Luckin Coffee signed a spokesperson in a textbook way, but this time the new product failed?

Luckin Coffee has its own unique strategy in selecting spokespersons and has been promoting new products continuously, but the taste of this new product has been questioned. Let us wait and see whether Luckin Coffee can successfully break through the tea beverage market. This article will explore Luckin Coffee's endorsement strategy, new product promotion and challenges it faces. Welcome to read.

As soon as the new light milk tea was launched, the related terms "Luckin Coffee's apology letter" and "Luckin Coffee apologizes to Yi Yang Qianxi" rushed to the top of Weibo's hot search list.

Recently, Luckin Coffee's online customer service mistakenly wrote the name of its global brand spokesperson "Yi Yang Qianxi" as "Yi Yang Gan Xi" in an online reply. This mistake appeared again in the subsequent manual reply, was infinitely magnified, and caused a huge uproar in online public opinion.

Fans attacked with the mentality of an old bird protecting its food, saying "I drink Luckin Coffee because of Yi Yang Qianxi". Since the loyalty of fans to the brand is largely maintained by the spokesperson, Yi Yang Qianxi's fan group expressed strong dissatisfaction and protective attitude towards this mistake.

Realizing the seriousness of the problem, Luckin Coffee quickly took remedial measures, clearly stating that "Yi Yang Qianxi is the global brand spokesperson for Luckin Coffee, endorsing the entire line of beverages." On August 11, the official customer service team issued an open letter to apologize to Yi Yang Qianxi, his fans, and customers for the typos that appeared in the automatic replies of the online customer service.

The official announcement of Luckin Coffee’s new spokesperson has undoubtedly added new waves to the current public opinion storm.

On the same day, Luckin Coffee’s official Weibo account announced the new global brand spokesperson and chief tea recommendation officer, Liu Yifei. It is worth noting that this official announcement was only one hour apart from the Weibo post of apology to Yi Yang Qianxi. This close time and the same spokesperson title also attracted criticism from Yi Yang Qianxi’s fans for “diluting the halo of the global spokesperson.”

This is not the first time that a brand has caused disputes due to the replacement of spokespersons. Previously, Zhang Yixing was announced as the "first partner" of Huawei nova, and Yi Yang Qianxi later became the new spokesperson. Zhang Yixing's fans tore Huawei apart because of the unclear definition of the "partner" function, but it was Zhang Yixing who was replaced at the time, and this time the boomerang hit Yi Yang Qianxi.

From a brand perspective, adding spokespersons is a normal operation, especially for a brand with a high national popularity like Luckin Coffee. The voice of the fan circle cannot affect the mainstream reputation of the general public.

In comparison, what is more noteworthy is that yesterday morning, Luckin Coffee announced that it would start the "morning coffee and afternoon tea" model and enter the era of all-time consumption of tea drinks. At this stage, the introduction of Liu Yifei as the global brand spokesperson and chief recommendation officer of tea drinks is obviously also a new track expansion based on the public recognition of a highly popular artist.

1. Signing a contract with Liu Yifei, aiming at the tea beverage industry

One week after launching its new product "Light Jasmine" light milk tea, Luckin Coffee officially announced Liu Yifei as its global brand spokesperson and chief recommendation officer for tea drinks on August 11, which quickly attracted public attention.

On social platforms, many people regard this endorsement cooperation as a romantic sequel of the Yellow Rose entering reality. The popularity of the Yellow Rose Latte has not diminished, and the joint effect has accumulated a certain fan base. While the topic of Liu Yifei's endorsement is still hot, it has also brought a closed-loop marketing effect to the brand.

Undoubtedly, Luckin Coffee has always followed the logic of strong service to products when signing spokespersons. From the timeline, a week ago, Luckin Coffee launched a new product, "Light Jasmine Light Milk Tea". On August 11, it announced that Liu Yifei became the global brand spokesperson and chief recommendation officer for tea drinks. The next day, Luckin Coffee further announced that it would start the "Morning Coffee and Afternoon Tea" mode.

Different from the previous strategies, this time, in addition to being the global brand spokesperson, Liu Yifei's title of "Chief Recommender of Tea Beverages" and the slogan "Drink coffee in the morning to feel energetic, and drink light milk tea in the afternoon to feel good" reveal Luckin's ambition to enter the tea beverage market with "Qingqing Jasmine".

Luckin's ability to create tea products and layout tea consumption at all times has quickly attracted the attention of the market. By officially announcing Liu Yifei as the spokesperson to increase its investment in the afternoon tea market, it is undoubtedly an attempt to quickly gain popularity by using an artist with high national popularity and public favorability.

In terms of traffic, the news that Luckin Coffee signed Liu Yifei as its global brand spokesperson quickly attracted attention on social media. The related reading volume of Weibo entries reached 47.049 million, the number of discussions reached 356,000, the number of views of related content on Douyin reached 25.654 million, and the number of likes for the official TVC exceeded 100,000.

The positive reviews are further reflected in word of mouth. Tea brands have a broad audience base and high-frequency consumption characteristics. When choosing spokespersons, the challenge faced by brands is to find the right person who can both match the brand concept and attract target consumers. Previously, tea brands chose young traffic as recommendation officers and ambassadors, which was questioned by users: "He is not as popular as your brand."

On the other hand, Luckin Coffee chose Liu Yifei, who has a high national popularity and has also endorsed many international high-end brands. This is undoubtedly an improvement in the brand image on the mass side. In social public opinion, praise and positive feedback dominate, and many netizens believe that this is a "strong combination." Although Liu Yifei is not a typical traffic-driven artist, her national popularity and influence have also brought significant market response to Luckin Coffee. After the endorsement, it not only improved the brand image, but also directly promoted product sales, resulting in a surge in orders in stores.

In parallel with the new spokesperson, Luckin Coffee also launched a strong new product promotion campaign. Through its App/Mini Program, Luckin Coffee launched an afternoon tea promotion, where consumers can get a 9.9 yuan afternoon tea coupon if they purchase any drink before 2 p.m., further locking in the afternoon consumption period.

The high cost-effectiveness of 9.9 yuan successfully attracted customers of the tea brand. In terms of sales, the sales of "Light Jasmine Light Milk Tea" exceeded 11 million cups in the first week. On the day when Liu Yifei was officially announced, the official account of Luckin Coffee on Douyin took the top three places in the beverage group buying list and ranked first in the overall list of all categories.

But it is worth noting that compared with the huge voice of the spokesperson, the key to promoting new products still needs to lie on the "quality".

At present, users on major mainstream social media have given inconsistent feedback on the taste of this important new product that Luckin Coffee has bet on. Some think that it is "too milky and not tea-flavored enough", while others think that it is "too light and tasteless". Many users even directly give feedback that it is "not as good as Bawang Chaji and Jasmine Milk White", and commented that "it is okay to try at 9.9 yuan, but it is not necessary to pay 15 yuan."

Obviously, unlike the coconut water and lemon tea that have received high praise in the past, Luckin's new milk tea product has encountered greater doubts about the most critical aspect: taste.

Previously, facing the challenges of slowing industry growth and increasingly saturated market, Luckin Coffee proactively adjusted its strategy, shrinking the 9.9 yuan price war and expanding the market through new product launches. Whether it is the light coffee launched earlier, which emphasizes the sweet taste rather than the refreshing function of coffee, or the inclusion of tea drinks in the menu now, which competes head-on with existing tea brands, it is an attempt by the brand to open up more refined consumption scenarios outside the coffee market and break the ceiling.

2. Given both of them being top-tier stars, how is Luckin Coffee better than Cudi?

From Tang Wei and Zhang Zhen in the early days of its establishment in 2018, to Gu Ailing who led the iced coffee market, to Liu Yifei's strong association with afternoon tea, Luckin Coffee has maintained a keen eye in choosing celebrity endorsements and has built an endorsement marketing structure of "top-tier stars + hot celebrities + sports stars".

First of all, it is not difficult to see that Luckin’s choice of spokespersons has always been in line with the brand development stage, showing a high degree of adaptability.

In the early days of the brand, Zhang Zhen and Tang Wei fired the first shot as spokespersons in the tea beverage circle. The high-end atmosphere of the two successfully attracted the target audience and established a good reputation, laying the foundation for Luckin to gain a foothold in the high-end market.

At the time, Luckin Coffee faced high-end market barriers established by brands such as Starbucks, as well as fierce competition from emerging brands such as Heytea and Nayuki. Through the endorsements of Tang Wei and Zhang Zhen, Luckin Coffee successfully shaped its own positioning as "high-quality commercial coffee" and attracted a large number of consumers through strategies such as free bills for new customers and instant discounts for inviting friends.

Then, around 2019, “fresh meat” began to become popular, and Luckin Coffee invited Liu Haoran to endorse its tea sub-brand “Xiao Lu Tea”, attracting a large number of fans to check in offline; in the era of pan-traffic in 2023, Luckin Coffee made another effort and invited top traffic star Yi Yang Qianxi to become the brand spokesperson, exploring new ways to drive explosive products; this time, Luckin Coffee invited Liu Yifei as the brand spokesperson, which clearly pointed out the important strategic action of the brand to enter the women’s afternoon tea market.

Secondly, Luckin Coffee also cleverly amplified the exposure and emphasis of brand elements, successfully linking the image of the spokesperson with brand building rather than simply exposing it.

For example, the endorsement by Tang Wei and Zhang Zhen, the commercials established the brand recognition deeply in people's hearts through the image of the azure blue cups held by the two people, and achieved a very strong mental planting; after Yi Yang Qianxi officially announced his endorsement, Luckin Coffee continued its marketing enthusiasm in the second week, launched the new autumn and winter blockbuster product toasted coconut latte, and asked Yi Yang Qianxi to recommend and shoot a winter limited commercial.

Through diversified endorsement strategies and leveraging the extensive influence and fan base of celebrities, Luckin has effectively accelerated the market promotion of new products and broadened the brand's consumer base.

The sales volume was boosted. In the first week alone, Yi Yangqianxi's "Toasted Coconut Latte" sold tens of millions of units. After the cooperation model with traffic stars gradually matured, Luckin also signed Tan Jianci to endorse its Luckin instant coffee, achieving an astonishing sales volume of 17 million within 24 hours for instant coffee with a unit price of 100 to 200 yuan.

The commonality is that when choosing spokespersons, Luckin Coffee pays attention to the artist's influence in the circle and the quality of the image, which complements the brand's boutique positioning and popular route.

Whether it is Yi Yang Qianxi, a top national star who has played many roles in film and television dramas and is very malleable; or Liu Yifei, who has high national recognition and excellent temperament, Luckin Coffee is a brand that pursues high-quality consumer needs. The mass appeal, sense of luxury and quality of its spokesperson are key factors in the long-term development of the brand.

In addition, unlike most tea beverage brands that tend to adopt the spokesperson strategy of "find whoever is popular to be the spokesperson, find whoever is famous to be the spokesperson", Luckin's celebrity marketing layout does not fall into the narrow marketing pattern of traffic-only theory, but pays more attention to the matching of brand stage, strategy and positioning to maximize the spokesperson effect.

In November 2023, Luckin Coffee announced that Yi Yang Qianxi became its brand spokesperson. This move was almost synchronized with Coodi Coffee's choice of Wang Yibo as its spokesperson. Although both are top traffic stars, there are significant differences between Luckin Coffee and Coodi in their brand development stages.

Luckin Coffee, with its existing market recognition, good reputation and brand influence, needs to rely on Yi Yang Qianxi's top-tier effect to further consolidate its market position; while Cudi, as an emerging brand, is still in the process of building brand awareness, so the influence of the spokesperson and market response are naturally difficult to achieve.

Although Wang Yibo has brought sales growth to Kudi in the short term, Kudi Coffee's joint cooperation with the brand endorsed by Xiao Zhan touched the minefield of fans and was boycotted by fans. According to the data of Jihai Brand Monitoring Statistics, in the first 90 days of this year, Kudi Coffee opened 476 new stores and closed 826 stores.

Luckin Coffee and Kudi have been in close combat more than once. During the summer of last year, the domestic entertainment male Daji became the new favorite of the brand. Luckin Coffee signed Yu Shi, an actor who became famous for the movie "Fengshen", and Kudi signed Chen Muchi, an actor in the movie, right after. Yu Shi mainly promoted Lanyun Tieguanyin. According to the brand, the Luckin Coffee China Tea and Coffee series consisting of Biluo Zhichun Latte, Steamed Qingri Xiangxia Latte, and Lanyun Tieguanyin Latte has sold more than 6.25 million cups in just 7 days. In contrast, the Kudi muffin cake promoted by Chen Muchi basically did not make any splash.

It is worth noting that in the process of signing popular stars as spokespersons, Luckin Coffee has always paid attention to the fit between the spokesperson and the brand value, as well as its keen grasp of market trends, successfully avoiding disputes and ensuring the quality and effectiveness of the cooperation.

The list of Luckin’s spokespersons also shows the importance the brand places on endorsement investment. Most of these spokespersons are very expensive, but through carefully planned marketing strategies and precise selection of spokespersons, Luckin is able to effectively achieve long-term returns on investment and build reputation.

3. Regularized marketing: not only creating a large number of people, but also creating a brilliant core "stalk"

In addition to signing brand spokespersons, Luckin has also spawned many short spokespersons related to its products and activities.

On the one hand, Luckin Coffee adopted a marketing strategy of casting a wide net and emphasizing interaction, using the human sea tactics to spark topics on social media and quickly attract public attention.

According to statistics, Luckin Coffee has collaborated with celebrities 32 times in 2023, with 11 collaborations in the first half of this year alone. Luckin Coffee has a unique vision in choosing cooperating celebrities, and is able to accurately grasp social hot spots and respond quickly.

For example, Luckin Coffee took advantage of the popularity and traffic of Zheng Hehuizi in the TV series and cleverly combined the characteristics of the character in the play with the brand image, winning the resonance of consumers; it invited Tengger to be the birthday celebration officer of the raw coconut latte, and sent birthday wishes to the product through a short video, which increased the affinity of the product; it also cooperated with Chen Jianbin to celebrate the return of classic products such as Orange Gold Sparkling Americano, inviting consumers to relive the taste of White Moonlight...

Through this high-frequency collaboration, Luckin Coffee has successfully leveraged the popularity and number of celebrities to develop a celebrity-linked marketing route with its own characteristics.

On the other hand, Luckin's regular recommendation officer marketing and spokesperson strategy complement each other, making full use of traffic-type, quality-type, and meme-type celebrity resources to strengthen the overall comprehensive coverage of the brand's fun, social, and marketing.

In addition to quality and traffic-generating spokespersons, Luckin's marketing strategy of recommendation officers has always been known for being "interesting and informative", and has successfully created many popular products.

For example, in the joint event with Beast Party, Luckin invited actor Aruna, who is known for his "fierce" roles, to promote the product, attracting the attention of a large number of consumers through the contrasting publicity strategy. Another example is the "Yellow Rose Latte" jointly launched by Luckin and "The Story of Rose", inviting Xu Haiqiao, who has a deep relationship with Liu Yifei, as the brand ambassador, and showing Luckin's unique insight through creative marketing.

In addition, Luckin has also established a mature "new product + co-branded" hot-selling incubation mechanism, accurately finding attractive IPs for innovative cooperation, and continuously launching peripheral products to break through and expand the brand's market boundaries.

In the first half of 2024 alone, it launched 16 joint projects with 14 brands in seven major industries, and launched 52 new products and 44 peripheral cup sleeves, establishing its leading position in the field of coffee joint ventures.

Specifically, through the joint marketing with Liu Yifei, Yellow Rose Latte successfully captured the largest traffic on the entire network in June; Luckin's three different joint collaborations with Stripe Puppy brought different emotional values ​​to consumers; Luckin's collaborations also appeared in classic IPs such as "Sesame Street", "Dream of Red Mansions" and "A Chinese Odyssey". These joint collaborations have brought Luckin huge traffic and market influence.

It is not difficult to see Luckin's strategic thinking in spokesperson selection and market strategy, as well as its innovative capabilities and remarkable results in promoting new products, increasing sales and expanding brand influence.

Looking back, Luckin’s spokespersons usually have a strong binding relationship with new products, and adopt a "people + products" combination promotion strategy. However, it can be found that only high-quality products combined with spokespersons can achieve ideal promotion effects.

The key to getting good reviews is the stability and consistency of product quality. Whether it is the toasted coconut latte promoted by Yi Yang Qianxi, the Blue Rhythm Tieguanyin latte promoted by Yu Shi, or the Blue Velvet Saxe latte promoted by Gu Ailing, the taste of the products has reached the standard recognized by the public. On the other hand, the Wuchang rice coffee endorsed and promoted by Fan Chengcheng had caused controversy over its taste.

The choice of Liu Yifei as the spokesperson was undoubtedly a success, but the taste of the new product Qingqing Jasmine, which is currently being promoted, has caused many negative comments. If Luckin Coffee wants to create a long-term big single product instead of periodic promotion, and use it as a secret weapon to compete in the tea beverage market, then the current word-of-mouth feedback is undoubtedly a new challenge and public opinion crisis. If it is not resolved in time, it will directly affect Luckin Coffee's subsequent breakthrough in the tea beverage market.

Currently, Luckin is focusing on tea drinks and moving towards a new consumption field called "afternoon tea". Whether Luckin can start a new round of growth through the dual-category strategy of "coffee + tea", Doujiao will continue to wait and see.

Author | Mia
This article is written by the author [剁椒TMT] of Operation Party, WeChat public account: [剁椒Spicy], original/authorized to be published on Operation Party, and any reproduction without permission is prohibited.

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