Bamboo tube milk tea has exploded again. Can marketing still rely solely on the "Internet celebrity" label?

Pay attention to major social media sites, and you will find that bloggers who go out to play will undoubtedly check in at bamboo tube milk tea. While bamboo tube milk tea has become a "net celebrity" check-in prop, it has also been frequently complained about. So can brand marketing still rely solely on the "net celebrity" label? Let's take a look at this article.

After being popular for several months, the reputation of bamboo tube milk tea continued to collapse. Complaints such as "IQ tax", "moldy", "recyclable tube", and "unpalatable" seemed to make this "Internet celebrity" milk tea a little embarrassed.

A bamboo tube filled with milk tea, topped with a creamy snow top sprinkled with fruits, and affixed with a poetic city name label, a "net celebrity" check-in prop for drinking and taking photos was born. With the powerful check-in and photo-taking functions, the essence of a cup of milk tea seems to be less important...

But as the first wave of consumers were "harvested", public doubts about bamboo tube milk tea also began to emerge. Many people gradually came to their senses and realized that bamboo tube milk tea priced at 30 or 40 yuan per cup was neither tasty nor hygienic, so why not buy other milk teas?

Under the trend of personalized consumption, there are many products or brands that have the definition of "Internet celebrities". For example, Wenheyou, a catering brand that is also covered with the coat of "Internet celebrity", Hutouju, a baking brand that is at the forefront of the storm, and Chayanyuese, a tea brand. After these brands became popular, doubts often followed...

Under the marketing of the "Internet celebrity" label, these products or brands have successfully won traffic, but can marketing rely solely on the "Internet celebrity" label?

01 Bamboo tube milk tea became popular overnight?

Bamboo tube milk tea seems to have become popular overnight, but in fact, Cha Se Yan Yu first created bamboo tube milk tea as early as June last year and promoted it on Xiaohongshu. With a series of marketing actions such as the joint venture with Cha Se Yan Yu, this pure natural, traditional Chinese milk tea began to show its edge and became the first choice for many people to check in when they go to Suzhou.

(Photo source: Xiaohongshu blogger @Bbbian.)

Afterwards, Cha Se Yan Yu slowly opened stores outside Suzhou and officially entered Hangzhou, Ningbo, Yangzhou, Xiamen and other places, and bamboo tube milk tea naturally became a tool for checking in and taking photos in many places. Netizens' questions about bamboo tube milk tea gradually changed from "Can the bamboo tube really be taken away?" to "Can I order online in advance?"

As the product is "favored" by consumers, old tea brands such as CoCo and Qifentian have also joined the battle of bamboo tube milk tea. In addition, milk tea shops such as "Chayan Yanyu", "Chasi Yanyu", "Chase Jiangnan", "Yanyu Jiangnan", "Bamboo Tube Fresh Tea", and "Yue Xiaoyan" have all made a fortune by using bamboo tubes plus a sticker with a similar design. Various milk tea shops on the street and many companies have also begun to apply for trademarks related to bamboo tube milk tea.

The bamboo tube milk tea has also been innovated many times, such as adding panda-shaped chocolate or replacing the bamboo tube with a bamboo basket, etc. The entry of other brands and product innovation have made the original brand Cha Se Yan Yu have little presence.

However, under the strong impact of traffic, this "Internet celebrity" milk tea can no longer "pretend", and its "black material" began to be frequently exposed.

First of all, bamboo tube milk tea sounds like it exudes a bamboo fragrance, which raises the public's expectations for its taste. But the fact is that not only does it not have a bamboo fragrance, it is also harder to drink than normal milk tea. "The tea taste is too light", "too sweet", "like milk powder mixed with water", etc., all seem to be slapping the face of bamboo tube milk tea.

In addition to the taste problem, the final product form of bamboo tube milk tea is also uneven because the size and shape of the bamboo tube cannot be completely consistent. On social platforms, there are many posts complaining about the different shapes of the bamboo tubes leading to different finished products. What is even more "outrageous" is that some netizens said that each product of bamboo tube milk tea is different in size, the same price but different in quantity, and the capacity even differs by 160 ml.

(Photo source: Xiaohongshu@小别兔别又别)

Problems such as mold and "recycling tubes" have also become the biggest pain points of this drink. It is understood that fresh bamboo tubes are prone to mold due to improper storage before being made into milk tea and sold. The cost of bamboo tubes is higher than that of ordinary milk tea cups. The double-layer stickers on bamboo tube milk tea and the bamboo tubes being washed in the dark also make people doubt whether the bamboo tubes will be recycled.

Facing repeated questions about the "recycling bin", the original brand of this "Internet celebrity" milk tea has already responded. In October last year, Cha Se Yan Yu responded to the controversy over the "recycling bin" on its official Xiaohongshu account, saying that the "recycling bin" was made by a pirated brand. In a subsequent promotional post about its presence in Xiamen, Cha Se Yan Yu also emphasized that "the next door is a pirated brand."

(Photo source: Xiaohongshu)

On the product receipt, ChaSeYanYu also wrote the words "Don't suffer from piracy" and "We will sue them when we have money."

(Photo source: Xiaohongshu@American style without ice)

No one seems to care about the repeated anti-counterfeiting actions. After all, everyone is making this "Internet celebrity" milk tea with very little differentiation. Anyway, "they all taste equally bad" and people will only drink it once. No one will care whether what they buy is "genuine" or "pirated."

From product quality, taste to food safety, from complaints, doubts and even investigations, all the problems have fallen on this "Internet celebrity" milk tea. Up to now, the public's impression of this "Internet celebrity" milk tea has basically remained on various negative information. Although many people on social platforms are still sharing and discussing bamboo tube milk tea in real time, it is undeniable that this "Internet celebrity" milk tea is "falling".

02 Marketing = creating the “Internet celebrity” label?

Although the popularity of bamboo tube milk tea is full of complaints, the consumer psychology of buying a cup of bamboo tube milk tea to check in, take photos, or even take it home to plant flowers in the bamboo tube has pushed this milk tea to the forefront. However, the traffic also established the "Internet celebrity" attribute of this product.

In terms of marketing, there are many products with "Internet celebrity" attributes, and even "Internet celebrity" brands can be seen everywhere. Many brands have successfully experienced the benefits of traffic by relying on the deliberately created "Internet celebrity" label.

Wenheyou, which originated from a "net celebrity" city, has created a "nostalgic" and "retro" "Super Wenheyou" large store. It became popular with Changsha's signature snacks such as crayfish and stinky tofu, creating an industry miracle of more than 70,000 tables queuing up every day and a daily turnover rate of 8.5 tables, becoming another "net celebrity" check-in spot. After leaving Changsha, on the opening day in Shenzhen, Wenheyou created a "myth" of 50,000 people queuing up for the Cha Yan Yue Se pop-up store.

(Photo source: Wenheyou official Weibo)

But recently, Changsha Wenheyou has seen a significant drop in customer traffic, no longer as good as it used to be. Shenzhen Wenheyou has been even worse, with merchants collectively closing down and few customers coming to the store.

Many people commented that Wenheyou's food was "not tasty" and "bad taste", and some netizens even complained that eating oysters caused vomiting and diarrhea. The evaluation of the store environment was "no air circulation" and "very hot and stuffy"... The most common comment about Wenheyou was that people would hardly go there again . With the current extremely low consumer repurchase rate, Shenzhen's cultural and tourism attributes are not as good as Changsha, and it cannot support Wenheyou's customer flow.

The rough decoration and the presence of various businesses made it difficult for Wenheyou to control the environment and the quality of the food. Wenheyou obviously knows a lot about "Internet celebrity" marketing, but the slightly "perfunctory" food and store decoration made Wenheyou win traffic, but failed to keep it.

Also worth mentioning is the "Internet celebrity" baking brand Hutouju. Hutouju relies on the marketing of the national trend concept and focuses on new Chinese-style baking and Chinese pastries made in Western style.

(Photo source: Hutou Bureau official Weibo)

The marketing based on national fashion and a series of popular products have made Hutouju's traffic formula. In a small store of more than 50 square meters, Hutouju's monthly revenue has reached 1.27 million. Capital has moved in, and Hutouju has naturally become a "darling". After multiple rounds of financing, Hutouju's valuation once exceeded 2 billion yuan, and it has vigorously expanded its stores to first-tier cities such as Beijing and Shanghai.

However, with the news of store closures, layoffs, and franchise opening in many cities, Hutouju's development momentum is also slightly insufficient. Until the end of March this year, Hutouju's internal employees broke the news that it was closing stores and withdrawing from cities, its capital chain was broken, it owed employees wages, and was being asked to pay debts by suppliers. The response from the founder of Hutouju also confirmed this situation.

In the past two years, the fast-growing Hutouju has faced huge competition from the new Chinese baking market. Problems such as single product and difficulty in innovation have gradually overwhelmed Hutouju. On this basis, the rapid expansion has increased the operational pressure of Hutouju, and the unfavorable consumption environment has also caused Hutouju to be trapped in customer flow.

The “Internet celebrity” effect has obviously failed to establish the brand awareness of Hutouju, nor has it strengthened the risk resistance of the Hutouju brand. Hutouju may collapse completely.

Relying on the "Internet celebrity" label to attract traffic, Wenheyou and Hutouju once had no shortage of traffic. However, apart from traffic, they made mistakes in brand quality, product innovation, brand strategy and other aspects.

However, for Cha Yan Yue Se, which also has the label of "Internet celebrity", the traffic brought by the "Internet celebrity" has a long-term effect.

As a milk tea brand born in Changsha, Cha Yan Yue Se differentiated itself by positioning itself as a traditional Chinese milk tea and providing excellent services. In the early days of its popularity, Cha Yan Yue Se was once "hard to get a cup". The queues at the store were so long that they filled up the entire street. Some people were even willing to pay a high price to find someone to buy for them. Most people commented on Cha Yan Yue Se's products as "full of tea flavor and refreshing taste". In addition to traffic, Cha Yan Yue Se's products are also recognized by the public.

(Photo source: Cha Yan Yue Se official Weibo)

In 2020, when the number of Cha Yan Yue Se stores in Changsha approached 200, Cha Yan Yue Se officially moved out of Changsha. However, with the entry of multiple cities such as Nanjing and Chongqing, this star tea brand known as the "cultivation system" began to "collapse".

In 2021, Cha Yan Yue Se was first questioned for insulting women due to its use of the Changsha slang "picking up a basket", and then questioned for operating difficulties due to three concentrated temporary store closures. Subsequently, the "mutual attacks" between the founder and employees of Cha Yan Yue Se, as well as the subsequent questioned "borderline marketing", "hunger marketing", "standing in line" and other news, repeatedly sent this star tea brand to the hot search list of major social software.

After experiencing these negatives, Cha Yan Yue Se seems to have lost some momentum, but its tea products are still the favorites of many tea lovers. While ensuring the taste, they also satisfy the functions of checking in and taking photos. Cha Yan Yue Se's position as the "top stream" in the tea industry is still unshakable.

03 Conclusion

A closer look at the marketing of these products or brands regarding the "Internet celebrity" attribute reveals that in the creation of the "Internet celebrity" label, personalized brand styles such as national trend style, new Chinese style, and sentiment are mostly very "compatible" with check-in and taking photos. Gradually, these styles have become the "explosive points" for creating explosive brands.

With the attribute of "Internet celebrity", these products or brands no longer have to worry about traffic. However, faced with difficulties such as difficulty in controlling product quality, product innovation, poor management, and marketing failure, "Internet celebrity" marketing may add bricks and tiles to products or brands, but it cannot completely protect them.

iBrandi believes that if a product or brand only focuses on creating the "Internet celebrity" label and ignores other strategies, then the "Internet celebrity" label will gradually become a negative label, and "Internet celebrity" marketing will only backfire.

A few days ago, iBrandi passed by a bamboo tube milk tea shop in Changsha. During the peak consumption time, this shop which mainly sold bamboo tube milk tea was almost deserted.

In contrast, on social platforms, many people are still sharing and checking in at Cha Yan Yue Se in real time, and there are still many people queuing in front of Cha Yan Yue Se stores...

Author: Lumin

Source: WeChat public account "iBrandi Pinchuang"