City Walk, which is popular all over the Internet, has a tea brand that has driven sales of 12 million?

As a hot lifestyle trend among young people, how should we take advantage of the popularity of City Walk? This article details the ways and reasons to connect City Walk with beverages. It is recommended for students who want to learn more about brand marketing.

Following “camping”, another hot lifestyle trend among young people has emerged – City Walk!

Official accounts of many cities have begun promoting City Walk routes, and tea and coffee shops have also launched City Walk activities. Some brands have already driven related sales of over 12 million.

With City Walk being so popular, how can drinks keep up?

1. Taking advantage of the popularity of City Walk, some brands drove sales of over 12 million

This summer, the "top stream" of lifestyle is none other than City Walk. I noticed that some tea brands have taken advantage of the situation and achieved good results. For example, the lemon tea brand LINLEE Linli took City Walk as an opportunity to launch green Crocs. On the official LINLEE Linli mini program, you can get the " signature hand-beaten lemon tea + Crocs" package for 48.8 yuan; Douyin group buying and Meituan and other platforms have also launched the "fresh hand-beaten lemon tea + Crocs" package for 35.9 yuan and the "duck shit fragrant hand-beaten lemon tea + Crocs" package for 36.9 yuan.

Unexpectedly, the lemon tea brand "sold shoes" to a new height: 3 days after the launch of the event, more than 300,000 pairs of hole shoes were pre-ordered nationwide, driving sales of more than 12 million , and related topics were exposed 6.7 million times in total. The topic #LINLEE洞洞鞋# on the Xiaohongshu platform has more than 1.58 million views, and the topic on Douyin has been played more than 38 million times. So, what exactly is City Walk? Why is it so magical?

City Walk literally means "city stroll", which is a lighter, shorter-distance city travel experience . In the context of young people, it refers to all behaviors of "going out to find happiness". Like dopamine, City Walk has quickly become popular on the entire Internet. The topic of Douyin has been played more than 700 million times, and there are more than 600,000 notes on Xiaohongshu. In the first half of 2023, the number of searches related to City Walk on the Xiaohongshu platform increased by 30 times year-on-year.

In addition, the popularity of City Walk has also brought online celebrity cities and niche neighborhoods to the fore. Many city official accounts have also taken the opportunity to promote their own cities, such as City Walk + architecture, City Walk + food... Anything with the City Walk tag will always attract a wave of attention. The beginning of autumn is here, the weather is getting cooler, and the temperature is more suitable for City Walk. The tea and coffee industry can also consider making efforts on City Walk based on the "Autumn Cup".

2. Why is “City Walk+” a good opportunity for beverages?

After observing a lot of discussions about City Walk on social platforms and chatting with people in the industry, I found that City Walk is highly compatible with tea and coffee shops, and it is a good opportunity to take advantage of the trend.

1. The target audiences overlap: young people who are “looking for happiness”

According to official statistics from Xiaohongshu, the age distribution of City Walk is concentrated between 19 and 33 years old, with the largest number of people aged 24 to 28. This group is also the main target customer of the tea and coffee industry.

2. Consumption scenarios match, drink and explore stores while walking

A notable feature of City Walk is that you can experience the beauty of the city through a leisurely stroll, which is usually at a slow pace. Cafes and tea shops can carry this "slowness".

Having a cup of coffee or a drink when you feel tired while strolling in the city has almost become a standard of City Walk. City Walk, which aims to explore stores, can increase the exposure of stores.

3. Emotional value resonance provides an "outlet" for young people

In essence, City Walk is a way of life for contemporary young people to relieve stress. This year, tea and coffee brands have also made frequent moves on the "emotional value" of users. Whether it is "dopamine" or "crazy literature", they are essentially providing an emotional outlet for young people. City Walk + coffee/tea can maximize emotional value.

3. City Walk+ beverages currently have these ideas for hot-selling products

1. Combine with City Walk’s popular surroundings

This summer, Crocs have become an indispensable label for LINLEE. On social platforms, the screen is full of green Crocs under the relevant topics of LINLEE. With "LINLEE green" as the main color, it is eye-catching and highly recognizable. It is matched with 10 different shoe patterns, including brand elements such as Duck Duck Surfing and Lemon Tea, as well as summer scene elements. Consumers can also DIY different patterns.

In July, LINLEE launched a package of three popular products with Crocs, and joined hands with five fashion and lifestyle bloggers to launch the "Wear Duck Duck Crocs to City Walk" campaign. The relevant person in charge of LINLEE told me that they noticed that in the topics related to City Walk, users are most concerned about where to go, how to take pictures, and how to wear. In addition to the observation of the "Guangdong slipper culture", Crocs are a more youthful embodiment than slippers, and they are also a hot item in recent years. From regional restrictions to national promotion, the second sales peak broke out, and LINLEE also presented a set of "hot lifestyle + hot fashion items" strategy.

2. City Walk, where people can drink and walk, is an opportunity for regional coffee shops

Five Percent Coffee, which has six stores in Zhengzhou, launched the “City Walk, Drink and Collect Stamps Tour” to celebrate its anniversary.

From July 8 to August 8, customers who make any purchase in the store can receive a stamp book for free. After collecting six stamps from six stores, they can exchange them for a coffee season pass worth RMB 399 at any store, and have a chance to get an additional "Coffee Drinker Year-Round Free Drinking Card". The manager of Five Percent Coffee told me that the popularity of this City Walk stamp collection event exceeded expectations. The 500 stamp collection cards originally prepared and the 100 season passes that could be exchanged for stamps were distributed in about a week in advance, so they had to temporarily adjust the number of prizes and increase the number of season passes that could be exchanged for stamp books to 200. "Some customers visited all six stores and collected six stamps on the first day of the event, and some customers brought their family and friends with them."

The event also boosted the store's business, with daily sales increasing by 20% during the event. In addition to the hot sales of regular American and dirty coffees, new products such as grape and bayberry ice-shaken cold brew and lemon-flavored peach ice-shaken American coffee were also very popular. The store's backend data showed that while attracting new customers, it also retained a group of high-quality old customers. Customers posted the stamp collection book on social networks, which triggered secondary dissemination.

Regional coffee brands have deep connections with local consumers, and the City Walk format enhances the viscosity of the brand-user relationship, giving regional brands more defensive capabilities when facing price shocks from large chain brands.

3. Create a CoffeeWalk map, competition and cooperation among independent stores

Coffee is a popular combination at City Walk, and a number of urban “Internet celebrity coffee routes” have gradually developed on social platforms.

A blogger visited more than 300 coffee shops in Nanjing and mapped out 6 Coffee Walk routes. The top three cities for City Walk, Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou, also have a variety of Coffee Walk routes.

For independent stores that do not have the conditions to link multiple branches, an all-encompassing Coffee Walk route is actually a good idea.

I noticed that "Livin Guangzhou" has joined hands with 14 specialty coffee shops in Guangzhou's Liwan District to launch a special project called "Take a Stroll to Enjoy Coffee" and created a Liwan District walking coffee map.

The event has been very popular on social platforms. Currently, there are more than 110,000 notes on the "Coffee Map" on Xiaohongshu.

IV. Conclusion

Although it is jokingly called "city strolling", City Walk is still as popular as ever. When young people stroll in the city, the "cup" in their hands is the focus that brands need to pay attention to and compete for. Only by finding an effective way to communicate with consumers through popular phenomena can we stay neutral in popular trends.

Author: Shizuko

Source: WeChat public account "Kamen (ID: KamenClub)"

This article is authorized by @咖门 to be published on 運動派. Reproduction without permission is prohibited.

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