1. Introduction

In recent years, China's leisure tea market has developed rapidly, and many tea brands have flooded into the market. Chinese tea culture has a long history. The new tea has been optimized and improved on the basis of tradition and carried out innovation. Tea, milk, fruit, cream, cheese and other raw materials are extracted to make the taste richer. It makes the development of the tea industry more rapid. The competition in the tea market is also fiercer, whether it is the joint name of the happy tea, the quality of the civilized Nai snow tea, and occupy the tea market. While greatly improving brand awareness, it also has more market share. Zhang Hongchao started his business, Mixue Ice City, in 1997 when he was in college in Zhengzhou. A national chain of fresh ice cream and tea drinks for young people. And established the business philosophy of Mixue Ice City, "Let all people who love life, enjoy high quality and affordable delicious food". The existing literature on the marketing strategy of Mixue Ice City are all 4l theory or new era. The conclusion is about the price promotion strategy, system, manpower and brand building of Mixue Ice City. With the development of The Times, the marketing on social media platforms has become more and more extensive, so the analysis and research of the marketing strategy of Mixue Ice City on social media platforms is very meaningful.

Based on the above market background, this paper mainly studies the marketing activities or marketing strategies of Mixue Ice City on social media platforms. The research method of this study is literature analysis. This study analyzed the current situation of Mixue Ice City, through Mixue Ice City with a brainwashing song to achieve mass appeal, while the brand has a very good price advantage.

2. Background of Mixue Ice Cream & Tea

2.1. The Establishment and Development of Mixue Ice Cream & Tea

Mixue Ice Cream & Tea was established in 1997. After more than 20 years of expansion, China now has more than 20,000 outlets spread throughout 31 provinces. This study continues to extensively investigate international markets. It is a diverse company that combines chain management, industrial investment, and brand management. Therefore, this company has attracted many people to purchase their products. It is the brand philosophy of Mixue Ice Cream & Tea, which employs premium raw materials to make products, provides consumers with premium service through collaboration, and charges less than competing brands. The beverage market has seen consistent growth for Mixue Ice Cream & Tea.

2.2. Present Situation

The media statement of Mixue Ice Cream & Tea is to attract popular funds, adhere to the principle of cost-effective pricing, and focus on creating unfashionable. The product variety of Mixue ice cream & tea is relatively diverse, and because the price is very affordable and the production process is relatively transparent, it faces a wide range of people and is widely loved by the public. Mixue ice cream & tea has its own unique and brainwashing brand song, with the lyrics' You Love Me, I Love You, Mixue ice cream & tea Sweet Honey ', which makes its affordable brand image more deeply rooted and well-known. At the same time, it has brought a large amount of traffic to the company. With the development of time, Mixue ice cream & tea gradually became known and loved by more people.

2.3. STP Analysis

In terms of market segmentation of STP, classification can be a target customer of Mixue ice cream & tea for all ages, regardless of gender, according to population segmentation. Children under the age of 15 are mostly consumed with the company of their parents. Young people aged 15 to 35 make choices based on price, convenience, and personal preferences, while middle-aged people aged 36 to 50 rarely purchase this type of leisure beverage shop. From the perspective of gender ratio, the proportion of female consumers in the Snow City accounts for 80%, and that of men is only close to 20%. In terms of target market selection, the overall market should be divided into several segmented markets with roughly the same needs and desires [1]. Then, it aims to meet the needs of young consumers who are the main consumers. In terms of market positioning, based on previous analysis, Mixue ice cream & tea can develop the following strategies. Friendly, cost-effective, and low product cost.

3. The Marketing Methods of Mixue Ice Cream & Tea

3.1. Product Strategy

Product strategy is the most fundamental part of marketing strategy. The core of marketing activities is to discover and meet the needs of consumers, and how to meet their needs can only be achieved by providing a certain product or service [1].

The product positioning of Mixue Ice Cream & Tea is genuine materials, high quality and affordable. The product types include: ice cream and tea, milk tea special drinks, milk cover tea, and the true fruit tea series. Star products include signature cone, fresh-squeezed lemon forever favorite, and trending drink Mi-shaking.

In the process of development, Mixue Ice Cream & Tea is carrying out industrial assistance to farmers, thereby helping fruit farmers significantly reduce investment in the planting process and bringing some technical support. At the same time, it also helps fruit farmers solve unsold fruits, such as navel oranges from Gan Nan and lemons from An Yue. This type of product source is more healthy and safe, making consumers more reassured and able to attract more consumers.

Mixue Ice Cream & Tea has its own complete supply chain, from the initial raw materials to the final sales, all of which are undertaken by Mixue Ice Cream & Tea and maintained nationwide uniformity, ensuring product quality. And they have their own product research and development team, which has undergone extensive screening to develop new products every season, and they have multiple patented technologies. Mixue Ice Cream & Tea has established warehousing and logistics centers throughout the country and implemented a logistics free shipping policy, demonstrating strong and efficient logistics services for franchise stores nationwide.

In terms of product research and development, Mixue Ice Cream & Tea adheres to a differentiated, cost-effective, and high-quality approach, meeting the needs of different consumer groups. In terms of obtaining raw materials, Mixue Ice Cream & Tea adheres to using fresh fruits and purified water. At the same time, new products are constantly launched based on consumer tastes and market demand, increasing the variety of products and bringing freshness to consumers. They will purchase out of curiosity to attract more consumers. From the current development situation, the product strategy of Mixue Ice Cream & Tea is successful, as it can continuously increase the revenue of Mixue Ice Cream & Tea.

3.2. Price Strategy

Price strategy refers to selecting a pricing model that can attract customers and occupy the market by comprehensively analyzing product’s supply, demand, and cost [1]. Determining a product’s price is the most important link in marketing activities [2]. As a product for the general public to consume, the price of Mixue Ice Cream & Tea needs to remain stable to a certain extent [3].

The pricing of Mixue Ice Cream & Tea products ranges from 3 to 10 yuan. Compared to the commonly used beverage prices of 20-30 yuan in the industry, the prices of Mixue Ice Cream & Tea products are more easily accepted by the public and closer to the consumption level of student party members and young white-collar workers, with people under 30 years old becoming their main consumers. Popularized pricing has given Mixue Ice Cream & Tea a wide customer base [1].

Mixue Ice Cream & Tea has always positioned itself as "affordable", using the simplest raw materials and the most affordable prices to attract more people to accept and consume. When the new product of 10 yuan was just launched at Mixue Ice Cream & Tea, many people thought it was impossible, whether it was due to poor taste or raw materials, but the fact proved that its low-priced strategy was successful. It is precisely because of its low price and high quality that it has attracted more consumers.

Zhang Hongchao, the founder of Mixue Ice Cream & Tea, said, “What Mixue Ice Cream & Tea wants to solve is more popular needs, committed to meeting the needs of the majority of the people, and for the rest of the elite and high-income groups, it will be handed over to others to solve.”

3.3. Place Strategy

Place strategy is a marketing activity that involves the transfer of products from the production field to the consumer field through intermediate links or institutions [4]. The more reasonable the channel selection, the faster the market occupation speed, and the faster the product is delivered to consumers [3].

Mixue Ice Cream & Tea adopts a combination of online and offline methods to greatly promote marketing [5]. The vast offline channels are mainly direct and franchise stores, with a large number concentrated inside and outside major universities, near middle schools, commercial streets, and exits such as train and subway stations. Young people are the main consumers, especially the low-priced milk tea shops built near schools, which will attract more students to purchase. At the same time, milk tea shops at the exits of subway stations and train stations will allow people traveling all the way to choose to purchase a cup of fruit tea. From the number of queues in these places every day, it can be seen that the site selection for Mixue Ice Cream & Tea is correct. By 2023, the number of stores in China has exceeded 10000, covering 31 provinces (cities, autonomous regions) and actively exploring overseas markets. Chain franchise has become a common and easy-to-operate model in the tea and beverage industry today, and standardized management has been formed [6].

Online channels mainly use WeChat mini programs and delivery apps for product purchases. Online ordering can be scheduled in advance, saving queuing time. People can place orders in advance during breaks, shopping, and on the subway or train. By waiting for physical stores, they can directly obtain their advanced purchased products, saving a certain amount of time.

3.4. Promotion Strategy

Promotion plays an extremely important role in promoting products, increasing sales volume, and maintaining market position [3]. Mixue Ice Cream & Tea is positioned as a sinking market, targeting people with high consumption desire and low consumption ability, as well as student parties. Mixue Ice Cream & Tea creates marketing hot spots by shooting short videos, triggering a chain reaction of word-of-mouth marketing and stimulating potential consumers' purchasing desires [7]. On social media platforms such as TikTok and Xiaohongshu, the city releases videos that follow hot topics to create marketing hot spots. Mixue Ice Cream & Tea is mainly positioned as a sinking market, and young people have a better understanding of current hot topics. At the same time, young people are also the main consumer force of Mixue Ice Cream & Tea, so they are more able to attract more consumers. In addition, these videos may also stimulate the curiosity and interest of other age groups, thereby stimulating their purchasing desire and increasing the sales of Mixue Ice Cream & Tea. Also because of the release of the video, the number of fans of the official TikTok account of Mixue Ice Cream & Tea has reached 3.533 million.

Mixue Ice Cream & Tea conducts live promotion on social media platforms, distributes and purchases coupons to attract more consumers. Through TikTok live broadcast, Mixue Ice Cream & Tea provides group purchase coupons, which are cheaper than offline direct purchase, and can attract more people to purchase coupons online. People always have a mentality, although they feel that buying a coupon is not necessary or they do not want to drink this drink, they buy it because it is cheap or they have the coupon, which increases the sales of Mixue Ice Cream & Tea.

4. Suggestions

4.1. Clarify the Audience, Improve Product Quality, Increase Sales Channels, and Improve Service Level

There are a large number of competitors in the milk tea industry market, and Mixue Ice Cream & Tea also has the advantage of low prices. However, amidst fierce competition from a large number of homogeneous and alternative products, there is still room for improvement in Mixue Ice Cream & Tea. Firstly, it should be understood that the audience of beverage products such as milk tea is mostly young people. Therefore, in order to increase sales, it is best to produce new packaging and products according to the preferences of young people. Secondly, improving product quality is also crucial. In today's public perception, product quality is always the top priority, and Mixue Ice Cream & Tea can achieve this by optimizing raw materials and other methods. Mixue Ice Cream & Tea mainly conducts marketing through offline physical store sales, and they can also open online stores to sell some of their peripheral products. The service attitude of employees and the health status of the store also need to be paid attention to, and Mixue Ice Cream & Tea can further train employees to achieve this. For chain stores like Mixue Ice Cream & Tea, the demand for talent is very high. Therefore, when entering a new city, it is necessary to implement marketing strategies for professional talents and also increase their talent reserves to adapt to the constantly updated market [8].

4.2. Product Innovation with the Right Marketing Tools

Mixue Ice Cream & Tea is mainly for the production and sales of beverage products, then, the too monotonous taste is bound to fail to meet the needs of consumers. In the market of homogenized products and competitors, it is difficult for consumers to form brand loyalty to Mixue Ice Cream & Tea. Therefore, Mixue Ice Cream & Tea needs to retain consumers through product innovation and good management services. In addition, appropriate marketing means can play an icing on the cake effect, but not excessive, such as taking a lot of hunger marketing, which is not desirable. Mixue Ice Cream & Tea itself is positioned as a low-cost drink, it can take a low-cost competition to improve their profits [9].

4.3. Network Publicity

Today, the Internet has become the most important channel for people to get information. This is especially true for the audience (young people) of Mixue Ice Cream & Tea. He can promote his products by means of online publicity and advertising. It did the same, even composing lyrics to impress consumers and deepen product awareness. In addition, the way of online publicity can also shape themselves into network red products, and consumers can also be more inclined to their own products [10,11].

4.4. Improve Own Problems from a Consumer Perspective

In marketing activities, Mixue Ice Cream & Tea must be consumer-centered to ensure the experience of consumers. At the same time, Mixue Ice Cream & Tea should stand in the perspective of consumers, optimize enterprise products and services, strengthen communication with consumers, and stimulate consumer demand [12].

5. Conclusion

In summary, Mixue Ice Cream & Tea is an offline chain enterprise focused on selling affordable milk tea beverages. After years of development, Mixue Ice Cream & Tea has created its own Snow King IP image and determined its positioning, focusing on serving young people under the age of 30 and low-income groups. At this stage, the Mixue Ice Cream & Tea has diversified products, low prices and transparent production products, attracting a lot of consumers. Especially young people under 30.

Mixue Ice Cream & Tea through product strategy, price strategy, local strategy and promotion strategy four aspects of marketing means of marketing. For example, their transparent production process, location in high traffic areas, very low pricing and promotion of theme songs and IP. They know how to use the right marketing tools at the right time.

If Mixue Ice Cream & Tea wants to better increase profits, it should leverage its strengths and avoid its weaknesses. Therefore, based on the above suggestions, it should produce more new products and products that are more suitable for the taste of young people. Meanwhile, Mixue Ice Cream & Tea needs to expand its stores and service quality, as well as enhance its IP image. In the information age, Mixue Ice Cream & Tea still needs to expand its online store in order to better sell its products.

Authors Contribution

All the authors contributed equally and their names were listed in alphabetical order.