Hey Tea and the popular mobile game Light and Night are launching a co-branding campaign on 13 March. This comes just in time for White Day a day later, which is a Japanese celebration, a month after Valentine’s Day for answering the gifts (typically chocolate) and goodwill of Valentine’s Day. The co-branding campaign will run for a month and ends on 14 April.
The collaboration includes 5 drinks selected to represent the 5 male main characters who are the love interests of the player’s character. The collection also contains cards and cup holders. With a two-drink set, you can get a paper bag for collection or an insulated bag for delivery. Hey Tea teased that more gifts will be added on 29 March.
Hey Tea is also launching themed branches to celebrate the partnership. With a wedding altar installation set up in-store at 7 locations for checking-in and vow-exchanging with your favourite character. Life-sized cardboard versions of the 5 main characters will be erected in 95 locations across the country for photo opportunities, and stickers will be available at over 2,000 stores in China.
Launched in 2021, Light and Night is a hugely popular otome game. Otome games are mostly dialogue-based romantic games/dating simulators marketed to girls and young women. Light and Night, however, is the first game that forbids log-ins from under-18s. Data shows that female gamers spend 35% more time and 31% more money than their male counterparts. Collaboration is a popular way for brands to leverage the popularity of these games, and Light and Night has held collaborations with the likes of Guerlain, KFC and Cornetto, to name a few.
On Weibo, China’s Twitter equivalent, the topic “Hey Tea Light and Night collaboration” (#喜茶光与夜之恋联名#) reached number 2 on the Hot Search list with120 million views. Interestingly, it also propelled the hashtag “Hey Tea” to reach number 5 due to netizens discussing how Hey Tea employees are memorising character names and faces with a 40-page training PDF. This dedication is helping Hey Tea to win over fans of the game, and the team-up will be a great chance for the tea chain to widen its reach and for the 3-year-old game to get renewed attention.
