melody of the song made everyone remember this brand, and at the same time left an impression on the cute "Snow King" in the MV.

Wandering around and frequently showing his face, the "Snow King" has become popular. The New Consumption Think Tank found that in subsequent marketing, the Snow King gradually acquired personality characteristics, holding an ice cream scepter and a crown, and became a street stalker. Many netizens have spotted the Snow King in front of milk tea shops such as Shuyi Shaoxiancao, Cha Baidao, and Guming.

When Snow King and China Post jointly launched a brand, many accounts used Snow King’s avatar to make sarcastic comments to other accounts. In the battle with Luckin Coffee, there was even a phenomenon that netizens jokingly called “one Luckin Coffee has troubles, eight Snow Coffees make things difficult.” As related content continued to spread online, Snow King’s popularity continued to rise, and its image became more complete.

After taking on the role of the brand face, the story of Snow King IP has been further enriched. Mixue Ice City continues to enrich the content related to Snow King, and through storytelling, extends the boundaries of individuals and brands. Becoming black, becoming green, and hyping up CP, every fun and funny story has created a cute, funny, and flesh-and-blood image of Snow King.

Stories are an important tool to influence customers' emotions. Making target consumers happy is the best sales champion. From the Snow King in doll costume to the current animation "Here Comes the Snow King", Mixue Ice City uses stories and methods of all sizes to build the IP world of the Snow King.

The marketing system behind the brand is: insight into demand + creating value + shaping and delivering image. This principle also applies to Mixue Ice City.

Everyone knows that the extremely high cost-effectiveness is the core attraction of Mixue Ice City. With its high-quality and low-priced products, Mixue Ice City has impressed many consumers.

Nowadays, with the serious homogeneity of tea beverage products, many young consumers have begun to pay for IP, stories, and emotions. While retaining its price advantage, Mixue Ice City has continuously stepped up its efforts to shape the image of the "Snow King" and strengthen the personalized characteristics of the Snow King.

At the same time, with the support of IP, Mixue Bingcheng grasped the mentality of current netizens who like to play with memes, and interacted with young people through a series of meme-making methods, creating a new "social currency" and promoting the widespread dissemination of the brand.

3. New tea brands are flocking to create IPs.

Who will be the next Snow King?

Many people still remember classic IPs such as Wangzai, M&M Bean Man, and PEKO. As a link between the brand and consumers, the brand uses richer forms of expression to penetrate into the communication context of young audiences, making the brand image more vivid.

For example, Fujiya's PEKO is a little girl who is always six years old and has a lively and cheerful personality. She wears classic red overalls with a yellow T-shirt. The cute image of the milk girl is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people and has shaped Fujiya's classic brand image; Want Want is based on the Want Want IP and uses trendy gameplay such as magical advertising and opening hospitals to keep the brand alive for a long time.

Today, from a design drawing to becoming part of the second dimension, Mixue Ice City has also followed the old path of its "predecessors". As a latecomer, Mixue Ice City is more fun and more daring.

Undoubtedly, a good IP is a core "weapon" to help brands increase recognition and improve competitiveness. In the tea beverage market, Mixue Ice City is not the only company that attaches importance to brand IP. More and more brands are launching various peripheral products or anthropomorphizing mascots and appearing offline. Brands use these methods to increase brand popularity and convert traffic into sales.

Looking around, Luckin Coffee is also a company that is equally remarkable in IP marketing. Luckin Coffee is also well-known for its ability to play. Its list of joint ventures includes the most talked-about beverage brand, Coconut Tree Coconut Juice, cute striped puppies, and even the top lingerie brand Victoria's Secret... Every time Luckin Coffee joins an IP partnership, it gets a lot of buzz, which in turn drives product sales.

This year on Chinese Valentine's Day, Luckin Coffee once again collaborated with Puppy Dog to launch new products "Black Pineapple Latte" and "Black Pineapple Latte", using homophonic puns to convey romance; on September 1, Luckin Coffee teamed up with Moutai to launch the sauce-flavored latte, which netizens joked was "marrying into a wealthy family." For Luckin Coffee, its cooperation with Moutai will help it improve its own brand tone and will have a good impact on brand sales and channels.

In addition, tea brands such as Guming, Yihetang, Heytea, and Bawangchaji have also "copied homework" and learned similar marketing methods.

Previously, HEYTEA collaborated with FENDI, imitating FENDI’s classic double-F design. The luxury brand’s inherent class was overwhelming, and its social attributes were fully utilized.

Recently, Bawang Tea Princess officially announced a collaboration with "Grave Robbers' Chronicles". This collaboration will be conducted in the form of an interactive script-killing game, and will also combine packaging bags, peripherals and pop-up stores. Before the event started, Bawang Tea Princess also handed the design of the co-branded bags to consumers to decide, trying to strengthen the connection between users and the brand.

From IP collaboration to product packaging, to doll ornaments, tea drink CP, and official Weibo accounts, the brand has put a lot of effort into IP marketing.

As market competition intensifies, IP marketing may be the new "commercial war" for new tea brands. This marketing method is also popular with consumers. Netizens have played with the meme, and with the new electronic mustard tuber, brands have also achieved the effect of communication. It is a two-way race.

Author: Lele WeChat Official Account: New Consumption Think Tank