Key takeaways:
- Mixue has launched its second microdrama series featuring its mascot, Snow King, this time with a time travel story.
- Snow King also appeared in an “erciyuan” IP variety show about intangible cultural heritages across China.
- Mixue is trying to turn Snow King into a star and leverage the power of its IP as microdramas enter a time of change.
Mixue, also known as Mixue Bingcheng, has been an unstoppable force in the tea and coffee sector. With its low prices, extensive branch coverage, and marketing that taps directly into the zeitgeist, it is very much in tune with younger generations, who make up its main consumer cohort.
From its two seasons of the animated series ‘Here Comes the Snow King’ in 2023 and 2024 to its first microdrama series last year, Mixue is gradually turning Snow King into a star and a brand in his own right. In fact, Mixue has been building Snow King as its core IP, much like how Duolingo has built a “personal” brand around Duo the bird.
Mixue has been building Snow King as its core IP
This year, Snow King is back in the studio, and Mixue has released not only another microdrama starring him, but also his very own variety show.
Microdrama king
In early July, Mixue launched its second microdrama, “Snow King Sells Coffee in Ancient Times”. It was released over 3 days, with 2 episodes per day. The story follows Snow King and a Mixue staff member after they were sent back in time to ancient China, where the two open a coffee shop. If the premise sounds familiar, it’s because it bears some resemblance to Starbucks’s microdrama from last year. The difference is that Snow King and the employee are given a mission by a mysterious robot: to open a business, and only upon completing it can they return to modern times.
The microdrama includes sequences of dream-chasing, business, romance and even an all-sing, all-dancing episode. It also incorporates the tea chain’s latest coffee offerings, as well as its “adapt to the local taste” design philosophy for its coffee products. Although not the most dramatic of microdramas, “Snow King Sells Coffee in Ancient Times” is a highly entertaining series of promotional content created to spotlight its coffee. For a brand that unveiled a new product ambassador, who turned out to be Snow King in a different suit, this is relatively high production value.
Variety King
Variety TV shows have been sensational in recent years with the rise of “erciyuan” (二次元, lit. 2-dimensional, referring to anime, comics, games and light novels, or ACGN) IPs, via the “pain” (痛, or “ita”, excessively decorated with ACGN merch) bag and fashion trend. Meanwhile, since last year, intangible cultural heritage (ICH) and cultural travel have become some of the hottest travel trends. The short-form video and livestream platform Kuaishou had the brilliant idea to combine all three into an “erciyuan” IP variety show about ICHs.
The platform, known for its large rural viewership and down-to-earth content, put together a team made up of Snow King, Pikachu from Pokémon, GG Bond and Vick, Briar and Bramble from the Boonie Bears. Pikachu’s episode was set in Pu’er, Yunnan, which is famous for its tea, while GG Bond appeared in Shantou, Guangdong, and the Boonie Bears gang was in Shenzhen, also in Guangdong.
Snow King, who is in the first episode, brings the show to Zhengzhou, Henan, in Northern China. From the kung fu of the Shaolin Temple to local Henan opera and shadow play, Snow King introduces the show to Henan’s best-known ICHs.
Branded microdramas for marketing have seen another surge in popularity this year after their initial success, especially in the C-beauty space, led by KANS, in 2023. However, rising production costs and market saturation have made microdramas far less effective compared to last year. In 2024, KANS saw its marketing and promotion costs grow 90% year-on-year (YoY) to 3.32 billion RMB (462.53 million USD). Pundits believe that too many low-quality branded microdramas have saturated the space, reducing their overall impact. The most important thing in microdrama marketing is to create high-quality, memorable content and to avoid “seeding” specific products. Instead, brands should raise awareness of their profile and values.
The entry into IP variety TV is also a novelty move that might just pay off
This 618 Shopping Festival, several major platforms, including Tmall, JD.com, Meituan and Rednote, all released their own marketing microdrama. However, some commentators see this as an “involution” (内卷, fruitless competition) or fear of missing out on the platform. Tech companies and platforms are also venturing into the microdrama space. For Snow King, venturing into the short-form drama is part of building its brand IP. The entry into IP variety TV is also a novelty move that might just pay off.