SAGE SAGE Business Cases
© Raffaele Filieri and Yangjing Xu 2022
Bubble tea Boba tea, pearl tea, etc. Powder mixing
New-style tea Cheese tea, fresh fruit tea, etc. Tea extraction
HEYTEA’s Marketing Mix
Product, Brand, and Packaging Strategies
HEYTEA produces four types of new-style tea, including original cheese tea, fresh fruit tea, light cheese tea,
and season limited tea. As well as tea drinks, it sells desserts, coffee, and more recently even plant-based
hamburgers, to expand its market. HEYTEA frequently updates its tea drinks options to keep consumers’
interest high.
In 2019, HEYTEA operated brand extension, by associating the brand with nearly 100 peripheral products,
including lipstick, clothing, shoes and hats, audio, umbrellas, mobile phone shells, etc., covering the three
major categories of beauty, clothing, and lifestyle (Forward, 2019). This brand extension was aimed at
increasing brand exposure and awareness because the peripheral products have a longer life cycle than the
drinks, and can remind consumers of the HEYTEA brand on different occasions. On the other hand, brand
extensions using unconventional names, such as “smelly tofu socks,” can help to stimulate conversations
among consumers.
Traditional bubble tea shops generally name their products by combining the raw materials, such as “honey
aloe green tea,” “honey pomelo tea,” “kumquat lemon tea,” and the like. The advantage of this naming
strategy is that consumers can quickly recognize the specific ingredients of the product, but the disadvantage
is that other brands can easily copy the recipe and sell a version at a cheaper price. This is a disadvantage
in the Chinese market where there are many small, family-run businesses offering similar low-priced tea
products. Consumers generally compare the price with other brands or products to determine whether it is
reasonable or not. In marketing terms, this is called the “reference price”; that is, the standard price against
which consumers evaluate current product prices to assess their attractiveness (Monroe, 1973). Using the
same naming strategy of other brands facilitates consumers’ information processing, product recognition, and
price comparison.
In order to avoid comparison with rival and cheaper tea brands, HEYTEA decided to adopt a different naming
approach from that of the bubble tea shops. HEYTEA instead named its products in unusual ways, such as
“Zhizhi berry raspberry,” “Bobo tea,” and so on. This unique naming method made the products stand out
in the mind of consumers and become more memorable, while at the same time avoided comparison with
traditional bubble tea. Accordingly, research has found that name distinctiveness affects brand recall and
recognition (Lowrey, Shrum, & Dubitsky, 2003). Distinctiveness refers to the extent to which the attributes of
a construct are unique or stand out in relation to the attributes of other similar constructs (Higgins, 1996).
In terms of words, this refers to the extent to which the attributes of a word are novel or unique. The
distinctiveness of a word can enhance memory in important ways. Word distinctiveness attracts attention;
hence, it triggers a more in-depth processing effort, and it favors recall—that is, the brand stands out in
memory and so it is readily retrievable (Berlyne 1971; Lockhart & Craik, 1990; Lowrey, Shrum, & Dubitsky,
2003). This approach also enables the company to set a higher price, which makes the brand stand out from
the crowd of undifferentiated competitors, and contributes to creating a premium brand image for HEYTEA
just like Starbucks in the coffee category.
The logo, cups, and cup lids (Figures 1 and 2) were all carefully designed to meet the needs of Gen Z,
who pay a lot of attention to products’ appearance and design. Chinese consumers, in general, appreciate
bright and vivid colors for food and beverage products, and young consumers are keen to try innovative food
products even if they break with the tradition. The packaging is therefore strategically designed to attract the
attention of consumers (StartupNation, 2019).
Figure 1. HEYTEA Logo
The New-Style Tea in China: The Marketing Strategy of HEYTEA
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SAGE SAGE Business Cases
© Raffaele Filieri and Yangjing Xu 2022
Source: HEYTEA (used with permission)
Figure 2. HEYTEA Cups
Source: HEYTEA (used with permission)
In the Chinese market, brands have to face competition from several brands offering similar products.
Differentiation is sometimes difficult. However, Chinese consumers pay particular attention to packaging. If
the product packaging is luxurious or aesthetically pleasing, consumers will pay more attention to it. Recent
research has shown the critical role of product design in enhancing mianzi, a key cultural construct in Chinese
society, and repurchase intentions (Filieri & Lin, 2017). Mianzi implies maintaining one’s public dignity and
standing (Lee, 1991) or consciousness of glory and shame; it also represents the individual’s reputation and
The New-Style Tea in China: The Marketing Strategy of HEYTEA
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