OLDTOWN White Coffee serves up piping hot brand refresh with RM3 million price tag

OLDTOWN White Coffee has carried out a brand refresh and updated the old street scene of its logo to include a more solid imprint in the brand refresh. However, OLDTOWN has retained its Ipoh old street scene as it is among the few key drivers for recall and connection to the brand's heritage. "The Ipoh old street scene remains an integral part of OLDTOWN, be it on the packs of our three-in-one coffee or in the chain of kopitiams serving the comfort food and fresh brews and toasts. It reminds us of the rich heritage, the traditions and our origins," the spokesperson told A+M.

The creative concept behind the brand refresh stems from the core of heritage and will also be expanded to tell the stories of OLDTOWN's products served at the outlets. According to the spokesperson, the brand refresh will be carried out in phases. Outlets that are due for renovation or refresh this year will be unveiled with the new interior design and the first one is targeted to open in May 2022. Meanwhile, other marketing communications and point of sale materials, items, new menus and uniforms will also be rolled out. The first phase of the brand refresh costs RM600,000 and has already been executed in the first quarter of 2022. The full brand refresh is expected to cost approximately RM3 million and will be carried out throughout the year with more initiatives rolling out in more phases.

OLDTOWN's spokesperson told A+M that the creative concept behind the brand refresh lies in how it can retain the key heritage of its kopitiam brand and culture and allow this to be appreciated by the younger consumers.

"We know that heritage and family ties are very important to the younger target audience. They crave the sense of familiarity and comfort and enjoy the little things in their daily lives, such as how their toast or cup of coffee should be. Yet, they want this in the modern light of comfort and convenience with a higher level value of aesthetics. Overall, they want a brand that is elevated to a level they are proud to be associated with," the spokesperson added.

OLDTOWN's brand refresh kicked off with an OLDTOWN Kopitiam Carnival, done in collaboration with SLPR Worldwide, to gain mindshare. The event was held at Sunway Pyramid and ran from 15 to 20 March and the overall event conceptualisation, planning and execution took about two months to materialise. The carnival revealed a fresher outlook and image of OLDTOWN's brand, the official launch of its new 2022 menu, as well as the latest prototypes of the self-service machine and OLDTOWN EXPRESS.

Other initiatives under OLDTOWN's brand refresh plan include the new kiosk concept, OLDTOWN EXPRESS, which caters to the Millennial market and young consumers who grew up with fast food, artisan coffee, bubble tea, Instagram, and online shopping. Millennials and Gen Z mark a new market that OLDTOWN is adding to its portfolio.

At the same time, the carnival also showecased "Insta-worthy" structures such as an old school "Gopitiam" Volkswagen van, a giant bowl of Ipoh Hor Fun with a pair of chopsticks in the air, and the kopitiam hero product stories showcased on storytelling panels that dotted the parameters of the carnival.

According to OLDTOWN's spokesperson, the carnival is one of OLDTOWN's bigger out-of-the-box initiatives that the brand plans to roll out this year, alongside its new menus. There will also be more upcoming marketing communications via radio ads, as well as a series of digital communications activations and nationwide promotional campaigns. Aside from radio and digital, OLDTOWN will also focus efforts on social media and mobile, and activate its customer loyalty programme in the second half of 2022.

OLDTOWN's head of sales and marketing, Jamie Fong, said the OLDTOWN Kopitiam Carnival is an out-of-the-box initiative to encapsulate all the segments including outlet brand refresh elements, new menu, new retail products, franchising, new business concepts all-in-one.

"The event worked well to showcase and communicate the 360 experiences for customers to understand OLDTOWN better on where we draw our strength from, our roots and heritage and the progression on where and how we can still propel to evolve ourselves – we are on a delicious journey in bridging the old with the new," she said. Meanwhile, Leon Tang, senior partner and chief operating officer (Southeast Asia) of SLPR Worldwide Group, said the team is extremely thankful to have had the opportunity to work with OLDTOWN.

"The ability to bridge communication gaps while conveying brand essence, heritage and value throughout the consumer experience journey is crucial in crafting an effective PR campaign, and the SLPR team has managed to pull this off beautifully. As one of the pioneers in omnichannel PR communications, we are delighted to have met the event expectations and we look forward to creating more delicious journeys with OLDTOWN," Tang added.

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