HEYTEA FENDI co-branded drinks are being snapped up: Mini Program crashes multiple times, scalpers double the price

HEYTEA has partnered with luxury brand Fendi to launch a co-branded drink, complete with yellow paper cups, coasters, badges, and a tote bag printed with the Fendi English logo. Once launched on May 17, the official mini program crashed several times, and the co-branded product was sold out in several stores. Second-hand platforms even doubled the price. Read this article to see the details!

In the new tea beverage market, everything can be co-branded, and this time it’s the luxury goods circle.

On May 17, Heytea collaborated with luxury brand Fendi to launch a co-branded drink, which comes with yellow paper cups, coasters and badges, as well as a handbag printed with Fendi's English logo.

This co-branded product, called "Fendi Joy Yellow", is priced at 19 yuan per cup, and the limited edition including co-branded peripherals is priced at 38 yuan. It includes 2 cups of "Fendi Joy Yellow" drinks, and you can choose 1 of 2 to get a coaster or badge, and comes with a handbag printed with the Fendi English logo.

Prior to this, in order to promote the joint venture, Heytea changed the logos of its major official social media accounts to a yellow and black background with two Heytea logos on both sides, similar to Fendi, creating enough suspense.

"The closest I've ever been to luxury goods," "I bought an entry-level Fendi model for 19 yuan in full," "My first Fendi was given to me by Heytea"... Many consumers joked on social platforms.

Photography: Youfang

Scalpers also set their sights on this collaboration. On a second-hand platform, the price of the Heytea Fendi co-branded badge doubled, but many users still browsed and inquired. At the same time, on the morning of May 17, a reporter from the Times Weekly placed an order on the Heytea mini program and found that the official mini program crashed several times, and the co-branded products were sold out in several stores.

On the same day, a reporter from the Times Weekly contacted Heytea regarding this joint event, but they declined to comment.

1. Multiple stores sold out

This joint business was very popular as soon as it was launched.

At around 10:30 a.m. on May 17, a reporter from Times Weekly accessed the official Heytea mini program and found that the platform crashed several times and took more than ten seconds to recover. After the Heytea-Fendi co-branded product had been on sale for nearly an hour, many Heytea stores showed that the co-branded product was sold out.

Many consumers revealed on social media platforms that this co-branded product of Heytea is out of stock and unavailable for purchase in most stores in Shanghai.

"Almost all Heytea stores around me are sold out, with orders of 100 to 200 cups. Only one store 38km away can buy it." A consumer told the Times Weekly reporter: "I guess it's impossible to buy it. In Shanghai, you have to fight for it."

On Heytea’s official mini-app, a Times Weekly reporter located a popular business district in downtown Shenzhen and learned that many stores in Shenzhen also showed busy orders, while the limited edition “Fendi Joy Yellow” was temporarily sold out.

The Times Weekly reporter called a Heytea employee at a Shenzhen store and learned that the peripherals were sold out very quickly, leaving only the related drinks available for purchase. "It is not clear whether the peripherals will be restocked in the future."

Before this wave of popularity spread, scalpers were the first to smell the business opportunity.

At around 10:00 on May 17, shortly after the launch of the Heytea co-branded "Fendi Joy Yellow", a well-known second-hand platform saw scalpers selling a large number of the same peripherals, with prices ranging from 58 to 200 yuan, including coasters, badges, cups, cup sleeves and paper bags. The full set is the most expensive.

"It's out of stock. There's no stock left today. You can only buy it tomorrow. Each person is limited to buying one set." A scalper revealed to the Times Periphery reporter that he used many accounts to place orders. If you want it, place an order in advance to help grab it.

This is not the first time that HEYTEA’s co-branded products have sold out, nor is it the first time it has entered the fashion circle.

In April last year, Heytea launched a new limited-edition drink, "Black TEA", in stores nationwide, priced at 19 yuan per cup. This limited-edition drink was jointly developed with fashion master Fujiwara Hiroshi, and also came with related matching drink cups, cup sleeves, handbags, and thermal bags.

In addition to packaging, the two parties also collaborated on limited-edition peripheral products such as travel cups and art cups, and launched a cross-border "Black TEA" theme store.

HEYTEA x Hiroshi Fujiwara has created a good joint effect. According to HEYTEA, the sales of "Cool Blackberry Mulberry" special blend exceeded 150,000 cups on the first day of its launch, setting a new record for HEYTEA's first-day sales of new products since 2022.

According to incomplete statistics, since 2017, Heytea has launched more than 100 cross-border collaborations, ranging from hit TV series to trendy clothing, from cartoon characters to new consumer catering, to e-sports IP and artists, and many other directions and types of collaborations in various fields are endless.

2. Joint Enthusiasts

In recent years, the tea beverage industry has set off a cross-border collaboration craze in a very "hot" way.

"The new tea beverage track has entered a highly competitive stage, and requires the continuous output of brand culture with a unique tone." On May 17, Chinese food industry analyst Zhu Danpeng said in an interview with the Times Weekly reporter that when new tea beverage brand products find it difficult to effectively isolate competitors and establish a brand moat through taste, joint ventures can to a certain extent fit the interests of young consumers.

According to incomplete statistics from the Times Weekly reporter, this year alone, the two leading tea brands, Heytea and Nayuki’s Tea, have launched more than 10 IP brand joint activities. The last joint activity that caused a stir was when Nayuki’s Tea and “Wulin Wai Zhuan” joined forces to gain traffic.

In March 2023, Nayuki's Tea announced a collaboration with the classic costume sitcom "Wulin Wai Zhuan" to launch the "Baqi Durian" series of co-branded tea drinks, as well as creative peripherals and national theme stores. According to relevant media reports, the co-branded drinks sold out on the first day, and there were "queues" in many stores.

Not only Heytea and Nayuki, but also mid-tier tea brands are taking advantage of the opportunity to join forces.

In April, Chabaidao and Himalaya announced the launch of a cross-brand event, offering consumers a fusion experience of audio reading and Chinese tea drinks in 1,732 stores in 14 cities. In May, Yidiandian and Liuliumei launched a series of Huangmei drinks; in the same month, Shanghai Auntie officially announced the return of the classic product "Mung Bean Milk Ice" and launched a joint venture with QQ.

In addition to focusing on joint cooperation, more tea brands also promote products around their own brand IPs. For example, after launching the Snow King IP, Mixue Ice City has created a cultural and creative series including dolls, building blocks, cups, etc., while Cha Yan Yue Se has launched a "garden party" store type, selling tea bags, tea cups, notebooks, umbrellas, badges and other products.

However, a collaboration may not necessarily go viral, but it may lead to ineffective marketing or even a "failure."

In December 2022, Shanghai Auntie officially announced a joint event with the otome game "Light and Night Love", and launched customized beverage paper cups and other activities. However, three hours after the official announcement, the cooperation was terminated on the same day.

The game company that terminated the cooperation revealed that there were incidents of milk tea shop employees stealing materials and privately selling cooperative gifts on various social platforms, and there were also cases of employees of the partner verbally insulting players and the male protagonist of the game. In response, Shanghai Auntie issued an apology statement that evening, expressing serious criticism of the store involved and dismissing the employees involved.

From an industry perspective, brand co-branding marketing attempts to find new growth, but this is not a profitable business.

The founder of an online tea brand once revealed to a reporter from the Times Weekly that competition in the new tea industry is fierce, and more and more brands are paying more attention to how to grow their scale and how to make more money, while ignoring the essential issue - what are the real needs of consumers?

“If a tea brand launches 20 new products, engages in 20 collaborations, or opens 20 times more stores in a year, can these truly solve consumer demand? In fact, many new tea brands have not thought this issue through clearly,” admitted the founder of the above brand.

"The collaboration of various brands can only bring short-term market popularity and extremely high sales that are difficult to maintain." Consulting firm Frost & Sullivan revealed in a study that if you want to survive in the freshly brewed tea market for a long time and gain a place, you still have to rely on the taste and reliability of the product itself.

Author: Tu Mengying

Source public account: No. 19 Business Research Society (ID: time_biz), penetrate the fog of business and return to the essence of value.