The internet-famous food changes year after year, while there’s one food that never goes out of favor: the instant noodle. Hence, instant noodle brands joined the evolution to meet the needs of young consumers with tricky tastes. While pleasing Gen Z became the recipe for success in the FMCG industry, one consumer group has long been ignored: the mature, exquisite, and rich “adult” market.
Kang Shi Fu decided to dive into the “adult” market with the launch of a high-end brand - the Master Soup. As a latecomer to the cup noodle products, Master Soup does not pursue extreme unusual flavor, but focuses on multi-flavored and superior soup.
As the key driver of consumption upgrade, the "adult" consumer has exquisite tastes for products of high quality as well as healthy ingredients. The key factors driving their purchase come from the rich new flavors and consumption scenarios. To create a signature in the "soup" market, Kang Shi Fu needs to innovate its products and bring them into different consumption scenarios, communicating with "adult" consumers.
The Storytelling from an “Adult” Life
We partnered with the variety show "Call Me by Fire", featuring dozens of celebrities who were once very popular many years ago. More than just an ad placement in this 5.74 billion viewed show, we aimed to find one of the celebrities who best fits the spirit of the brand for in-depth collaboration. We found Lee Seung-hyun, a mature “adult” with experience, and also a "master" with real strength in his expertise. Just like Master Soup, every cup of soup is tasty and delicious when the perfect time comes.
Connect Products with Consumers’ Emotions
We added a "life" perspective to the brand’s storytelling, while the time spent waiting for a cup of soup also represents the stage of life. Master Soup innovated the products with five flavors that can be interpreted as five emotional states of life, capturing the emotional points of "adult" consumers.
For example, a cup of Japanese-style ramen in pork soup can stimulate busy professionals with more inspiration and ideas. Having a cup of noodles while watching variety shows impressed consumers with the connections between the brand and such scenarios. Instant noodles are no longer just a single hunger-filling food, but also a reflection of consumers’ emotions.
Create Brand Values for Communities in Multi-Scenarios
Impacted by communities and their fragmented viewing habits driven by individual interests, consumers are growing trusts with content social platforms and influencers. Therefore, Kang Shi Fu needs to build connections with consumers from different communities. Not limited to the rising "solo dining" economy, the brand preferred to engage with consumers through contents on social platforms.
On the social platform Little Red Book, we invited influencers to feature multi-eating scenarios, such as afternoon tea, snacks for couples, or a multi-flavored cup noodle party in between a team’s brainstorming overtime. Through these engagements, Master Soup captured the moments that consumers will react when the functional value of the brand gradually becomes clear.
Unlocking the Noodles from Sight to Taste
On the birthday of Lee Seung-hyun, Kang Shi Fu launched a brand video to officially announce Lee as Master Soup’s brand ambassador. With the Weibo topic page following the real-time buzz generated by the variety show, Kang Shi Fu increased its brand awareness to more fans and communities. Master Soup even continued its collaboration with Lee in another new variety show to garner more attention. Moreover, Lee released videos on Weibo where he presented the five flavors of Master Soup while consumers could click and place orders online. Consumers’ perception of the brand has been extended from sight to taste, which drove more sales.
Kang Shi Fu’s brand content interpreted well consumers' emotions and their consumption behaviors, adding more brand storytelling with true human touches to the original attributes of instant noodles. With a selling focus on the product's multi-flavor, Master Soup provided real and diverse product consumption scenarios.
On social platforms, it quickly triggered strong resonance among consumers and eventually earned 4.5 billion+ impressions, 88 million+ topic views on Weibo, and 46 million+ views on Douyin. Most importantly, in a generally sluggish market, the sales of Master Soup soared 168%.
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