Introduction:T97 Coffee quickly rose to fame on Douyin thanks to its unique rap-style live streaming. The host “Big Mouth,” with his hypnotic “go go go” moves and rhythmically charged content, helped this brand—with only 43 stores—soar to the top of the trending charts overnight. What exactly enabled T97 to jump from mediocre performance in May to breaking 2.66 million views in September? This article delves into its brand strategy, livestream sales approach, offline expansion status, and the franchise boom to help readers understand the business logic and future challenges behind this wave of “rapping coffee.”
Among numerous coffee brands, T97 Coffee shot to stardom through an unconventional Douyin livestream. This broadcast avoided traditional hard-sell marketing or overly familiar terms like “family” or “buddies.” Instead, it featured a call-and-response rap rhythm between the host and off-screen voice, paired with intense physical movements, successfully drawing in a large audience. Among them, one host—dubbed “Big Mouth” by fans due to his distinctive mouth—often squints and performs his signature “go go go” move when introducing coffee vouchers, turning the livestream room into a hip-hop stage rather than a typical coffee sales pitch.
Such content quickly sparked heated discussions on social platforms, with netizens exclaiming “So addictive!” Behind this craze is T97’s founder Li Xiao, who once boldly claimed, “We will definitely surpass Luckin in the future.” Although T97 currently has only 43 offline stores—a stark contrast to Luckin’s thousands—the brand has undeniably seen a surge in popularity since switching to its rap-driven sales style in September. Its Douyin livestream peaked at 28,000 concurrent viewers, and recently, a single broadcast attracted over 2.6683 million views, even maintaining over 2 million views for an entire week, becoming a key driver for rapid brand exposure.
Founded in April 2021, T97 brand focuses on high-quality, high-value specialty coffee, combining professional coffee aesthetics with creative R&D to offer coffee enthusiasts a more relaxed sensory experience. Its best-selling product, “Little Black Stick,” surpassed 470 million in sales within just three months, demonstrating the appeal of its differentiated positioning and price advantage. Though the brand initially didn’t engage in large-scale exposure, it quickly built word-of-mouth among consumers through the high cost-performance of its products.
As online livestream sales proved effective, T97 gradually expanded its offline store presence. At the end of 2021, the brand opened its first pop-up store in Hangzhou’s Tianmuli, attracting many young people with its minimalist style and professional vibe. To date, T97 has entered 28 cities with 43 physical stores, and several have successfully made it onto local Douyin city coffee shop favorites lists, showing early success in its integrated online-offline strategy.
Notably, T97’s offline store performance has also benefited from livestream promotions. Observations show that average store transaction value has increased by about 1,000 yuan compared to the past, mainly driven by coupons promoted during livestreams. In addition, franchise inquiries have seen significant growth, surging from around 150 daily inquiries to 300–400, reflecting market anticipation for the brand’s future development.
However, T97’s meteoric rise has also sparked considerable discussion. Founder Li Xiao publicly stated the goal to “surpass Luckin,” but is such an ambition realistic with only 40-plus stores? Market observers point out that while viral livestreams can quickly attract traffic, in the long run, the brand still faces demands for consistency in product quality, store experience, and brand tone. Especially as younger audiences increasingly value the alignment of coffee culture with personal style, whether “rap-style” marketing can sustain its effectiveness remains to be seen.
Looking at the evolution of e-commerce platforms, livestream sales have shifted from competing on price and product to focusing on content and creativity. Past methods such as acting, PK battles, and hype may briefly grab attention but often fail to endure. T97’s fusion of hip-hop and coffee—driving sales through rap and rhythm—can be seen as elevating content marketing to another level. While this innovation has brought short-term high exposure and traffic, if the brand wants to solidify its place in the competitive coffee market, it must continue to invest deeply in product R&D, customer service, and store experience.
In summary, T97 Coffee has successfully captured substantial attention and driven real traffic conversion and franchise interest through its viral livestreams and differentiated positioning. Whether it can truly surpass Luckin, as its founder claims, depends on its ability to transform this wave of traffic into brand loyalty and stable market share. For readers interested in the coffee industry and digital marketing trends, the T97 case offers many thought-provoking insights.
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
