1. Introduction

In the highly homogenized new tea beverage market—which encompasses not only traditional tea drinks but also integrates innovative elements such as flavors, formulas, and packaging to cater to diverse consumer preferences [1], co-branded marketing has become one of the core means for brands to break through. In recent years, driven by consumption upgrades and younger trends, the new tea beverage industry has expanded rapidly, but fierce market competition and product homogeneity have become increasingly prominent. According to the 2023 China New Tea Beverage Industry Development Report, as of the third quarter of 2023, the total number of domestic new tea beverage stores has exceeded 500,000, and the competition for market share among leading brands has entered a white-hot stage [2]. Against this backdrop, co-branded marketing has gradually become one of the core strategies for brand differentiation competition. Through cross-border cooperation, brands can not only quickly reach the emotional resonance points of target users, but also use intellectual property(IP) potential to achieve traffic fission and extension of consumption scenarios.

As a leader in the new tea beverage industry, Nai Xue’s Tea has been deeply involved in the young consumer market since its establishment in 2015. In 2023, its joint-brand frequency reached 33 times, covering multiple fields such as film, television, music, and art, and was called a “co-branding maniac” by the industry. Among these, the “Fantasy Music Universe” joint event stands out as a representative case: the event took the 22nd anniversary of Jay Chou's classic album Fantasy as an opportunity to launch theme tea drinks and virtual music universe experience in conjunction with the Thin Box App, setting a record for brand new product sales. This case not only shows Nai Xue’s Tea’s precise control of the concepts of "emotional economy" and "metaverse" but also reflects how brands can achieve a double breakthrough in volume and sales in the stock market through a combination of IP joint-branding, digital innovation, and hunger marketing in the new consumption era.

This study focuses on the "Fantasy Joint" event, aiming to reveal the success logic and potential risks of new tea beverage brands in joint marketing by analyzing its strategic design and market feedback, and provide the industry with a practical path and theoretical reference that can be used for reference.

2. Case background: fantasy joint marketing event

2.1. Purpose of joint name

Brand co-branding has become a common marketing strategy for businesses. Its core is to arouse consumers’ emotional resonance by integrating resources. For new tea beverage brands, co-branding offers a means of sustaining product innovation and delivering fresh consumer experiences. To maintain novelty and engagement, many brands choose to co-launch specialty milk tea products through strategic partnerships. From a pupularity standpoint, cross-border co-branding is an important carrier for brands to create topics. Consequently, co-branding has evolved into a regular marketing practice for new tea brands, enabling them to capture consumer mindshare and expand their influence across various cultural and consumer subgroups[3].

2.2. Background and opportunity of joint branding

Fantasy is Jay Chou's second solo album, released on September 14, 2001. This album is not only a milestone in Jay Chou's music career, but also one of the most important works of Chinese pop music. Fantasy not only consolidated Jay Chou's position in the Chinese music scene, but also promoted the diversified development of Chinese pop music. This album features a variety of musical styles, especially the addition of a large number of Chinese elements to the album, which has a profound impact on the entire Chinese music industry and inspired many future musicians. Through an indirect or “curved” co-branding approach, Naixue’s brand indirectly links Jay Chou's influence at the national level to evoke users' memories.

2.3. Product and activity design

This compaign design encompassed four main dimensions.

First, product innovation: the main product is “Golden Mountain Cake Milk Tea”, which uses a self-developed black tea base with a nostalgic visual design to enhance the dual experience of taste and vision.

Second, the design of peripheral products: including vinyl coasters, stainless steel straw cups, mooncake gift boxes, etc., with affordable pricing (such as coasters included with drinks), breaking the stereotype that “co-branded products must be expensive”.

Third, digital user engagement: virtual keys are given away when purchasing co-branded products, and users can enter the “Fantasy Music Universe” of the Bohe App to explore digital collections related to Jay Chou’s music, enhancing interactivity.

Finally,pricing strategy: the co-branded products were included in the “9.9 RMB Fresh Milk Tea Weekly” promotional event, which attracted nearly 2 million users to participate, with a repurchase rate of 30%[4].

3. Marketing strategy analysis

3.1. Product strategy

Adhering to the core principle of matching the target population in joint marketing, Nai Xue's Tea accurately selected the Fantasy IP, which resonates strongly with consumers born in the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s. This approach aligns with research findings suggesting that "young consumers (aged 18–30) demonstrate a high level of acceptance toward IP co-branded products, valuing their social significance and emotional resonance."

Additionally, through scarcity and innovative design (such as limited peripheral vinyl coasters and straw cups), the product is upgraded from an ordinary tea drink to a cultural symbol with collection value, echoing the logic of Luckin Coffee and Moutai's "Jiangxiang Latte" detonating the market through category integration and scarcity. The campaign also introduced immersive brand experiences—such as in-store playback of album tracks and lyric-themed cup sleeve exhibits—to reinforce the brand's differentiated positioning of "music + tea." These elements collectively enhance user engagement and fulfill critical conditions for deep experiential co-branding.

3.2. Pricing strategy

Adopt the strategy of limited-time discount and limited-quantity sales. This joint launch of the "9.9 RMB Fresh Milk Tea Weekly" activity lowers the threshold for new users to try, attracts price-sensitive consumers, and quickly increases sales. Meanwhile, through limited product bundling sales (such as buying two cups of set meals and giving away peripherals), the profit of a single sale is increased. Limited peripherals (such as vinyl coasters and straw cups) adopt the hunger marketing strategy. Some peripherals are sold at several times their original price on second-hand market, further stimulating consumers' desire to buy. However, careful attention must be paid to supply chain logistics to prevent stock shortages and potential negative backlash from unmet consumer expectations.

3.3. Channel strategy

Nai Xue integrated both online and offline channels to maximize reach and engagem. Online channels: pre-sell joint products through mini programs and food delivery platforms, and use social media (Weibo, Douyin) to spread topics.

Offline channels: create theme stores in core business districts, set up "Fantasy" element check-in points to enhance the scene experience; cooperate with the Bohe App to launch digital collections (NFT), increase virtual consumption scenes, and let consumers get a stronger experience.

Supported by its previous penetration of the sinking market, combined with Nai Xue's Tea's strategy of accelerating expansion in recent years, the event locations cover first-tier cities to third-tier cities, and differentiated stocking (such as limited peripherals only sold in first-tier cities) can alleviate supply pressure.

3.4. Promotional strategy

The essence of joint marketing is the exchange of traffic and resources between brands. Hongcan Big Data pointed out that in the first three quarters of 2023, there were 236 joint events in the new tea beverage industry[5]. Among them, Nai Xue's Tea took the lead with high frequency and precise strategy, setting a new record for Nai Xue's new product sales. With the help of Jay Chou's IP and his fans' response, KOL[6] and users were joined to achieve low-cost breakthrough. On launch day, related hashtags and topics garnered over 500 million views, while product sales exceeded 1.46 million cups. Cooperate with the Bohe App to launch a virtual gameplay of the music metaverse, such as scanning the code to get exclusive music clips, to enhance the user experience. Set up points redemption activities to increase product repurchase rate.

In summary, brand co-branding is a highly innovative marketing strategy that takes satisfying customer needs as its starting point. By joining forces with other brands, a brand can combine the advantages of both parties, increase brand popularity and product exposure, open up new target groups, and achieve the effect of one plus one being greater than two. However, brand co-branding also involves alternatives to brand extension or independent brand strategy, which requires both brands to have a deep understanding of consumer needs and the market environment, and to develop marketing strategies that meet market and consumer needs in order to be successful.

4. SWOT analysis of nai xue's tea and fantasy joint marketing

SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis is one of the oldest and most widely adopted strategy tools worldwide[7]. It provides a classic framework for systematically evaluating the internal and external environments of an enterprise, project, or individual, supporting informed decision-making and strategic planning.

(1) S (Strengths): Positive factors in internal resources or capabilities, such as core technology, brand reputation, team strengths, etc.

(2) W (Weaknesses): Internal deficiencies or shortcomings, such as funding shortages, management loopholes, technical bottlenecks, etc.

(3) O (Opportunities): Favorable conditions that can be utilized in the external environment, such as market demand growth, policy support, technological innovation, etc.

(4) T (Threats): External factors that may bring risks, such as intensified competition, economic fluctuations, regulatory restrictions, etc.

4.1. Strengths

First, the Fantasy album has a huge mainstream consumer fan base, which is highly consistent with Nai Xue's Tea's "trendy" brand positioning. Launch customized milk tea cups, lyrics cup sleeves, vinyl record coasters and other unique co-branded products that can resonate with consumers. Highly integrate music elements with tea drinks to provide users with different emotional values. Second, leveraging the huge fan base of Jay Chou and Fantasy albums to trigger heated discussions on social media and achieve low-cost promotion. Users spontaneously collect peripheral sharing for further promotion. Third, upgrade the product experience, integrate the self-developed product "Golden Mountain Cake Milk Tea" with the IP, and emphasize the difference from other products.

4.2. Weaknesses

IP co-branding requires a lot of money to obtain authorization, and also requires customized product packaging and co-branded peripheral product design, which may reduce profit margins. Pre-sale of limited-edition products triggers a rush to buy, and if the store is short of stock, it is easy to cause consumer dissatisfaction. Moreover, the effect of co-branded marketing is mostly concentrated during the activity cycle. The decline in popularity may cause sales to fall, making it difficult to maintain consumer repurchase. Under the promotion model of Nai Xue's Tea, some consumers only pay attention to peripheral collections and pay less attention to the product itself, and fail to discover the core value of the brand. The core value of a brand is the foundation of its existence and the deepest level of consumer cognition of the brand. A clear brand core value helps consumers better understand and remember the brand, and thus are more inclined to choose the brand when making purchasing decisions[8].

4.3. Opportunities

With the improvement of people's living standards and the change of consumption concepts, the tea market has shown a trend of sustained growth. Consumers are increasingly prioritizing health, quality, and premium experiences [6]. With the help of the Fantasy fan group, Nai Xue's Tea can reach non-milk tea users, increase the audience direction, and expand users. The "music + milk tea" scene fusion is adopted to output brand culture. The accumulated consumption data during the event can provide support for subsequent precision marketing. The use of WeChat mini-programs can convert new users into long-term users and improve the product cycle.

4.4. Threats

Some consumers mistakenly believe that the collaboration directly involves Jay Chou, which raises questions about "marginal marketing" and may lead to a decline in brand reputation. It’s crucial to prepare contingency communication strategies. The threshold for starting a business in the ready-made beverage industry is relatively low, and the products are highly replicable. The freshness of ready-made beverages is gradually weakening, and market competition is becoming increasingly fierce[9]. Competitive products may copy similar marketing methods and snatch some users. If the content lacks novelty, it may be considered by consumers as "selling sentimentality."

5. Conclusion

This paper analyzes how Nai Xue’s Fantasy co-branding campaign successfully leveraged nostalgic marketing, IP influence, and digital engagement to achieve both sales and popularity. However, challenges such as copyright disputes and supply chain pressures also reveal the inherent risks of co-branding. The campaign marked a dual achievement in brand value and market performance by strategically selecting the Fantasy album as an emotional connector and converting fan traffic into actual product consumption through a coordinated approach across product, pricing, channel, and promotional strategies.

Through immersive online and offline experiences and cross-industry resource collaboration, Nai Xue not only reinforced its “youthful and trendy” brand image but also explored a novel path combining culture and consumption in the tea industry.

Nevertheless, this study has several limitations. First, it relies mainly on public sales figures and media reports during the event, lacking insights into long-term consumer behavior such as repurchase rates and brand loyalty, making it difficult to evaluate the sustained impact of the co-branding effort. Second, the analysis focuses primarily on SWOT without incorporating consumer behavior theories (e.g., the AIDA model) or advanced evaluation frameworks (e.g., ROI analysis), and does not deeply explore user psychology or conversion mechanisms. Future research could integrate quantitative surveys, comparative brand studies, and longitudinal data tracking to further examine the mechanisms and sustainable potential of co-branding strategies.