Yeo’s rallies a new wave of tea lovers with cheeky campaign

Yeo’s is courting a new generation of tea drinkers with the playful launch of "Gen Tea" - a fresh take on identity and national pride brewed just for Singaporeans.

The tongue-in-cheek campaign, conceptualised by Forsman & Bodenfors’ in-house agile content arm F&B Studios, taps into a long-standing mystery, the ‘T’ prefix on NRICs issued to Singaporeans born after 2000. While the letter has never had an official meaning, Yeo’s has stepped up to offer its own interpretation where 'T' stands for 'tea'.

Framed as a rallying call for tea lovers, the campaign introduces "Gen Tea" as a proud generation with Yeo’s first harvest green tea as its beverage of choice.

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At the heart of the campaign is a series of Instagram posts featuring Teamothy Yeo. In a heartfelt speech, Yeo unveils "Gen Tea" and stated that the generation will be issued a new "Identi-Tea card" which entitles them to their "birthright", Yeo's First Harvest Green Tea. 

The social-first campaign is also making its way offline, with a brand activation planned at One Holland Village. Tea fans can pick up their 'Identi-Tea card' and redeem their birthright  - a bottle of first harvest green tea - by simply declaring their "Gen Tea" status on-site.

In conversations with MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, Gary Lim, group creative director at Forsman & Bodenfors Singapore said, "Singaporeans born in the 2000s have the letter 'T' in their IDs. Does it stand for 'Tea'? We're calling it. Does it tie in with our target audience age group? Possibly. So, we'd felt it was only fitting to honour them as a new generation during the heat of the GE."

The campaign follows the brand's recent launch of three new packaging designs featuring the fortune cat, a vibrant symbol of prosperity and luck, to usher in the 2025 Lunar New Year earlier this year. 

Meanwhile, the beverage brand unveiled two 3D fortune cat installations to bring the festive spirit to life. Made entirely from recycled Yeo’s plastic bottles, the immersive installations served as both a festive centerpiece and a symbol of sustainability.

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