The modern tea brand partners with POP MART’s Hacipupu to launch grape tea, drive collectibles culture, and deepen Southeast Asia appeal
Tea brand CHAGEE is turning heads with its latest cross-market collaboration, and it’s not just the product doing the talking.
Partnering with collectible toy brand POP MART and its character Hacipupu, CHAGEE has launched a limited-time “Green grape milk tea” alongside an immersive, tennis-themed pop-up campaign that blends beverage culture with lifestyle engagement.
This article explores how CHAGEE is pushing beyond traditional product launches by tapping into regional fandoms, photo-driven social behaviors, and the booming collectibles market across Southeast Asia. The campaign is a case study in how brand storytelling, when paired with local insight, can drive both traffic and talkability.
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What’s the collab about?
CHAGEE’s new limited-edition “Green grape milk tea” blends Xinjiang emerald grapes with Zhejiang green tea, served with or without milk. The refreshing, low-calorie profile supports the brand’s wellness positioning, while the POP MART tie-in targets a different kind of appetite: the collectible craze.
Merchandise includes custom pins, squishies, bottles, and keychains, all tied to POP MART’s Hacipupu character and designed to encourage social sharing, collectability, and repeat visits.
The collaboration is built around a cohesive brand world, anchored by a tennis-themed “CHAGEE’s little champion” pop-up, featuring:
- Interactive games
- Tea tastings
- Branded photo ops
- Merch customization
- Prize redemptions via a “Dream stamp collection journey”
As Director of Branding and Marketing for CHAGEE APAC, Li Simeng, put it: “This is more than just a campaign. It shows how CHAGEE can create moments that people enjoy together across our markets.”
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Multi-market pop-ups fuel lifestyle positioning
Rather than copy-pasting activations across the region, CHAGEE is tailoring the campaign to each market’s local consumer behavior.
- Singapore: The pop-up at The Star Vista taps into café-hopping culture, using visual shareability and exclusivity as currency.
- Malaysia: The Gardens Mall sees the collab integrated into existing outlets, balancing walk-in traffic with campaign exposure.
- Thailand and Indonesia: Central Park and Kota Kasablanca malls are playing host to interactive game zones, capitalizing on footfall and selfie moments.
The regional approach isn’t accidental. It mirrors CHAGEE’s strategy to become a lifestyle-first brand in Southeast Asia, building equity not just through product innovation but through cultural and experiential relevance.
What marketers should know
CHAGEE’s partnership with POP MART delivers more than aesthetics. Here’s what marketers can learn from the playbook:
1. Limited editions drive urgency, but experiential earns loyalty
The scarcity of collab merch and drinks builds FOMO, but CHAGEE doesn’t stop at the drop. By designing tactile, gamified experiences, the brand turns casual sippers into engaged fans.
2. Brand crossover is more powerful with cultural alignment
This isn’t just a tea company borrowing clout from a toy brand. CHAGEE and POP MART meet at the intersection of youth lifestyle, fandom, and visual storytelling, making the collab feel seamless rather than forced.
3. Local relevance matters more than regional reach
The campaign may be regional, but the activations are anything but one-size-fits-all. CHAGEE is showing that understanding micro-behaviors, like Singapore’s café culture or Jakarta’s mall obsession, can be the difference between relevance and noise.
4. Cross-category storytelling is where brand building is headed
Tea meets toys meets tennis is not your typical product launch formula. But in the age of collapsing categories and consumer boredom, it’s these kinds of creative mashups that build sticky brand equity.
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