Co-branded promotions spark growth

Chinese food and beverage makers are teaming up with intellectual property (IP) owners of popular shows to launch co-branded campaigns aimed at tapping potential new business opportunities in the highly competitive catering sector.

For instance, coconut beverages provider FreeNow has teamed up with the IP holders of Qing Yu Nian — a drama adapted from the eponymous popular online novel that has attracted tens of millions of viewers in its second season this summer — to launch a range of products, including stickers of its characters, themed cushions, fans and glasses.

According to Jiaxing, Zhejiang province-based FreeNow, in order to receive these products, consumers can either join in the discussions of "drinking FreeNow while watching Qing Yu Nian 2" on social media platforms, or purchase FreeNow's coconut water. In June, sales of the company's not-from-concentrate (NFC) coconut water achieved decent growth.

Likewise, domestic coffee brand Luckin Coffee joined hands with acclaimed TV series The Tale of Rose starring Chinese actress Liu Yifei to launch its yellow rose latte on June 24.

The themed coffee set, containing two cups of yellow rose latte and a keychain featuring its main character, is being sold for 31.9 yuan ($4.4).

The same evening, Liu posted a picture of her drinking the beverage on popular microblogging platform Weibo, and soon Luckin Coffee's new offering went viral online.

On June 26, at a Luckin Coffee chain store in Chaoyang district in Beijing, a shop assistant told China Daily that the themed set had gone out of stock, and customers who had been drawn in by the yellow rose keychain had returned disappointed.

According to box office tracker Maoyan, the show, broadcast on CCTV-8, received the highest rating at 2.04 percent, while average ratings of other shows on the channel are about 1.8 percent.

Data from The Tale of Rose showed that by June 26, when the show reached its finale, its accumulative effective views exceeded 1.27 billion, and the average effective views per episode was over 33.55 million.

Huang Yimei, played by Liu, became the most popular character in the show, generating heated discussions on the internet.

By June 24, the total discussion volume of the show on Weibo was 30.7 million, gaining 479 Weibo hot searches, and a total of 3,714 Weibo hot search topics, data from Sina Entertainment Paparazzi showed.

Food and beverage makers are also joining hands with IPs popular among the post-90s generation amid a scenario in which brands often enlist Gen-Z pop sensations for their marketing strategies.

On May 15, milk tea brand Naixue, the first new tea beverage brand listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange, launched its Sailor Moon-themed fresh fruit tea. Co-branded with the popular Japanese cartoon, Naixue is targeting the rising consumption power of the post-90s set, many of whom had grown up watching Sailor Moon.

According to Naixue, on the first day of launch, it sold more than 500,000 cups of co-branded fresh fruit tea. Sales revenue at Naixue's outlets nationwide has risen rapidly, with some outlets achieving 600 percent growth.