Introduction: What you should learn is not others' 'tricks' but their way of thinking. Heytea has been incredibly popular recently, with queues lasting over six hours. It's said that they've now posted a notice at their stores: real-name purchase (ID registration), limited to two cups per person (allegedly to prevent scalping...). Some netizens joked, 'Will we soon need to draw lots to buy milk tea?' All I can say is: I'm impressed by Heytea's marketing tactics. However, 'Hey' (喜) doesn't match the tone of Qingming Festival! So I won't talk about it today! Going Against the Grain? Selling 'Funeral Tea' on Qingming Festival And Opening It Opposite a Heytea Store (From netizens' imagination) The 'Funeral Tea' that 'confronts' Heytea is still in the realm of netizens' imagination, but the idea is interesting—embracing the 'small certain sorrows' in life. The sizes are divided into Medium Sorrow, Large Sorrow, and Super Sorrow, with flavors like slightly bitter, medium bitter, heavily bitter, and bitter among bitter. (The image is a netizen's edited brainchild) How to Make 'Funeral Tea' Big and Strong? As soon as this imaginative idea came out, many onlookers commented, 'I want to franchise!' But how can one seriously make 'Funeral Tea' big and strong? After reading the comments, I benefited greatly and marveled at the infinite creativity of netizens... Netizens contributed ideas from various levels, forming a complete brand system: Regarding store decoration, some said: The atmosphere in the store must be extremely joyful, with walls full of successful people's posters and loving couple photos, just to highlight the loneliness of the bitter tea drinkers. Regarding service, some said: When customers enter, the staff must loudly shout, 'Drink it if you like, or get out!' And throughout the service, they must maintain a 'poker face' and not smile! In summary, it's 'mournful face service.' From a marketing perspective, someone suggested a grand promotion: 'Second cup at double price!' ... After reading, I couldn't help but applaud—this is what it means to 'play the part thoroughly'! But looking at real brands today: they merely stay at a superficial level, 'copying creativity,' without seriously delving into various dimensions to achieve standardization, specialization, and theming. In short, they all want to take shortcuts and ride on trends. Although the 'Funeral Tea' idea does have the suspicion of riding on Heytea's popularity, it's not entirely based on that, because behind the 'Funeral Tea' idea, there's more value in the 'reverse thinking' ability, which led to the idea of going against Heytea! Only then did specific methodologies emerge step by step. Speaking of which, let's compare the 'negative energy milk tea' that marketing media have been praising recently: Since negative energy milk tea became popular, should we learn 'anti-chicken soup marketing'? Negative Energy Milk Tea Is 'Popular' But 'Anti-Chicken Soup Marketing' Is Not Worth Imitating! Recently, a Taiwanese milk tea brand, moonleaf, collaborated with internet cartoonist 'Negative Man' to launch four 'negative cups.' They took the anti-chicken soup route: the highlight was the negative energy conveyed by the packaging comics, which media praised as 'every sentence hits the heart.' (Excuse me? Hits the heart? It's not even a tickle.) 'Negative Man' is a post-90s Taiwanese who became famous on Facebook by posting a series of comics full of negative energy: A numb face paired with nonchalant 'truths,' though negative, resonates with many young people. In fact, this is the true inner portrayal of most young people. Those who post positive energy on their Moments every day are mostly living negatively. (Netizens exclaimed that the comic character looks like the internet celebrity 'Liu Zichen') Although this case has been praised to the skies by various advertising media, this 'anti-chicken soup trick' is not new. Last year, Japanese coffee brand UCC played it: to promote its sugar-free black coffee, UCC BLACK, it collaborated with Facebook influencers in Taiwan to launch an online marketing campaign called 'Adults' Dark Quotes.' It reportedly received a good response then. But the reason these two brands became popular with 'anti-chicken soup marketing' is that they used reverse thinking to find a rebellious point! And they were the first to do it! Positive energy marketing is everywhere, and consumers are aesthetically fatigued. Just like when you see someone post a positive message on Moments, you might like it, but later you find that this person shouts positive energy every day but is actually just a 'fake positive' who talks the talk, and your auditory nerves become numb. So when someone shouts an unpleasant and harsh 'truth,' you can't help but wonder who's speaking out? Real life is so tough; young people need an outlet for emotional release. Behind the popularity of UCC coffee in Japan and negative energy milk tea in Taiwan is a reflection of young people's current life situation—a sluggish economy, difficulty finding jobs, salaries rising at a snail's pace or not at all, and high life pressure. When you pour chicken soup on these bitter people, they'll only roll their eyes at you, because chicken soup doesn't fill you up. Not all products are suitable for anti-chicken soup marketing. The two products mentioned above are both FMCG, targeting young people, and priced at the low end. By gaining fame through negative energy, the brand impression is built on that level. Even if they change style later and aim for high-end, it's hard to tear off the user's label. Niche brands can try it, but mass brands need to be cautious; if not done well, the brand image could suffer. Negative energy marketing is just a passing fad; once it blows over, it's gone. Although milk tea became popular through anti-chicken soup, and it sparked a wave of 'negative energy marketing,' its popularity is not replicable because 'negative energy' is just the 'surface' they found using reverse thinking. Audiences are drawn to the novelty of 'negative energy marketing,' but its marketing effect won't last, because a bunch of foolish 'imitators' will follow, and everyone's novelty will fade. To be blunt, copied 'negative energy marketing' won't last a few days before it becomes commonplace, just like chicken soup articles were once despised for being everywhere. What you really need to learn is the brands' 'reverse thinking' ability! Negative energy marketing won't last long, but reverse thinking never goes out of style!—Thinking against the mainstream to find an emotional point, even 'going against' the most popular marketing plays on the market. In the final analysis, negative energy marketing, as a means, also stems from 'reverse thinking,' eventually becoming a concrete act of rebelling against mainstream chicken soup. There is nothing new under the sun; what exists now has existed before. The laws of things never change; any new trick is derived from the most fundamental methodology. The key is to think about how to combine this old methodology with the times, the region, and yourself, to create a 'trick' that suits you best. Learn thinking, not tricks. Tricks become outdated, but thinking does not. Source: 调戏电商 (ID: tiaoxiEC) -END-