Goodbye Gong Cha, hello LiHO!

Most Singaporeans would probably have heard of RTG Holdings’ conversion of Gong Cha outlets to LiHO outlets in the past week. In fact, the abrupt closing of Gong Cha resulted in long queues at the remaining outlets before being replaced by LiHO on 5th June 2017.

The change came about when Gong Cha’s parent company, Royal Tea Taiwan, was bought over by Gong Cha Korea. Managing Director, Mr Rodney Tang, felt “betrayed” because he wasn’t informed of the change.

Over time, he had the idea of introducing changes to Singapore’s bubble tea scene by building a new homegrown brand.

So how did RTG Holdings create such a smooth transition from Gong Cha to LiHO?

Developing a homegrown brand

With Gong Cha already having its pool of regular customers, it is highly likely that they will give LiHO a try. Furthermore, Singaporeans will take pride in and show support for this new homegrown brand. Members of Team Gong Cha may even find themselves liking LiHO’s drinks better.

However, as humans are habitual beings, some may find themselves comparing the products from both brands.

Introduction of Cheese Tea to Singapore

Bringing the popular Cheese Tea into Singapore’s market (undoubtedly LiHO’s highly marketed signature drink).

LiHO Singapore presents to you Singapore’s first ever Cheese tea! Come try it at our outlets for a creamy blend of cheese and tea. . . . #LiHO #LiHOsg #cafesg #coffeesg #cafehopping #sgfoodies #sgeats #sgfoddiary #sgfoodies #stfood #igsg #burpple #burpplesg #hungrygowhere #openrice #eatoutsg #iweeklyfood #sgcafes #sgig #cheesetea #supportlocalsg

A post shared by LiHO Singapore (@lihosg) on May 28, 2017 at 10:10am PDT

LiHO offers a variety of Cheese flavoured drinks such as the Cheese Jing Syuan Tea, Cheese Melon Tea and the Cheese Yam Smoothie. You can find the cheese in the foamy mix added on top of the drinks.

LiHO’s cheese drinks are bound to spark curiosity and attract potential customers to give it a try as it is entirely new to Singaporean’s taste buds.

Got my hands on our 1st cup of LiHo! It’s a pity they ran out of cheese so we couldn’t get their Signature cheese guan yin. So we ordered this Earl Grey + 3M (??) and it turned out quite nice! 😍😍 #LiHo

A post shared by peppermin (@ppmfaith) on Jun 6, 2017 at 6:52am PDT

Apart from the Cheese drinks, classic drinks such as Milk Tea and Milk Green Tea are also available. Therefore, consumers do have an extensive selection.

Influencer/ PR efforts

The transition was also made smoother with widespread media coverage from local newspapers to food bloggers and social media influencers.

Local news outlets such as The Straits Times and Channel News Asia featured and even reviewed the drink in their news. Famous food blogs such as DanielFoodDiary and SethLui who have a huge reader base also featured LiHO on their blogs, helping to reach even more consumers.

RTG Holdings also engaged social media influencers such as @phyliciamae to conduct giveaways on Instagram.

[GIVEAWAY] You’ve heard of cheese with fries, but what about cheese with TEA? One thick layer of (special secret formula) cheese yields a mind-blowing LiHo! Cheese Tea. The mild saltiness when it hits your tastebuds is surprisingly addictive! My go-to is the Cheese Mango Smoothie, you get both sweet and sour in a cup 🍹😍 . 3 followers will win a chance to slurp a free LiHo Cheese Tea! Simply follow me and @lihosg and comment below why cheese is your #swirlmate The ultimate cheese lover will be chosen on 6th June 2017!! . LiHo! (formerly Gongcha) #lihosg #saycheese

A post shared by .✨🎀 PHYLICIA M A E 💕❄️ (@phyliciamae) on May 29, 2017 at 4:38am PDT

Everyone loves giveaways! LiHO is definitely on the right track towards building brand awareness with @phyliciamae’s post.

However, as Gong Cha has just announced their comeback to Singapore, Liho cannot take their current success for granted. Till then, we are excited to find out how LiHO will maintain its competitive edge when Gong Cha re-enters the Singapore market!