This March, the Greek yogurt brand AMBROSIAL of Yili Group unveiled a tripartite collaboration with Dice Kayek, an haute couture French brand, and the high fashion travel magazine Condé Nast Traveler China, releasing a co-branded silk scarf integrating the common genes of these 3 brands from completely different domains.
This collaboration served as a preliminary launch for AMBROSIAL’s upcoming flavored yogurts, with new packaging design inspired by the iconic scarf. The yogurts were sold as limited mystery boxes in China, with specially-designed icons printed on the packaging for consumers to decode and “play” with. With many KOLs featuring the event, product and game rules, the code collection event and prize campaign has tracked 440M impressions under Weibo Topic #2020潮人趋势# (#2020 Fashionista Trends#).
How did a 6-year-old yogurt brand become a mega-hit on social media? By using the 4 Facets of Brand Positioning, let us step further into the world of AMBROSIAL.
2020, Together with AMBROSIAL (source: yili.com)
In Greek, “Ambrosial” means “especially delicious and fragrant”. Compared to the average yogurt products in the Chinese market, AMBROSIAL has a creamier and thicker texture and is also higher in protein. Since 2015, the brand has been releasing at least one new flavor every year, keeping up with the ever-changing needs of Chinese consumers. During the 2020 Spring Festival, AMBROSIAL launched 5 new flavors including Da Hong Pao, raspberry, avocado, walnut and celery, while the copy and packaging style echoing with the festival atmosphere.
AMBROSIAL’s 5 new flavored yogurts launched during 2020 Spring Festival in China (source: Weibo)
Since 2014, AMBROSIAL has been the sponsor of reality shows, like Running Man China and The Voice of China, which has gained increasing popularity among Chinese consumers. Besides, this yogurt brand has built a solid consumer base among the young generation thanks to its super icon spokesmen Dilraba Dilmurat, Wang Yibo, and Cai Xukun; At the same time, the brand has attracted a large number of sports fans as it signed Cristiano Ronaldo(last year) and David Beckham(this year) as ambassadors. With all these branding efforts and collaboration with big brands/platforms like Tik Tok, Luckin Coffee, BAZZAR…AMBROSIAL becomes a young advocate for a healthy and fashionable lifestyle.
AMBROSIAL × Cristiano Ronaldo (source: 163.com)
AMBROSIAL × BAZZAR (source: BAZZAR)
Last year, AMBROSIAL blew our minds by launching a pop-up store with BAZZAR in Shanghai. Filled with fashionable and popular cultural elements, it served as an extremely immersive space for young people to enjoy the artistic and mysterious vibes brought by AMBROSIAL. Yogurts and specially-made delicacies provided in this special space, the participants had great fun taking pictures with instagramable backgrounds and sharing them on social channels. AMBROSIAL endeavors to build strong connections with the young generation.
Staying aware of the global pandemic, the brand revealed the new claim and signed David Beckham as the ambassador in May: “Renew 2020, Be with AMBROSIAL”. Inspired by Beckham’s spirit of perseverance and indefatigability in his football career, AMBROSIAL encourages consumers to regain confidence when facing difficulties in daily life: “Be strong, Be hopeful, Be energized.”
AMBROSIAL × David Beckham (source: Weibo)
“AMBROSIAL brings us closer “(浓浓安慕希，让相聚更浓), “Enjoy the reunion, treat yourself with AMBROSIAL to celebrate the Chinese New Year” (浓浓年味，一起安慕希)—According to the existing brand slogans, “the enjoyable and happy moment shared with friends” is its eternal theme.
In addition to its slogans, AMBROSIAL also played an important role in creating an enjoyable atmosphere in reality show Running Man China. The yogurts were used as props when the 7 emcees are playing games, and with the exposure in the show, AMBROSIAL conveys its message to young customers that you could have great fun with friends with AMBROSIAL.
AMBROSIAL × Running Man China (source: WeChat account-创意广告; Weibo)
Just like most of the millennials, the six-year-old yogurt brand is brave and energetic. AMBROSIAL dares to challenge the status quo and successfully makes drinking yogurt a fun experience among the young generation.
AMBROSIAL × Tik Tok (source: WeChat account-顶尖包装)
Last year, AMBROSIAL launched an interactive campaign together with Tik Tok, calling on consumers to scan QR codes on the packaging and do different tasks to win “red packets”. The copy on the bottle is highly resonated with young people, for instance, “一起美美哒”(Let’s get pretty!), “一起来嗨鸭”(Let’s hang out!).
AMBROSIAL yogurts with specially-designed icons on the packaging (source: Weibo)
As the co-branding campaign of AMBROSIAL we mentioned at the beginning, the yogurts are sold as limited mystery boxes with specially-designed icons printed on each box. When consumers get the mystery box, they decode the meaning behind every icon, combine different icons and interpret them into one sentence, and share the newly-created sentence under the Weibo topic #2020潮人趋势# (#2020 Fashionista Trends#). The most interesting ones will be picked by the brand and received the co-branded silk scarf as a special gift.
Never has a yogurt brand has done such interactive social campaigns in China. This gamification of icons truly made AMBROSIAL the “Icon” on social media amongst young people.
Consumers can decode the meaning behind every icon and interpret them into a sentence (source: Weibo)
As a young yogurt brand, AMBROSIAL is growing rapidly like a “dark horse” in the Chinese dairy market. Not only does AMBROSIAL offers high-quality Greek yogurt, it also has the courage to expand the boundaries of the brand that creates more surprises to consumers, and delivers a young and positive lifestyle—we’re supposed to step out of the comfort zone and embrace possibilities in daily life. Furthermore, by cooperating with diverse international brands and spokesmen, AMBROSIAL begins to step onto the global stage and is trying to win the heart of a larger group of consumers worldwide.
“Upgrade with full power, outbreak with full surprise”, the brand is bound to bring us more wonders. We look forward to seeing how AMBROSIAL will communicate with consumers in different ways in the future.
