How does Starbucks success in China shape tea brand marketing?
Chagee has released a time-travel micro-drama starring the Ming dynasty traveler Xu Xiake, who receives a phone message inviting him to drink tea and journeys to present-day Anshun, Guizhou. The series blends tea beverages, cultural tourism, and short-form storytelling, following earlier brand drama efforts from Starbucks and Mixue Bingcheng.
Micro-dramas gained ground through 2024 because each episode runs only a few minutes, keeping viewing costs low while carrying a complete plot. Chagee's release drew praise online and lifted its WeChat index, showing how the format fits coffee beverage development and cultural marketing across the tea and coffee sector.
Micro-dramas continued to heat up in 2024, becoming a new favorite in brand marketing thanks to their concise narrative form and efficient传播力. After leading tea beverage brands such as Starbucks and Mixue Bingcheng entered the fray one after another, Chagee also launched a time-travel micro-drama featuring the Ming dynasty traveler Xu Xiake as the protagonist, cleverly blending tea beverages, cultural tourism, and micro-dramas. After its release, the drama not only received widespread praise from netizens but also drove a significant rise in the brand's WeChat index. This article will analyze the highlights and insights of Chagee's cross-industry attempt from multiple angles, including plot content, marketing strategy, and dissemination data, and explore new opportunities for the new tea beverage industry in the field of cultural communication.
What content was the hottest in 2024? If an online vote were held, micro-dramas would most likely make the top three. These types of series, with each episode lasting only a few minutes, quickly swept the internet upon appearing due to their low viewing time cost, relatively focused themes, and fairly complete plots, becoming one of the most popular ways for netizens today to "kill time."
The massive traffic gathered by micro-dramas, while creating considerable commercial value, has also attracted close attention from the new tea beverage industry. In recent years, many leading brands such as Starbucks and Mixue Bingcheng have turned their eyes to this track, successively launching their own "story-driven short dramas."
Recently, Chagee's official Weibo suddenly released a time-travel-themed short drama, whose protagonist is none other than the household-name Ming dynasty traveler and explorer Xu Xiake.
In the plot of the short drama, Xu Xiake, regarded as the "founding father" of Chinese travel bloggers, accidentally obtains a mobile phone, which triggers a time-space travel mechanism, bringing him from the Ming dynasty more than 400 years ago to present-day Anshun, Guizhou. During his journey, following a text message received on the phone—"Boyajuexian invites you to drink tea"—Xu Xiake begins a trip to find Boyajuexian. In this process, he takes in the beautiful scenery of Anshun, Guizhou, and personally experiences many differences between ancient and modern lifestyles.
As a short drama with marketing purposes, the next plot naturally has Xu Xiake stepping into a Chagee store and receiving a warm welcome from the staff. Here, he finally drinks the Boyajuexian tea he has been longing for, feels deeply moved, and thereby understands the deeper meaning of "traveling together among mountains and rivers, forming friendships through tea."
It is understood that the drama has so far released two episodes, upper and lower, with the story using "a mobile phone traveling through time and space" as its thread, interweaving the experience of the ancient traveler Xu Xiake visiting Anshun Prefecture with the travel experience of the modern girl Weiwei in Anshun. Through their dialogue across time and space, it presents Anshun's rich historical and cultural heritage, unique humanistic style, and natural landscapes.
Although this short drama has a clear flavor of cultural tourism promotion and brand marketing, judging from current netizen feedback, praise occupies the mainstream: "Who thought up this idea? They must get a chicken leg!" "Really well made! Where will Xu Xiake go in the next episode?" "If promotional videos like this had been made earlier, Guizhou would have gone viral long ago." "So well made, blending food and history together. When will the sequel come out?"
By making advertising content story-based while also letting the story serve the advertisement, Chagee's micro-drama can be called an attempt to upgrade the integration of "tea beverages + cultural tourism + micro short dramas." Such exploration may open up entirely new paths and space for the tea beverage industry's expansion in the field of cultural communication.
According to data released by Chagee, the film's total online views have exceeded 1.2 million and drove a rise in the related WeChat index. On November 7, the day the series was released, the related WeChat index reached 3.166 million.
At the same time, with the launch of this micro-drama, Chagee also simultaneously introduced a Guizhou-limited campaign. Consumers who purchase designated packages can receive refrigerator magnets and peripheral warm tea cloud bags, thereby promoting brand marketing and the promotion of related beverages.
In recent years, micro-dramas have become increasingly popular and have become an emerging online art form with both vitality and potential. The "China Online Audiovisual Development Research Report (2024)" points out that as of December 2023, China's online audiovisual user scale had reached 1.074 billion, accounting for 98.3% of internet users, among whom users who frequently watch micro-dramas accounted for 39.9%. After Chagee, which brand in the new tea beverage industry will be the next to step into micro-dramas? Let us wait and see.
Image source: Internet
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
