Five custom bubble tea drinks brightly displayed on a soft yellow background.

Gong cha

The World’s Premier Bubble Tea Expands to the U.S.

National

SERVICES

Messaging Development
Public Relations
Social Media
Meta Advertising
Art Direction
Content Development

Founded in Taiwan in 2006, Gong cha is the world’s premier bubble tea brand. With its premium product, simple and scalable operational model, and strong corporate support, Gong cha is one of the fastest-growing bubble tea brands in the U.S and internationally, with over 2,000 locations in 20+ countries worldwide. Gong cha retained Carbonate to expand its brand awareness in the U.S. Its goals included attracting master franchisees to open new territories across the country, highlighting Gong cha’s growth trajectory, positioning bubble tea as a trending category, and driving sales to existing locations.

Media Relations & Franchise Development Support

Carbonate supports Gong cha’s franchise development and corporate communications by highlighting the expertise of their key executives, their unique master franchise model, and the compelling business opportunity the brand offers in a rapidly growing segment. Through strategic communications and relationship building with top writers and outlets, Gong cha has been recognized in numerous trade and business publications as a category leader and the authentic brand in the space.

  • "Gong Cha Focuses on Explosive U.S. Growth"

    Franchise Times

  • "Bubble Tea On Every Corner In New York City? Anchal Lamba Thinks So"

    New York Business Journal

  • "Gong Cha Makes Key Leadership Hires to Accelerate US & Global Expansion"

    Yahoo Business

  • "How Gong Cha Master Franchisee Anchal Lamba Built Bubble Tea Empire By Age 32"

    Nation’s Restaurant News

  • "Three Tea Businesses Rank Among Entrepreneur's Franchise 500 for 2023"

    World Tea News

  • "This Is How You Build A Bubble Tea Empire"

    The Street

  • "How Gong Cha Plans to Take It's Bubble Tea Brand Across the U.S."

    Restaurant Business

  • "Gong Cha Signs Three Master Franchisee Deals in the U.S."

    QSR

Organic Social Media

With a social media presence spread across multiple international and local social media accounts, Gong cha’s first goal was to create a national account for the U.S. In order to achieve this, Carbonate developed a plan that shifted content to speak to Gong cha’s target audience—Gen Z and young millennials—while increasing the US-based follower count, specifically within Gong cha’s active markets. Our social media and creative teams developed brand-relevant content—identifying a distinct brand voice, look and feel through strategic copywriting, custom designed graphics, and art direction of photo shoots.

Over the course of 18 months, the channels gained nearly 38,000 followers and accumulated 30.7M organic views and 800,000 organic engagements.

Illustration with colorful pattern that features minimalistic iconography of various Lunar New Year elements including tea, fan, flower in vase, a mandarin orange, and origami

Creating Cultural Connections

Carbonate worked closely with the Gong cha team to ideate and bring to life creative promotions and LTOs.  Our team utilized strategic creative, timely memes and social media contesting to generate both relevance and revenue for the brand.

Three individuals in denim jackets with only their arms in frame happily holding their Gong Cha bubble teas together over a table covered in confetti
stuffed bubble tea key chains on a red background
3 girls drinking from a mega mug with red straws
GIF of confetti falling over two bubble tea drinks standing atop white blocks with a red backdrop
Energetic young woman outside with the sun to her back sipping bubble tea against teal background.
Three young people smiling and posing for a photo outdoors, all holding bubble tea

Influencer Marketing

As influencer marketing continues to become increasingly relevant with Gen Z and millennial audiences, we identified influencer pilot opportunities on both TikTok and Instagram to gauge messaging strategies within their target audience, measure the efficacy of each platform, and understand the advertising and creator nuances between the platforms and audiences. Carbonate handled all aspects of influencer partnerships, including campaign strategy, scouting and outreach, negotiation and briefing, and finalizing content deliverables, engaging with over 70 partners and over 2.4M views.

Pink bubble tea drink with white cream being poured overtop and dripping down the side of the cup on pink background
Closeup of white backpack against yellow background with two Gong Cha keychains

Paid Social Media Advertising

In order to ensure content reached Gong cha's target audience, Carbonate developed a plan that included a boosted post campaign to amplify key messages. We also developed a full-funnel ad campaign catered to those within zip codes affiliated with Gong cha locations, focused on increasing brand awareness, traffic to their online store locator, and increasing social media following on Instagram and Facebook. For each campaign, Carbonate developed monthly/quarterly creative content and copy to keep the content fresh and seasonal. Over the course of the campaign, awareness ads garnered 30M impressions and 2.5M engagements, retargeting ads saw 71,000+ online store locator landing page views, and the boosting campaign cost per engagement averaged $0.03.

Photography: Jayna Kropas