Text/Photo by Yangcheng Evening News reporter Li Zhiwen and intern Zhang Tian

　　Uniqlo sells flowers, China Post sells milk tea and coffee, Ma Yinglong, famous for its hemorrhoid cream, launches eye cream products, and Dong E E Jiao and Pacific Coffee jointly launch E Jiao coffee series products...

　　Yangcheng Evening News reporters have observed in recent years that cross-border integration and co-branding have become a new way for many consumer brands to seek transformation and breakthroughs.

However, in this crossover boom, not all crossover products can be favored by consumers, and many products end dismal after a few years of launch.

　　Experts believe that the tonality between partners of cross-border products needs to be unified, which is more conducive to consumer acceptance; some experts believe that brands should not blindly follow trends and cross-border.

　　Cross-border business has both joys and sorrows

　　"I didn't expect to be able to buy flowers in clothing stores, and there are quite a few varieties, which are very novel." Recently, a reporter from the Yangcheng Evening News observed at the Uniqlo Guangzhou Victoria City flagship store that many young customers were attracted by the flowers in the store and stopped. pick.

In addition, on Weibo, Xiaohongshu and other online social platforms, reporters also saw many photos shared by consumers after checking in the location.

　　The attempt to carve out a small area inside the store as a flower sales area was named by Uniqlo as "Vibrant Flower Shop". It is understood that at the end of last year, the project was successively settled in Beijing and Shanghai, and the first Uniqlo flower shop in Guangzhou was also established. The flagship store in Victoria City opened at the beginning of this year.

　　Wu Pinhui, chief marketing officer of Uniqlo Greater China, said in an interview with reporters that opening the "Vibrant Flower Shop" is to provide consumers with a space that is both beautiful and natural, "This is also an attempt by us, and we will continue to explore in the future. Opportunities for the development of a diverse store experience”.

　　On the negative first floor of Guangzhou IFC International Gold Plaza, not far from Uniqlo's flagship store in Victoria City, a restaurant that specializes in Cantonese-style claypot rice, Huang Huang You Material Bureau, also attracted the attention of reporters.

It is understood that Youliu Bureau is the first store opened by Yuexiu Group's food segment, Huangshanghuang, after entering the catering industry. It will officially open at the end of 2021.

　　During lunchtime on a weekday in March this year, the reporter observed at the Bureau of Materials that the seats of the store were almost filled with consumers, and the Ming Kitchen Center on the left was originally full of raw materials such as roast pork, pork ribs, and pork belly. It was basically sold out in about two hours.

The Emperor said that it plans to open 10 more stores in Guangdong by the end of 2023.

　　However, not all cross-border products of consumer brands operate as well as the two consumer brands mentioned above.

The Ejiao coffee series mentioned at the beginning of this article caused a heated discussion when it was first launched, but now almost no one cares about it.

　　In October 2019, the "Coffee So Much 'Glue'" series of products jointly launched by Dong'e Ejiao and Pacific Coffee were successively launched in designated stores of Pacific Coffee in seven cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Xi'an, Chengdu and Wuxi.

　　It is understood that the original Ejiao coffee includes 5 products, including Dong E E Jiao Matcha Latte, Dong E E Jiao Latte, Dong E E Jiao Tremella Tea Latte, OATLY E Jiao Red Date Latte, E Jiao Red Date Latte, the price is 32-39 yuan not wait.

However, the reporter recently found that there is only one Ejiao latte left in the Guangzhou Pacific Coffee Store, and the price is 36 yuan, which is 4-8 yuan more expensive than other lattes.

　　One consumer said that he ordered this cup of Ejiao latte because of curiosity, but after tasting it, he found that Ejiao latte is no different from ordinary latte, "I will not consider this product in the future."

The clerk also told reporters that there are very few people ordering Ejiao series coffee now, and they may not be able to sell one cup a day.

　　It is reported that Liushen and RIO, Zhou Hei Ya and Yunifang also launched cross-border cocktails and lipsticks in 2018, but now there is no trace of these cross-border products.

　　How to be more effective across borders?

　　Why have cross-border products sprung up like mushrooms after a rain in recent years?

　　Wang Peng, an associate professor at the Institute of Management of the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences and the Gaoli Research Institute of Renmin University of China, told reporters that the concentrated emergence of cross-border products has been carried out in the context of consumption upgrades in recent years. "With the continuous development of the economy and society, The younger generation of consumers, such as the post-00s and post-05s, pursue personalization when shopping, and their desire to show individuality makes the original publicity channels and marketing strategies unable to adapt to the development and changes of the new era, which leads to the emergence of cross-border products.” .

　　Regarding this new trend of consumption, People's Daily also commented: "It not only satisfies the pursuit of fashion, but also highlights the cultural connotation, which coincides with the current consumption preferences of young people."

　　However, it is worth noting that cross-border products are not naturally popular with consumers.

Wang Peng believes that the two parties involved in cross-border cooperation cannot have no relationship at all.

Wang Peng said that there are several core elements of cross-border integration: first, the business models of the two must be complementary, and the combination of strong and powerful can produce the effect of one plus one greater than two; second, the two must be able to achieve advantages The third is that the two brands have the same tonality and unity, that is, they have a common consumer group, so that consumers are more likely to accept the products they jointly launch.

　　Liao Chenglin, a professor and doctoral supervisor of the School of Economics, Management and Business Administration of Chongqing University, once said in an interview with the media that the continuity of joint cross-border is a very serious technical and management issue, which needs to adapt to the planning and development of the two brands at the same time. There are many things to coordinate and communicate, and many brands are also in the trial stage.

Therefore, brands should not blindly follow the trend and cross-border, but need to formulate medium and long-term plans after realizing the technical essentials, technical laws, technical logic and marketing essentials, so as to detonate the market, otherwise it will only be short-lived, and consumers will also feel Numbness, no freshness.

　　However, compared with experts, consumers' ideas are relatively simple.

The reporter interviewed a number of consumers, most of whom only focused on the product itself, saying that as long as the product is of good quality and good reputation, they will consider buying it.