Will you queue up for a cup of online celebrity milk tea if the pattern is not poor and the heat is not reduced？

　　Not long ago, pop-up shop, the 60th anniversary of "White Rabbit", appeared in Shanghai Kaide Jingcui Plaza, attracting many citizens and tourists to punch in. Pop-up shop not only provides a variety of flavors of white rabbit milk tea, but also a variety of cultural and creative products such as pillows, perfumes, environmental protection bags and folders for sale. The picture shows consumers choosing goods. Wang Chushe (People’s Vision)

　　With the expansion of consumer groups of milk tea, a number of milk tea with distinctive product features and rich marketing methods have attracted the attention of young consumers. The picture shows people waiting in line in front of a "hi tea" shop. (people’s vision)

　　Not long ago, the "White Rabbit Milk Candy" that many people are familiar with cooperated with the milk tea brand to launch "White Rabbit Milk Tea", which attracted many consumers to queue up to buy and even led to several out-of-stock products. As a drink with both milk and tea flavors, milk tea has been extremely popular in recent two years, and many online celebrity milk teas are popular in the streets and social platforms. By the end of 2018, there were more than 400,000 existing tea shops in China. Why is milk tea so popular? What’s the secret behind online celebrity milk tea?

　　The younger generation is the main consumer of milk tea.

　　"The store can sell up to a thousand cups of milk tea a day."

　　I don’t know when, drinking milk tea has become a trend. Take out the straw, burst the plastic seal with a "poof", and take a deep breath. Sweet milk tea mixed with pearls and other spices fills the whole mouth. For Tao Qian, who works in a foreign company in Nanjing, drinking milk tea seems to be an indispensable life ceremony after the arrival of summer. "Milk tea has replaced water many times." Tao Qian said.

　　Walking in the street, there are people holding milk tea to drink everywhere. On social networks, many people exaggeratedly refer to milk tea as "life-prolonging water", and some people make such a ridicule: "Nothing can’t be solved by a cup of milk tea. If not, then two cups."

　　Qi Zimeng, who works in Beijing, considers herself a "heavily addicted" consumer of milk tea. As long as she doesn’t drink it, she will feel depressed. When she was studying, she even established a milk tea WeChat group, which was convenient for students in the whole dormitory building to order milk tea takeout. "I started to build a group just because I wanted to drink. Now the group has expanded to nearly 300 people and is very active every day." Qi Zimeng said.

　　Relevant statistics show that the younger generation represented by "post-80s", "post-90s" and "post-00s" is the main force of tea consumption, and people aged 16 to 35 account for more than 90% of new tea consumers.

　　People’s enthusiasm for milk tea is transformed into real sales data. Xiao Chen, a clerk at Little Milk Tea Store in Beijing, said: "Summer is the peak season for sales. The store can sell nearly a thousand cups of milk tea a day at most, and it can also sell five or six hundred cups a day in the off-season."

　　According to the statistics of Forward-looking Industry Research Institute, the tea market in China reached 53.7 billion yuan in 2018. At the same time, more and more investment has been attracted to the milk tea industry. In 2018, many star brands of ready-made milk tea raised more than 1 billion yuan, and "Naixue Tea" became the first unicorn enterprise in China’s ready-made tea industry with a valuation of 6 billion yuan in A+ round.

　　It is predicted that the national comprehensive beverage sales in 2019 is expected to exceed 60 billion yuan, and the potential market size of new Chinese tea is 40 billion to 50 billion yuan.

　　There are many reasons why people are addicted.

　　"In essence, consumption is the fashion culture attached to milk tea."

　　Insiders pointed out that with the upgrading of consumption, people pay more attention to quality and experience when choosing drinks. Milk tea is rich in taste and diverse in choices, which is an important factor in its popularity. "Water can also quench thirst, but it has no taste. The ice degree and sweetness of milk tea can be chosen by yourself. If you have a cup, the fatigue of a day’s work will be resolved." Tao Qian explained the reason why she loves milk tea.

　　Leo Chou, who is engaged in administrative work in Xiamen, said: "Milk tea can not only be drunk, but also be added with various ingredients such as pearls and coconut. Many milk teas are still ‘ Gao Yan value ’ The product makes people have an appetite after reading it. "

　　In addition to drinking, milk tea has gradually become a social means. Xiong Fan, who works in Shanghai, said that he often expressed his friendship and gratitude by inviting the other party to drink milk tea.

　　"Please drink milk tea is not too formal, it doesn’t cost much, and it is a favorite of many people, and the other party is more acceptable." Zhou Wei believes that drinking milk tea has formed a trend and is a good social topic. "Drink which new online celebrity brand, you will want to be on the social platform ‘ Sun ’ Let’s discuss it with you. " Leo Chou said.

　　Nowadays, what people need is not just a simple drink, but interesting and personalized products are more sought after. In order to win the favor of consumers, various milk tea brands have their own unique tricks in their management. For example, after the popularity of "Hi Tea", milk tea featuring various cultural elements came into being, and the popular language among young people was reflected everywhere from the naming of milk tea to its packaging. For example, "Answer" milk tea combines AI technology and 3D printing technology, prints words on the nipple, and introduces milk tea that can answer questions. In addition, fresh games such as city-limited products and co-branded products are emerging one after another, and the complex business models such as "milk tea+soft European package" and "milk tea+wine" have further expanded the consumer groups of milk tea.

　　Regarding the hot sale of milk tea, Han Xiaoning, an associate professor at the School of Journalism, Renmin University of China, said: "Most milk tea prices are not high, which is within the scope of young people’s spending power. Milk tea consumption is also within the scope of people’s daily life and entertainment, and can be purchased when shopping. At the same time, milk tea has some ‘ Imported products ’ There are some cultural differences between the novel label and daily consumer goods. Young people consume these new brands of milk tea, which essentially consumes the fashion culture attached to milk tea. "

　　User experience determines how long it will be popular.

　　"I don’t think it’s worth waiting for so long."

　　So, what problems does the development of online celebrity milk tea face? Insiders pointed out that food safety, over-marketing and product homogeneity are the biggest obstacles restricting the development of the industry.

　　Food safety and hygiene is the primary factor restricting the development of milk tea industry. Recently, the brand "Ganchadu" of milk tea was found to have problems such as fruit rot, raw materials piled up everywhere in the store, and lack of disinfection facilities, which caused concern about the food safety of milk tea. "There are so many people who like to drink milk tea. If safety and hygiene are not guaranteed, it will be terrible. It is necessary to strengthen supervision in this regard." Jin Luyao, who is studying in Anhui, said.

　　The excessive "hunger marketing" of some online celebrity milk tea brands has also caused controversy. When some stores are newly opened, the queue time is often three or four hours, and even the milk tea "yellow cattle" with increased sales has appeared. Leo Chou was once keen on punching in the online celebrity milk tea shop. The longest time in the queue, she waited for nearly an hour to get the milk tea home. But she believes that too much waiting consumes her interest in milk tea. "After getting milk tea, I feel as if it is not worth waiting for so long, so I gradually reduced this behavior." Leo Chou said.

　　With the increasing number of milk tea brands and stores, the homogenization of products also restricts the development of the industry. For example, most milk tea brands on the market at present include fruit tea, milk tea, milk tea and other products, and the product mix is similar. In the eyes of the industry, the products in the tea industry are highly homogeneous, easy to be imitated, and the industry threshold is low. Some tea brands that cannot meet the new consumption demand will gradually be "left out".

　　After the popularity, how will the milk tea industry develop in the future? According to industry insiders, in the future, the tea product line in the milk tea industry will be more abundant, and there will be more profitable peripheral products, and the trend of multi-category integration development such as coffee, juice, tea and dessert will be more obvious.

　　Lai Yang, executive vice president of Beijing Business Economics Association, said: "The core competitiveness can not be ignored for tea companies. Stable quality is the basic guarantee for the sustainable development of the brand, and brand innovation and adding personalized experience are the key factors to stabilize the customer base. "

　　Not long ago, the "2019 China Beverage Industry Trend Development Report" released by Meituan Review pointed out that in the future, consumers expect more efficient and convenient consumption, and the online and offline linkage sales model of "point in advance and pick it up at the store" will become the general trend of the industry. All-round and three-dimensional marketing will lead the new trend of current tea industry marketing, and new ways of playing, such as creative interaction, community activities and cross-border marketing, will add new forms of social communication to tea brand marketing.