"Sample-sized tea drinks" have gone viral. HEYTEA and Baozhugong are both giving them away for free, and netizens are so eager to get them that they are begging the brands to sell these products separately.

The mini milk tea cups have gone viral.

Recently, the "mini tasting cup" of Baozhugong has swept social platforms, and the "bamboo-hat-shaped plant fiber small paper cup" of Heytea, the "lidded tasting cup" of Bawangchaji, and the "Q-version" tasting cup of A Little Bit have also received wide praise from netizens.

These small cups are used by netizens to plant succulents, hold paper clips, and even urge the brands to "sell them separately".

Small cups that can only hold a few sips of milk tea have become a new traffic entry for physical stores?

1

Only a few sips, not for sale but for free

Milk tea tasting cups are all over social platforms

"The tasting cup is made so cute, that's totally over the top!"

Recently, the chubby tasting cups that can only hold a few sips of milk tea have unexpectedly gone viral on social platforms.

Some netizens posted that they came across the tasting counter of Baozhugong, where the clerk held a mini cup, added a few pearls first, then poured in the milk tea, inserted a short and thick straw, and finally covered the lid. A cup of "Q-version brown sugar pearl milk tea" was finished.

The post attracted a lot of attention. Many netizens praised it as "so cute and adorable". Some netizens said "I didn't plan to try it at first, but I was retained by this sense of ritual". A large number of netizens asked: "Which stores can I experience this in?"

It is understood that the Q-version tasting milk tea is a standard operation that Baozhugong has implemented in its stores across the country for a long time, which is often used for tasting classic products and seasonal new products in stores, equivalent to a living "in-store advertisement".

In addition to Baozhugong, more and more milk tea brands are paying attention to the gameplay of tasting cups.

This summer, Heytea set up a free self-service water area in some stores in Guangdong, and provided disposable paper cups, which were originally supporting products for tasting but became the highlight of the whole area.

This paper cup completely breaks away from the stereotype of cheap tasting cups: it has a beige bamboo hat shape, is made of thickened plant fiber, and the cup body has a woven texture, which feels thick and firm.

Picture from Xiaohongshu @Tiantian String Beads, authorized

Netizens originally just wanted to taste the tea, but their attention was caught by the cup: they planted succulents and garlic sprouts in it, put cotton pads and paper clips in it, and used it as a hat for blind box dolls... Many people left messages in the comment area asking the brand to "sell it separately".

In fact, the Q-version milk tea tasting cup has never lacked popularity: the tasting cup of Bawangchaji is praised by netizens; the "cartoon doodle cup" of A Shui Big Cup Tea became a hit; and the Q-version tasting cup of A Little Bit is called "cute little idea".

It is obvious that the tasting cup is changing from an "accessory" of the store to an independent customer acquisition and communication unit.

2

The underlying logic of tasting

"Gamble for more than ten yuan" becomes "take a sip for free"

Sample product economy is repeating in the tea drink industry

The underlying logic of tasting is exactly the same as the "sample product economy" of cosmetics — let consumers experience the product at a very low cost or even zero cost, and promote order placement.

Beauty counters give out essence samples not because they are generous, but because the price of the full-size product is high, and consumers will not pay just by looking at the ingredient list.

The logic of free tasting is exactly the same. A cup of milk tea costs ten to twenty yuan, and it is difficult to make a decision just by looking at the menu description. When the tasting cup is handed to you, you know whether it tastes good or not with one sip, which reduces the decision-making cost from "spend more than ten yuan to take a gamble" to "take a sip for free".

The person in charge of the Baozhugong brand told me, "Tasting is not a cost center, but the customer acquisition tool with the highest return on investment."

Compared with online traffic purchase and group purchase subsidies, the marginal cost of tasting is lower and the conversion path is shorter — consumers may place an order immediately after tasting at the store entrance, while the taste memory is still fresh.

Small portion, low burden, satisfy the craving without waste

"Consumers' love for mini milk tea, the underlying demand is 'satisfy the craving with light burden and no sense of guilt' and 'willingness to pay for cute emotional value'." said the person in charge of Baozhugong brand.

Picture from Xiaohongshu blogger @Strawberry Big Bun, authorized

The conventional milk tea is about 700ml, some consumers can't finish it at one time, the taste will be affected if it is left for a long time, and it is easy to generate a sense of guilt for excessive calorie intake.

The tasting cup only holds two or three sips at most, which satisfies the craving without excessive sugar intake, helping consumers get "psychological comfort" — "It's just a few sips, it doesn't matter much." Some netizens commented that "the large cup can't be finished, the small cup is just right".

Every sip of the small cup or tasting milk tea is in the best tasting period, there is no experience attenuation of "getting lighter or greasier". The reason why the mini cups of some brands are very popular is that they "satisfy the taste without waste".

Cute cup shape is naturally photo-worthy, with built-in traffic

The short and chubby cup, bamboo hat paper cup, and small cup with thick straw form a strong contrast when placed next to the normal large cup.

Adults holding the mini cup, children hugging the small cup, and the tasting cup with two or three pearls are all ready-made photo materials. The Heytea paper cup even separated from the drink itself and became a "merchandise", and netizens spontaneously shared its secondary usage.

Picture from Xiaohongshu blogger @Piggy Baby, authorized

"Although the mini custom cup increases the packaging cost a little, the social fission effect brought by consumers taking photos and sharing on social platforms spontaneously and the increment of in-store conversion are far lower than the cost of online traffic purchase and traditional discount promotion." said the person in charge of Baozhugong brand.

3

"Cute" is not everything

There are three pitfalls for tasting cups

It can be seen that brands no longer just "pour a sip for you to taste", but put effort into the cup shape, material and distribution method.

But when more and more brands want to make "a few sips of milk tea" a standard for customer acquisition, there are several pitfalls that need to be avoided in advance.

The first pitfall: don't take "cute" as everything.

The first mission of the tasting cup is to meet the need of tasting, and the second is to be photo-worthy. If you only focus on being cute without ensuring the same flavor as the full-size product, users will call it a "gimmick". The essence of tasting is "taste verification", not "visual deception".

Picture from Xiaohongshu blogger @Su Scotland Apple Jam, authorized

The second pitfall: hygiene is more important than going viral.

The independent small cup with a built-in straw can effectively reduce the psychological resistance of the "public tasting tray"; for the self-service paper cup, it is necessary to choose a thick, odorless and food-contact compliant material. The reason why Heytea's paper cup can go viral is that it is made of plant fiber, with a stable cup shape and advanced aesthetic design.

No matter how good-looking the tasting cup is, if the first reaction of consumers is "is it clean?", the communication has already failed.

The third pitfall: unclear purpose of making mini milk tea.

The fundamental reason for the failure of many brands' mini milk tea is the vague positioning: they want to make money and attract new customers at the same time. As a result, the price is similar to the full-size small cup, but the portion is like a tasting cup, which makes users feel it is not worth it.

The person in charge of Baozhugong brand pointed out: "Free tasting does a good job in drainage and customer acquisition, and the standard cup completes commercial realization and unit price support. Each plays its own role without disrupting the price system."

Tasting products and full-price products should play different roles, instead of letting one cup bear two functions at the same time.

The essence of the mini tasting cup is not "shrinking the milk tea", but using smaller portion, lower decision-making cost and more interesting interaction to turn passers-by into tasters, and turn tasters into full-price customers.

This article is from WeChat official account "Kamen" (ID: KamenClub), written by Shaohua, authorized by 36Kr to release.