Context & Challenges
HEYTEA sought to create buzz around their brand in the UK by launching their most audacious collaboration to date—a pop-up store in partnership with The Royal Opera & Ballet. Building on their strong London-wide store presence, the aim was to grow beyond their core UK-based Chinese customer base, and connect with wider UK audiences, enhancing brand visibility in an authentic and culturally resonant way.
Strategy & Execution
HEYTEA devised a unique drink for the collaboration – which TONG supported on the naming as ‘Midnight Tea Party’, to ensure it incorporated elements that reflected the character of the drink alongside more playful nods to the show running at the time – The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party.
Devising content angles which both aligned with HEYTEA’s brand message and would appeal to local journalists, audiences, and bloggers, TONG prepared press releases, and worked through our network to ensure relevant invites to the press launch. Our angles aimed to bridge cultural insights with storytelling, highlighting the campaign’s uniqueness and building news-worthy content.
Pitching to media and journalists, providing onsite interview training and coordination, and seeking out follow-on opportunities for exposure, TONG acted as HEYTEA’s guide through the UK’s PR ecosystem and practices.
Results
TONG’s comprehensive PR support delivered excellent results, exceeding KPIs. A busy launch event resulted in more than 40 pieces of coverage, across news outlets, specialist industry publications, and broadcast media – including a TV broadcast feature on CGTN, and a radio interview on a local BBC Radio station.
Additionally we secured a full-page advertorial in the UK’s most-read daily newspaper – The Metro.
TONG’s expertise in bridging the cultural gap between China and the UK, and our understanding of both PR environments, ensured both excellent results and that the client was included at all times.
