How cross-border co-branding makes the fragrance float longer

On September 9, Moutai co-branded again. This time, Moutai and Dove jointly launched "Mao Xiaoling Wine Heart Chocolate", and the "Mao Xiaoling Wine Heart Chocolate" of 16 yuan was "seconds empty" as soon as it was put on sale. The popularity is as popular as more than 35 days ago, Moutai co-branded Luckin launched "Sauce Coffee". The two joint names were only 10 days apart.

The sauce latte is not the first time Luckin has collaborated, and it seems that Jiuxin Chocolate will not be Moutai's last crossover. In recent years, cross-border co-branding between brands has become more and more common, whether it is a century-old brand or a budding brand, they are keen on "co-branding". However, this lively situation also reveals some confusion: how can Moutai attract young consumers? How can Luckin compete on the coffee track? And how should Dove deal with the situation that "chocolate is getting harder and harder to sell"? In the consumer market, how to ensure sales without topics and "traffic"?

Moutai that has tasted sweetness repeatedly

According to the official Weibo of Kweichow Moutai, the joint wine heart chocolate added 2% 53% vol Kweichow Moutai wine, and the exposure price was 35 yuan for two. Netizens calculated that the cost of Moutai wine in a chocolate is about 0.43 yuan, which is less than 1 yuan. Even if it is a joint name of Moutai, the price of this chocolate can be called "luxury". Previously, Luckin and Moutai's joint "sauce latte" was also considered to be "winning numb", not to mention the hot search on Weibo, the sales of a single product exceeded 542.1 million cups on the first day, and the sales of a single product exceeded <> million yuan on the first day.

Industry insiders believe that the cooperation method of Moutai holding Luckin with the left hand and Radfu with the right hand is aimed at speeding up the rejuvenation of its brand and optimizing the product matrix; On the other hand, for Luckin and Dove, the cooperation with Moutai will also help to enhance their comprehensive strength and brand tonality in related industries. This is a good blessing for the overall traffic, sales, brand and channel of both parties.

Tianyancha App shows that recently, China's Kweichow Moutai Distillery (Group) Co., Ltd. applied for the registration of a number of food "Mao Xiaoling" and "Mao Xiaoka" trademarks. It can be seen that from self-developed Moutai ice cream to sauce latte, and then to "Mao Xiaoling wine heart chocolate", Kweichow Moutai is actively seeking change, innovating from channels, brand culture and other aspects. In 2022, Kweichow Moutai reorganized its layout of the e-commerce platform, and the i Moutai digital marketing platform was launched, and as of the end of June this year, the cumulative registered users of i Moutai have exceeded 6 million. Digital and young, Moutai is eagerly and actively currying favor with the new generation of consumers.

This eagerness has indeed brought a lot of traffic and topics to Moutai. On September 9, Moutai announced the news that it would co-brand with Dove, which became the material for netizens to create memes. On the Weibo hot search list, the top ranking is the "official announcement" topic of Moutai and Dove, and in the comments, "the end of business is marriage" and other ridicule emerge endlessly.

Joint, one trick fresh

In recent years, the co-branding boom has risen from wave to wave, involving movies, games, fashion brands, luxury goods, food and other fields. Whether it is a joint name between luxury brand Louis Vuitton and street skateboard brand Supreme, or several collaborations of Moutai, the "two-way rush" aims to seize the young consumer group. According to data, the market size of China's joint economy will exceed 2023 billion yuan in <>. This can be seen from the joint actions of several tea brands.

In May this year, Heytea and Fendi co-branded, "Fendi Joy Yellow" single cup priced at 5 yuan, buy two cups to get coasters or badges and other peripheral products. Fendi Huang once occupied the circle of friends and hot searches, netizens said: "This is the closest I have come to luxury Fendi." ”

In July, Nai Xue's tea co-branded magic card girl Sakura launched the domineering cherry series nationwide, and a variety of co-branded limited theme cups and co-branded limited handbags were launched simultaneously. Nai Xue's tea stores exploded orders, and the joint peripherals were directly sold out when they went online. On August 7, Michelle Ice City announced its joint name with the post, and publicly posted the decoration renderings of the Michelle Ice City theme post office on the Internet. Previously, Moutai Luckin co-branded, Michelle Ice City was also forced to refute the rumor of "joint Wuliangye". It can be seen that consumers have become familiar with the routine of brand co-branding, and even began to spontaneously play terriers, jokingly calling: Michelle Ice City "joined", Luckin "married into a wealthy family". It is reported that the popularity of sauce-fragrant latte and Mao Xiaoling wine heart chocolate has even brought a series of "Maotai effect". In addition to various posts and memes by social media netizens, wine companies such as Shede Liquor, Guyue Longshan, and Zhangyu were also asked by investors about plans for joint cooperation.

As for museums and scenic spots selling cultural and creative ice cream; Daoxiang Village and King Glory sell Mid-Autumn Festival gift boxes together; Ramen said that the joint 999 cold spirit launched the "heart-warming chicken soup" gift box... The cross-border co-branding of consumer brands is really only unthinkable, not impossible.

Joint names do not become "cheap names"

If you don't count it, most consumers don't even know about the cross-border co-branding between some brands, after all, not every co-branding can explode. Whether it is the double of the LVxSupreme co-branded premium, the sauce latte and Mao Xiaoling wine heart chocolate blowing up the whirlwind, or the "co-branded maniac" Holly and Harry Potter co-branding to make a lot of money, cross-border co-branding bold innovation is indeed a beneficial attempt and choice. However, if you think about it carefully, it is not difficult to find that the competition between industries is becoming more and more fierce, and the homogenization of products is serious, and we have to rely on cross-border co-branding to stand out and monetize traffic.

Even Moutai, which has a strong national base, will have moments of confusion. A generation of drinking, a generation of tea, a generation of coffee, for the liquor industry, the loss of the next generation of consumers is the biggest crisis for the survival of the brand. As a representative of "civilian coffee", Luckin's days have just passed, and it began to be surrounded by various coffee players. "9.9 yuan per cup" has been squeezed out of the track by a large number of "5 yuan coffee" such as Cubic Coffee, dry coffee people, jue thirst coffee, and workers' coffee. Cudi Coffee even launched the "1 yuan drinking coffee" activity, preparing to stage "Luckin kills Luckin".

Co-branding is naturally looking forward to a win-win situation, and even achieving the effect of 1+1>1. However, when the joint harvest of temporary traffic and sales, there is also a frequent "overturning" phenomenon. The sauce latte was questioned by netizens whether it really contained Moutai, and Luckin officials had to release a video announcing the whole process from Kweichow Moutai to warehouse, opening, professional filling production, sampling detection and mass production. Mao Xiaoling's wine heart chocolate was trendy, and "Moutai began to sell it by the drop".

Previously, Manner Coffee's "buy books and send canvas bags" activity co-branded by LV was also badly commented by netizens: "Spend hundreds of dollars to buy ugly canvas bags." Looking back at last year's popular Moutai ice cream, many dealers have said that they "can't sell it" this year.

It can be seen that cross-border co-branding is not a panacea, let alone cure all diseases, and there are even risks. Cross-border co-branding needs to consider the same taste and pace between brands, products or services, if only "co-branding for the sake of co-branding", it may cause confusion and damage to the brand image, consumer disgust and resistance.

Taking Moutai as an example, for young consumers, more and more joint activities may make Moutai no longer "unattainable" to some extent. However, some people are worried that too much cross-border marketing will impact consumers' perception of Moutai's existing "scarcity", thereby diluting Moutai's brand value, and finally co-branding becomes "cheap name".

What's more, cross-border co-branding is not an easy task, and the good luck of popular models is not common, and relying on traffic alone is never a long-term solution. Without real innovation and enduring solutions, no matter how popular the joint name is, it will be nothing more than a flash in the pan. If new consumer brands want to have a lasting fragrance, they need to use more brains in product positioning and research and development. (Workers' Daily reporter: Xu Xiao)