What the Heytea and Genshin Impact Tie-In Says About Coffee Brand Marketing

Heytea announced a collaboration with the game Genshin Impact on September 5, launching themed drinks and merchandise. Players had to buy a full case of juice tea to receive a redemption code, and merchandise quantities were limited, which drew complaints that the participation conditions were too harsh. The event still drew heavy attention, echoing Genshin Impact's earlier Pizza Hut tie-in that packed stores and forced some to suspend business.

The announcement followed leaks on September 1 and a hint left by Heytea's official Bilibili account, which was enough to send fans to stores. Ahead of the launch, the company prepared for a possible customer surge. The episode reflects how cross-industry marketing by beverage brands works: it can create large crowds and long queues while also inviting debate over what customers must buy to take part.

Recently, Heytea teamed up with the hit game Genshin Impact for a collaboration, launching themed products and merchandise, which sparked widespread attention among players and consumers. Previously, Genshin Impact's collaboration with Pizza Hut had caused stores to be packed, and this time Heytea built up hype in advance, with the official announcement of the event on September 5. However, some netizens expressed dissatisfaction that one had to buy a whole case of juice tea to get a redemption code, and that the number of merchandise rewards was rather small, considering the participation conditions too harsh. Although general sales will open later, this collaboration still reflects the popularity and controversy of IP tie-ins in the food and beverage industry. This article reviews the course of the event and looks at the trend of cross-industry marketing by coffee and tea brands, while also providing a professional communication channel for coffee enthusiasts.

On September 1, some netizens revealed that Heytea was about to collaborate with the game Genshin Impact and launch related themed products.

A comment left by Heytea's official Bilibili account in the comment section also seemed to hint at the news of a collaboration with Genshin Impact.

Although Heytea has not yet released more confirmed information, Genshin Impact fans were already thrilled upon seeing the related themed products, all eager to try and ready to go to Heytea stores to spend money.

In the previous collaboration between Genshin Impact and Pizza Hut, fan enthusiasm far exceeded expectations. Many Pizza Hut stores had long lines from morning to night, and those unaware might have thought Pizza Hut was running a "Crazy Monday." Some stores even suspended business outright.

The collaboration between Heytea and Genshin Impact was "confirmed" in advance by many players. Heytea's official side may have felt the pressure from Pizza Hut's earlier spectacle, so it entered a state of preparation ahead of time and began preparing for the possible surge in customers.

Some netizens suggested "Work overtime! Keep working overtime!" and Heytea tearfully took the advice. Judging from the large amount of feedback on that Weibo post from Heytea, this collaboration event should be quite successful.

At around 10 a.m. on September 5, Heytea's official Weibo formally announced the collaboration with Genshin Impact.

After the event details were announced, some netizens felt that the condition of having to buy juice tea by the case was too harsh, and that one case only earned one redemption code, while two cases were needed for one standee and a pair of badges. The rewards were too few, so they were dissatisfied.

Fortunately, the merchandise from this Heytea and Genshin Impact collaboration will later be available through general sales, meaning supply will be sufficient and there will be no need to look for scalpers or purchasing agents. Many netizens said they would rather wait for general sales.

In recent years, "food and beverage + IP" has become a popular trend. The "fan economy" attached to IPs has gradually shown strong consumer demand and purchasing power, and has seemingly become the "traffic code" of the food and beverage industry.

For example, Luckin Coffee's cross-industry collaboration with Coconut Palm Group mixed trendy products with "down-to-earth" elements, and the huge contrast caught users' attention. Even though the teaser poster for the collaboration was heavily pixelated, it still could not hide Coconut Palm's mudslide-like style. After the coconut cloud latte launched, netizens went completely wild, with all kinds of homemade coconut cloud merchandise appearing online, as well as the once-frenzied "coconut cloud new pose."

However, this Heytea and Genshin Impact collaboration was criticized for harsh participation conditions and scarce rewards. The originally wonderful situation of double-fandom delight was shattered the moment the event launched.

Image source: Internet

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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.