According to the Caijing News on August 19 (Reporter Xu Cihao), Luckin Coffee, which is good at creating sensations, has become a hot topic due to its joint collaboration with "Black Myth: Wukong".

It is reported that when Luckin Coffee and "Black Myth: Wukong" jointly launched their activities, related products were sold out within seconds, and problems such as the inability to verify the product voucher appeared. Many consumers complained on social media that they were "fooled like monkeys" early Monday morning.

Luckin Coffee announced the "Restock Notice" in the afternoon today, stating that the enthusiasm of consumers far exceeded the team's expectations and a restocking plan has been quickly formulated. At the same time, Luckin Coffee promised to accelerate the restocking process and ensure that the new batch of peripheral products can arrive in stores as soon as possible to meet the needs of consumers.

It’s not just Luckin, in recent years, new tea drink brands have made joint collaborations the main marketing method for becoming popular. Earlier, beverage brands such as HEYTEA and "Genshin Impact", Tea Bard and "Undecided Case Files", and Polar Bear and "Eggy Party" have collaborated with game publishers.

However, some industry insiders analyze that joint collaborations can better cater to the interests of young consumers and also reflect the industry's serious homogenization to some extent. The mentality of breaking the circle is urgently needed.

Luckin Coffee jointly collaborates with "Black Myth: Wukong": the system bursts.

Recently,"Black Myth: Wukong", an action role-playing game based on Chinese mythology, has become the IP with the highest degree of attention.

It is reported that this game is based on the classic Chinese mythological novel "Journey to the West". Players play the role of a "destiny man" in the game. The game will be globally unlocked at 10 am on August 20th. According to the data provided by JD, the global official partner of "Black Myth: Wukong", a total of 1.1 million people have pre-ordered surrounding products in the two pre-sales around hand-made products before.

Many brands have also seen the IP value of this game and collaborated with game publishers to launch joint products. Luckin Coffee is one of them.

It is reported that the name of the drink jointly launched by the two parties this time is "Tengyun Americano", priced at 26 yuan/cup. The reporter saw on the Luckin Coffee mini program ordering page that the actual price of "Tengyun Americano" is not much different from the usual iced Americano price, and the actual price is 13.5 yuan per cup.

The surrounding products of this event include jointly branded cup covers, paper bags, and Black Myth 3D limited edition posters. Cup covers and paper bags can generally be obtained by ordering alone, but in order for consumers to receive the 3D limited edition poster, they need to buy a set meal containing two cups of drinks.

It is understood that since the 3D limited edition poster can only be seen through the naked eye, it further enhances the collection value of the product, hitting the point of excitement for fans of "Black Myth: Wukong".

In order to obtain the 3D limited edition poster, many netizens have been waiting for the Luckin Coffee online ordering interface early, but found that the "poster package" had sold out early in the morning. Some netizens also revealed that when they checked out in person, they encountered the problem of being unable to use the product voucher. Some netizens posted on social media before 7:30: "On this beautiful Monday, Luckin Coffee played me like a monkey. The voucher for the Black Myth Wukong collaboration could not be redeemed."

At a Luckin Coffee store in Shenzhen, a CLS reporter learned from a staff member who visited there after 1 pm that the Black Myth 3D limited edition poster had been sold out in the morning, and only printed paper bags were left.

Regarding this, Luckin Coffee officials stated that there was a problem with the set meal system in the morning, which has now been fixed and can be used normally.

Yang Fei, the CGO (Chief Growth Officer) of Luckin, also posted on his circle of friends that Luckin's joint marketing with the highly anticipated domestic game "Black Myth: Wukong" was amazing. "(Black Myth: Wukong) was sold out nationwide in seconds, and the system almost collapsed. Male purchasing power has subverted the team's cognition this morning."

"Good game, well-known brand, good price plus many stores are the first formula for selling out." In the view of Zhuang Shuai, founder and CEO of Bailian Consulting, Luckin Coffee and "Black Myth: Wukong" jointly launched a coffee that has a high match with the game and sold well.

Why new tea drinks frequently collaborate with games?

In recent years, the linkage between games and beverages has become a new industry trend.

In September 2022, Genshin Impact and Heytea launched their first joint campaign. Two new limited edition drinks, "Lingren Water Shadow Longan Coconut" and "Linghua Frost Dragon Longan Coconut", were launched based on the attributes of the Genshin Impact characters, the brother and sister.

The joint campaign quickly sparked a warm response in a short period of time. During the campaign, Heytea's many stores experienced explosive sales, with the joint products in short supply and the combo set sold out for a time.

In August 2023, Genshin Impact and Heytea again launched a cross-border promotion called "Meeting with Genshin 2.0". Heytea launched a series of customized drinks, related packaging materials, peripherals, etc. based on Ganyu and Shenhe, and the joint drinks sold nearly 3 million cups within a few days of their launch.

In July last year, the joint promotion between Cha Baida and the mobile game "Undecided Event Book" was launched nationwide. Four joint tea drinks, "Yangzhi Ganlu, Peach Oolong Tea, Qingti Jasmine, Wuxiasama Black" were launched based on the four male protagonists and accompanied by peripheral gifts such as joint cup sets, paper bags, stickers, postcards, and PVC ticket stubs.

Through this event, Cha Baida successfully attracted the attention of many otome game players and young consumers. During the promotion, some stores even had to temporarily close their takeout channels due to over-orders, as they couldn't keep up with demand and delivery drivers couldn't keep up either.

In addition, "Egg Party" teamed up with Bingshan Ice City and "Love and Producer" collaborated with Coco to launch corresponding drinks.

According to incomplete statistics, as of August 19 this year, Ruixing has jointly launched 18 times in total, with joint brands including "Rose Story", anime LABUBU, Sesame Street, Beast Party, Loopy, etc. Last year, its Soy Sauce Latte joint promotion with Maotai was all the rage on social media.

However, joint promotion is not a panacea for breaking brand boundaries. Controversial topics such as poor tasting joint tea drinks, bad service attitudes, and exploitation of consumers abound.

Industry analyst Zhu Danpeng said in an interview that joint promotions between coffee and new tea brands to some extent also indicates that the industry is highly homogeneous, and joint branding can better cater to the interests of young consumers.

"For brands, joint promotion can create new topics and obtain traffic, but joint cooperation is also a double-edged sword. There are also cases of joint promotions that have turned out badly. Therefore, companies must choose brands that match their concepts based on long-term development and realize the intersection of different cultures. This is the essence of joint promotion," said Zhu Danpeng.

"For brands, collaborative events can create new topics and generate traffic, but collaboration is also a double-edged sword. There have been cases of failed collaborations. Therefore, companies must select brand partners that share their long-term development philosophies and have compatible brand values to achieve a confluence of different cultures; this is the essence of collaboration," said Zhu Danpeng.