"The coriander flavor is so strong that it leaves no room for complaints." How food brands cater to the "heavy flavor" preferences of laborers.

"Everyone is joking around for April Fool's Day, but is Huayuan really serious?"

On April 1st, Huayuan officially launched 100% cilantro juice, with plenty of gimmicks.

While others' cilantro flavor is just a sprinkle of freeze-dried vegetable bits or a hint of artificial essence, Huayuan doesn't hold back, giving you approximately 15 cilantro leaves per box of 125ml.

From cilantro pizza to cilantro instant noodles, and even cilantro lemon tea, the variety of cilantro-infused foods is increasing. Both cilantro lovers and haters have fallen silent, while those with adventurous tastes and unconventional preferences are going wild. Food businesses are quietly reaping the benefits of this trend.

01 Cilantro flavor, how did it become a trend?

Whether to eat cilantro or not is arguably the most controversial topic at Chinese dinner tables.

Sweet or savory zongzi (sticky rice dumplings), sweet or savory douhua (tofu pudding), sweet or savory mooncakes—these enduring debates generally reflect regional differences in cuisine. However, cilantro lovers and haters can be found everywhere, and they always manage to spark a debate.

Cilantro lovers say, "Can the Earth still turn without cilantro? We'll just tough it out." Those who don't like cilantro vow to eradicate cilantro from the entire planet.

The popularity of cilantro is evident, even on February 24th, World Hate Cilantro Day. In a poll on whether people love or hate cilantro, the results are split, with seventy percent being cilantro lovers.

Based on anecdotal evidence and incomplete observation, it seems that all the beautiful women are those who don't eat coriander, which gives the coriander-hating group a small victory.

"Cilantro, bitter melon, celery, and shepherd's purse, I have never seen anyone who can accept all four of these vegetables at the same time." A complete denial judgment is the traffic password in the comment section, and every dissenter has a strong desire to come and say a few words. Once the cilantro tag is mentioned, the comment section immediately becomes lively and full of banter.

Recently, Huiyuan's cilantro juice has emerged, successfully riding the wave of cilantro's "top trending heat."

Not only has it achieved a "daunting" 100% high purity and additive-free in its products, but it has also taken its considerate service to the extreme by proactively providing "vomit bags" specifically for "Xiangyue" (a specific product). As a result, the topic has gained even more popularity - "Green Soup, Sir!" and "Everything has its reason for existence."

Coriander juice has naturally become a popular material for self-media, and eating show bloggers unboxing and tasting Xiangyue have been well received by a large number of netizens. Coriander instant noodles, on the other hand, are a beginner's challenge that even ordinary people can taste.

"Huiyuan and Baixiang are the two bravest brands." With 16,000 likes on the comment, the brands are beaming with joy, while the arrogance of cilantro has been fully demonstrated.

The flavor of cilantro has become a buzzword in the food industry, and this has been widely recognized within the industry. The main reason behind this is, first and foremost, the extensive audience base established by cilantro over the thousands of years in China.

Just as the cilantro and pig ear pizza from Pizza Hut has sparked sharp comments from netizens, "Why not change the pizza base to steamed buns and the sauce to garlic chili sauce?"

Meanwhile, consumers' desire to explore novel things has increased, and the younger generation of consumers tends to try new and unique flavors.

The cilantro flavor not only provides a taste stimulation but also includes an impact on the sense of smell and vision, which happens to meet the needs of young people pursuing novelty and intense sensory stimulation.

The prevalence of social media has made young consumers pay more attention to the social attributes of products.

Due to its controversial nature, products with a cilantro flavor are easily the subject of heated discussions on social platforms, becoming "socially shareable foods" that enhance self-image through sharing and discussion.

Sharing and expressing preferences for cilantro-flavored foods has become a way for young people to define and present themselves. "Cilantro lovers" and "cilantro haters" have formed their own camps, creating an "identity label" similar to "iPhone/Android" or "coffee lovers/tea lovers": this is not just a choice of food, but also a way to express personal identity.

With its controversial and polarizing nature, cilantro has gradually evolved into a symbol of communication targeted at young people. Products such as cilantro lemon tea, cilantro lollipops, and cilantro-flavored potato chips have attracted attention from birth, frequently appearing on platforms such as Weibo and Douyin, attracting a large amount of user-generated content creation and sharing. Just a simple "brave people enjoy cilantro xx first" can become material for self-media creation, and this kind of carnival-like co-creation further fuels the popularity of cilantro.

02. Engaging in playful marketing to cater to internet users seeking entertainment

Unconventional products often fail to attract repeat purchases from consumers after their initial trial. When a brand launches a product with a unique flavor like coriander, it is more of a gimmick aimed at leveraging its social media appeal to attract younger consumers.

This kind of playful marketing, catering to internet users seeking entertainment, is not uncommon on social platforms such as Weibo and Xiaohongshu.

Looking back, a recent example is the seamless compatibility between the Yinqiao Eight Treasure Porridge bottle cap and the Xiaomi phone camera. The official Yinqiao account engaged in playful marketing, claiming to be a domestic lens cap accessory provider, and internet users suggested a collaboration, saying, "Buy the Eight Treasure Porridge and get a Xiaomi 14 for free."

Just do it. Post several pieces of content across multiple platforms to keep up with the trend, attract traffic, and climb to the top of the hot search list. Whether you use Xiaomi or eat eight-treasure porridge, everyone will know.

Consumers are not only unwilling to buy the 14ultra but also unable to afford the Eight Treasure Congee? Yinlu's initiative not only gained some popularity but also left a lively and cheerful official image of 5G surfing for netizens.

In my opinion, internet-famous food products like cilantro-style bear the function of "whole-activity marketing," which focuses more on stirring up topics and attracting attention rather than directly promoting sales.

Therefore, in product design, brands need to pay more attention to the topicality and cater to the novelty-seeking nature of young people.

This approach aligns with the concept of "communication elements" emphasized in creative communication theory, which focuses on being concise, easily shareable, extendable, and experiential.

Euromonitor pointed out in its 2024 wind vane analysis of the Chinese consumer goods market that strengthening interactive marketing is an effective way for brands, especially those targeting young consumers, to expand their communities. Making consumption and sharing a pleasant social experience also helps to expand the brand's influence.

To achieve strong interactive marketing, brands not only need sharp market insights but also need to react quickly and adopt differentiated marketing strategies on different social platforms to attract the attention of young people with innovation and fun.

For example, on Douyin, the largest content e-commerce and short video platform at present, brands often attract users through entertaining short videos, combined with influencer live streaming, challenge competitions, store exploration, and various IP activities to form a matrix of marketing actions. Xiaohongshu, on the other hand, emphasizes real experiences and word-of-mouth promotion to promote natural recommendations and word-of-mouth marketing for products. The content often complements high-quality lifestyle scene displays or practical information to make the content more valuable and increase exposure.

As one of the largest social media platforms in China, Weibo has two unique advantages: "hot search" and "the first official brand microblogging platform." Brands can quickly increase the popularity and user participation through real-time interaction, guiding topic setting through industry experts, media, and other authoritative groups, and driving content creation and hot searches with key opinion leaders and netizens, often achieving rapid volume outbreaks and attracting user attention.

McDonald's cilantro ice cream surged to the hot search on Weibo, perhaps marking the highlight of the cilantro flavor and an excellent example of this whole-activity marketing.

The hashtag #HowAddictiveIsCilantroWithIceCream# on Weibo has 110 million views. Key opinion leaders and mainstream media first aroused netizens' interest in cilantro and discussed the various possibilities of "cilantro +."

At the same time, various user-generated content continued to provide heat around the topic. Netizens who like to try new things and those who like to cook were attracted to try the unique features of the cilantro ice cream. When McDonald's officially announced the combination of cilantro and ice cream, it immediately became a hit and made it to the hot search list.

Under the influence of hot search, various platform bloggers have followed suit.

The hands-on enthusiasts who say no to the vegetable-like cilantro have personally crushed the cilantro and sprinkled it on the new ground, creating a texture that truly delights cilantro lovers.

It can be seen that McDonald's marketing actions on Weibo and Xiaohongshu focus on different aspects, strategically setting discussion topics and voices based on the characteristics of social platforms, while leaving ample space for users to engage in secondary creation.

This strategy effectively prolongs the product's discussion heat, extending its lifecycle far beyond traditional marketing promotion.

In this process, influential KOLs and bloggers are not only promoters of the topic, but also deepen consumers' understanding and interest in the topic through guidance, recommendation, and in-depth evaluation.

The creative participation of C-end users, such as sharing self-made videos, images, and written content, has greatly promoted the spontaneous spread of brand information on social platforms, increasing the brand's visibility and affinity.

03 "全民上桌" is no longer just a slogan

"全民上桌" is not just a slogan, but a true reflection of the changing consumer behavior in the food industry and the development of brand strategies.

Today, consumers are no longer passive recipients of information and simple product buyers, but have transformed into active participants in brand communication and co-creators of product innovation.

With the assistance of various social tools today, consumers' desire and ability to express themselves have been unprecedentedly unleashed. They greatly enrich the brand's story and depth through sharing personal experiences, product reviews, and even self-made related content.

This change directly impacts the marketing strategies of food brands. Nowadays, brands often adopt a more humble attitude and pay more attention to direct dialogue and interaction with consumers, especially on public social platforms.

Official account pages are no longer just places to post advertisements, but have become places for real-time interaction with consumers.

By engaging in fancy interactions with consumers in the comment section, brands can quickly capture consumer feedback and even spur spontaneous creative inspiration.

For example, a McDonald's customer wore their receipt on their chest, jokingly claiming to be attending an event organized by "Golden Arches (China) Limited." This humorous "identity" label quickly attracted numerous netizens to join in.

This social interaction reached its climax after the official Weibo account intervened. The official account effectively took over the traffic heat, not only fueling the enthusiasm of netizens to play along, but also promoting the development and deepening of brand communication.

A casual response from a brand on social media may spark the creativity for a marketing campaign. These spontaneous and innovative ideas that emerge from interactions often quickly gain popularity and become the center of attention.

During the popularity of the reality show "Sisters Who Make Waves," netizens discovered that Ning Jing looks a lot like the green M&M. M&M's promptly announced Ning Jing as their brand ambassador, and the fan group was named "Ning Ke Tai Doule," which was a marketing frenzy sparked by user-generated content.

Furthermore, this strategy greatly enhances the brand's affinity and market adaptability.

Through this in-depth interaction with consumers, the brand can better understand their needs and adjust product strategies more quickly to meet the personalized and differentiated demands of the market. This consumer-centric interaction not only enhances the brand's image but also helps to build long-term consumer loyalty.

The arrival of the "everyone at the table" era has made the relationship between brands and consumers even closer, with consumer voices and creativity occupying an unprecedentedly important position in brand strategies.

Brands not only need to listen but also actively participate in the daily conversations of consumers, jointly shaping a vibrant, interactive, and co-creative market environment.