Relying on "male beauty" marketing to become popular again? Coconut Tree frequently appears on hot searches

The author of this article guides readers to think about whether Coco Tree should continue to adhere to such a marketing strategy by using the market response to the Coco Tree Group’s live broadcast and the results of similar examples such as Ruixing and KFC.

Recently, the official Douyin account of Coconut Tree Group launched a live broadcast of selling goods with a "muscular man". With the fitness movements of the models, the live broadcast room has become a "gym".

Such a "macho" live broadcast may seem a little confusing, but it seems to make sense when applied to Coconut Tree. The company has been recognized as a "big boss" by the outside world for its popular coconut milk for many years, but it has repeatedly become an alternative existence by relying on its own brand style.

In the past, Coconut Tree was repeatedly questioned for "skirting the edge", named, and fined. Faced with these, Coconut Tree became more and more courageous and launched the "Macho Man" live broadcast again...

First there was KFC's Mother's Day "male model" advertisement, and then there was Luckin's "male model show" live broadcast room. "Male beauty" marketing is nothing new. And Coco Tree's "male model" live broadcast seems to be a "very new" live broadcast method launched after learning from two "predecessors". Combined with Coco Tree's past actions, one can't help but wonder, is Coco Tree going to carry on the "edge" culture to the end? .

1. Relying on being a “macho man” to make your presence felt?

On March 1, the Douyin account of "Coconut Tree Group" launched a "macho" live broadcast to sell goods. Several male models wearing tight vests worked out and sold goods in the live broadcast room. From the time point of view, this live broadcast has been nearly a month since the last one. Compared with the high-frequency live broadcasts in the past, this live broadcast seemed to be carefully prepared. Judging from the live broadcast data, this "macho" live broadcast was far less lively than the previous ones. First of all, the number of viewers was only 93,000 compared with the previous live broadcasts of the same length. Secondly, the sales volume was only at most 25 pieces, and the sales revenue was at most 1,000 yuan.

Image source: Cicada Mama Data

Such dismal live broadcast performance made Coco Tree a hot topic. Under the topic of "Coco Tree launched a macho live broadcast with sales of less than 1,000", it is not difficult to see from the discussions of netizens what everyone's most intuitive feelings about this live broadcast.

Comments such as "a bit oily and a bit earthy" and "I can smell the odor of sweat" can be seen everywhere. Some people even directly expressed their views on the Coconut Tree brand: "It's mainly vulgar"...

Weibo user comments

Amidst the host of unfriendly comments, some netizens were smart enough to see the clues, saying that Yeshu understands live streaming operations, and the comment "It's on the hot search, it's already made a lot of money" stood out. Some netizens also said that there were no discounts in the live streaming room, and they could buy it offline.

Weibo user comments

As netizens said, if you look closely at the previous live broadcast sales of "Coconut Tree Group", you can indeed find that Coconut Tree's live broadcast sales are not as profitable as other brands. Even in terms of daily sales, it may even lose money after deducting costs.

However, IBrandi found that under another official account of Coco Tree, "Coco Tree Group Hainan Coconut Juice Beverage Co., Ltd.", in several live broadcasts in recent days, one of the live broadcasts had 788,000 viewers and sales of 10,000 to 25,000, far exceeding the "Coco Tree Group" account.

Image source: Cicada Mama Data

Although the sales of this account are much higher than the main account, the sales of the two accounts are not impressive in terms of Coconut Tree's "status". At present, the biggest bonus of this wave of operations is that Coconut Tree has become a hot search because of the "macho man" who cannot sell the goods. With a total of 180 million readings and 7,144 discussions, Coconut Tree has a strong presence.

Weibo topic details

Of course, such an alternative live broadcast cannot be searched only once. Recently, due to the continuous "output" of Coconut Tree, #Coconut Tree Live Room# once again topped the list of hot searches, and even reached the top of the hot search list for a time, with a search volume of 72,417 times.

The "busty beauties" live broadcast previously launched by Coco Tree has been repeatedly questioned for "playing the edge ball". So what are netizens' comments on Coco Tree's previous "beauties" live broadcast?

Under the Douyin works of "Coconut Tree Group", IBrandi found that not only the appearance of spokesperson Xu Dongdong was recognized by netizens, but also the four "beautiful" anchors of Coconut Tree were also called "Coconut Tree Four Beauties" by netizens. Even quite a number of netizens became loyal fans of "Coconut Tree Four Beauties" and refused to buy their products before "Coconut Tree Four Beauties" returned. Many netizens even made a joke like "The world's highest aesthetics: Korean chaebols, Shanxi coal bosses, and Coconut Tree Group".

Tik Tok user comments

Regarding Coco Tree's consistent operation, the comments are even polarized. Although many people complain that Coco Tree's aesthetics are "vulgar" and "playing the edge ball", there are also many comments that Coco Tree is looking directly at the needs, "saving all living beings", "seeking benefits for the audience", "the heart sees everything dirty", etc.

Unlike other brands that generally strive to be "high-end", the Coco Tree brand carries forward this "vulgar" atmosphere, and it can even be said that it intentionally emphasizes this brand style. This is obvious.

For example, Coco Tree’s “simple and crude” product design that has not changed for many years, its “imaginative” slogan “drink from childhood to adulthood”, as well as its previous “plump beauties” live broadcast and its current “macho men” live broadcast, are all examples of Coco Tree promoting this corporate culture to the outside world.

Such a brand style inevitably gives people an intuitive sense of "vulgarity", but adhering to the fact that the judgment of elegance and vulgarity is both objective and subjective, whether the Coco Tree Group is "playing an edge ball" can only be a matter of opinion.

2. Luckin Coffee, KFC, Coco Tree… Male model advertisements have a long history

In live broadcasts or other forms of promotion, it is very common to have models as spokespersons or promoters, but it is rare to be as "direct" as Coco Tree. Coco Tree's previous "beauty" live broadcasts were considered by some netizens to be developed for the male consumer group, and comments like "Coco Tree understands us" also appeared frequently on social platforms. However, Coco Tree's "macho man" live broadcast this time was criticized for not understanding female consumers. What further proves this point is that
In the first “Macho Man” live broadcast, female viewers accounted for only 29.91%.

Image source: Cicada Mama Data

Obviously, Coco Tree failed to directly attract female viewers with the "male model" live broadcast. But in fact, Luckin Coffee was the first to promote the "male model" live broadcast in the live broadcast room before Coco Tree. Last November, Luckin Coffee played a "male model" catwalk live broadcast in the live broadcast room. Luckin Coffee changed the background of the live broadcast room to a light-colored background board, and emphasized the cool and high-end feeling through the black and white outfits of the models. The gentle, cool, and handsome male models, with various Luckin Coffee logos printed on their faces, appeared in sequence, and Luckin Coffee turned its own live broadcast room into a "show".

Luckin Live

Although it was also questioned for selling "male sex", Luckin's intentions were obvious. For example, each drink in the live broadcast was accompanied by a different copy, and was distinguished by the pattern on the model's face, and even switched between large, medium and close shots, bringing the audience's audio-visual experience to the extreme.

Although this live broadcast was also questioned for selling "male sex", the overall audience evaluation was obviously more positive. Many people said on social platforms that Luckin was "crazy" and "showing off". Although this live broadcast did not achieve high sales, Luckin's test was generally well received by the audience, and there was also a lot of discussion on the Internet.

However, other brands' "male sex" marketing was not so lucky. In 2019, KFC launched a new commercial around Mother's Day that year. Its classic image of the old KFC man was transformed into a "half-naked muscle man" who tore off his vest and danced passionately in the commercial. Combined with the dim stage lighting in the commercial and the actors' "wink" and other detailed movements, this advertisement successfully aroused the disgust of domestic audiences.

KFC Advertising

Many netizens complained directly, "No one would want to show it to their mother," "It's hard to describe," and "I don't want to eat KFC anymore ." Amid the "criticisms," some netizens rationally analyzed, saying, "The image of the KFC grandfather in the ad is too different from the traditional impression," and "It's not suitable to be launched on Mother's Day."

But in fact, when KFC's new grandfather image was unveiled before Mother's Day, it was well received. It is reported that this is a virtual image synthesized by KFC using CGI technology, which is intended to restore the image of KFC's grandfather when he was young.

But why is it that once the same image is replaced by a similar real actor, it is labeled as "vulgar"? IBrandi believes that this is related to the intuitive feeling brought by the overall advertising style. Objectively analyzing the promotional content of "male models" such as Coco Tree and KFC, we can find that factors such as picture style, stage lighting, model clothing or movements will convey the most direct perception to the audience, and the sense of indecency is thus generated.

Of course, if we use this logic to analyze, Coconut Tree seems a bit "unfair", after all, if we only watch Coconut Tree's live broadcast, it is hard to ignore the specific scene of fitness and directly say "vulgar". But for Coconut Tree, it has built its current brand image step by step over the years, so it is hard to say "unfair".

3. Coconut trees never change

As the slogan goes, "Times are changing, but Coconut Tree never changes." Looking closely at Coconut Tree's unique marketing style in recent years, it is clear that Coconut Tree has indeed remained unchanged.

In 2009, the Coco Tree Group put up advertising slogans on buses in Haikou City, such as "Papaya is plump, I am plump" and "Wives like their husbands to drink Coco Tree pomegranate juice", and was fined 1,000 yuan; in 2016, Coco Tree launched a "breast model bottle" mineral water, which caused controversy.

Coco Tree claimed that it was to show the beauty of women, but it was later revealed that the designer of the product was Wang Guangxing, the chairman of Coco Tree; in 2019, Coco Tree was fined 200,000 yuan for promoting the "breast enhancement" function of its products; in 2021, Coco Tree was fined 400,000 yuan for publishing recruitment advertisements such as "You will have a car, a house, a high salary, a future, and you can get rich after you enroll in school" and "There will definitely be beautiful girls and handsome guys chasing you."

Coco Tree has been fined and criticized many times, and was even named as a "veteran" in the advertising industry by CCTV. However, it seems that Coco Tree has never thought about changing. As netizens said, "It always skirts the line, always pays fines, and never changes." With such a brand style, Coco Tree seems to be going down this path to the end.

IBrandi Pinchuang found that, apart from marketing, Coco Tree's products have a long-standing impression in the minds of quite a few consumers. Many people describe Coco Tree's products as "delicious" and "addictive" . The author and his friends also buy them frequently. However, it is not difficult to see from the comments of netizens that Coco Tree's packaging has affected the purchasing intentions of some consumers. Comments such as "I no longer love Coco Tree" and "I only dare to drink this packaging secretly" show that some consumers "dislike" the Coco Tree brand.

In the current situation of consumption upgrading, Xiaohongshu netizens commented that beverages have a significant social attribute, and there are many products that focus on the "social" function in the beverage packaging. However, Coco Tree's product packaging and brand image seem to have decided to give up the "social" product function. As for whether this path has brought positive growth or negative impact to Coco Tree, perhaps only Coco Tree itself knows. But leaving aside the brand image, it is indeed time for Coco Tree to get anxious.

According to media reports, the performance of Coconut Tree Group increased by only 18.87% in the ten years from 2012 to 2021. After the sales increased to a high of 4.477 billion in 2013, it did not increase to 4.661 billion until 2021, which was a significant improvement. Obviously, in terms of performance, Coconut Tree has not achieved year-on-year growth, and has fallen back from time to time. This performance may not affect the survival problem for the time being, but the beverage track is still hot, and there are more and more brands making products around coconuts, and Coconut Tree's market share is being squeezed.

Coconut water and coconut milk are natural plant-based beverages. The development of coconut products from niche beverages to mass beverages is a natural thing to do in the current "healthy" dietary trend.

According to Magic Mirror Market Intelligence, brands that focus on coconut flavor account for more than one-third of the TOP30 plant milk brands on Double 11 in 2021, and the coconut brand Fino, whose main products are coconut water and thick coconut milk, ranks among the top three in sales. In addition, brands such as Coco Full Score, Koko Coco, and Good Luck Coco have all received millions of yuan in financing in recent years. Various signs indicate that the coconut track is heating up. The difficult-to-grow performance and the increasingly crowded track may have put a lot of pressure on Coco Tree to a certain extent. Compared with "never-changing" products, Coco Tree may really need to think carefully about how to change.

IV. Conclusion

The author noticed that up to now, there are still many discussions about the Coco Tree Live Broadcast Room on social platforms, and many netizens also revealed that the Coco Tree Live Broadcast Room is still being frequently taken offline.

The reason why the platform removed it from the shelves may not be known, but even when I was buying Coco Tree brand coconut juice in the supermarket, the image of the anchor of Coco Tree flashed through my mind unconsciously, and I thought about whether it was "vulgar" or "elegant" before considering whether to buy it. In many industries, brands are afraid of being labeled as "vulgar", and even many brands are scrambling to pursue high-end products and capture high-end consumer groups.

This is because the definition of elegance and vulgarity and objective judgment are particularly important for the positioning of consumer brands, after all, the brand is aimed at the mass consumer group. As coconut products become more and more popular, facing those powerful new players in the coconut field in new consumption, can Coco Tree "never change"? It wants to achieve growth by relying on products without caring about the "life or death" of the brand image. Perhaps Coco Tree itself has not thought it through.

Author: Empowering Global Brands

Source: WeChat public account "IBrandi Pinchuang (ID: ibrandi)"