Bubble tea interactive event ropes in influencers and PR firm Tate Anzur for hype

Jumping in on the bubble tea craze in Singapore, local startup El Masnou has unveiled The Bubble Tea Factory pop-up event. Launching officially on 19 October, the interactive pop-up event will run for two months and include multi-sensory experiences for boba lovers.

There are over 10 installations such as a golden bath tub with "bubble tea currency", a pit filled with taro pearls along with bubble tea-inspired sweet treats and merchandise. The event is supported by the Singapore Tourism Board, local clothing label Fayth, smartphone manufacturer OPPO, UOB bank as well as venue partner *SCAPE.

The Bubble Tea Factory was a brainchild of local startup El Masnou's four entrepreneurs Weiting Tan as the team lead, Jia Qi Beh as the marketing lead, Ke Xin Khor as the creative lead and Tommy Lee as the operations lead. According to the team, the objective was to ensure each installation is an encounter and an opportunity for one to interact and create a memory, be it through the sense of touch, smell, sight, and whether it is with a loved one or a new friend.

In a statement to Marketing, Tan said the concept first started with a macro observation that there is a shift in spending habits as today's consumers were spending more on meaningful experiences, rather than material goods. Citing a McKinsey report on personal consumption expenditures, he added the study found that the average Millennial outspends the average Gen-Xer and baby boomer on entertainment.

"With that, we were inspired to build a new space together where we could go on to raise the bar in imagining, building, and developing experiential concepts and events to spread positivity. We really wanted to create something novel that is a first in Singapore, and even Southeast Asia, and provide visitors with an unparalleled experience," he said.

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In a bid to reach out to as many Singaporeans and visitors to Singapore as possible, the team brought onboard independent communications agency Tate Anzur to lead The Bubble Tea Factory's publicity strategy and oversee the management of media publicity. The agency also strategised on conducting media preview sessions for the media to generate greater awareness and traffic prior to the launch. Meanwhile, as the marketing lead, Beh engaged with KOLs Naomi Neo, Mongchin Yeoh (also known as Mongabong on Instagram) as well as Novita Lam to co-create content with the team and cascade it onto social media platforms.

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In addition, The Bubble Tea Factory team is relying heavily on social media to engage its target audience - the youths and young adults. Through social media, the team shares "never-before-seen" content such as the behind the scenes production of the space, and created visuals around its mascot, "Boba Bae". To further increase engagement, the team also conducted giveaways and created interactive Instagram stories.

Another social media element the team worked on was creating a special "Boba Bae" filter. According to Beh, the Instagram page garnered close to 1,000 users within the first day of its Instagram page launch. Beyond the traditional marketing channels, The Bubble Tea Factory is also collaborating with like-minded partners whose brand presence resonate with its target audience. Local label Fayth is exclusively designing a bubble tea-themed womenswear capsule collection, while UOB will be unveiling ticket promotions for its UOB and UOB YOLO cardholders.