Chatime is celebrating 10 years of Lunar New Year festivities with its latest holiday campaign, marking the Year of the Dragon.

The bubble tea brand’s annual holiday campaign has long featured its ‘purple pocket,’ a twist on the traditional red packet handed out during the New Year that features Chatime’s brand colour. The 2024 campaign, leading up to the holiday which falls on Feb. 10th this year, features a partnership with Chinese Canadian artist Carolyn Wong. Her colourful artwork appears on Chatime’s coupons and pockets, which were designed to be collectable.

“From past Lunar New Year campaigns, we noticed that Chatime customers like to collect all of the purple pockets in circulation, similar to how you collect different art pieces from an artist you love,” says Catherine Macdonald, head of marketing for Kevito Group. “So we wanted to lean in on the design of each coupon as a collectable aspect of this program, with each coupon representing something distinct about the Year of the Dragon.”

Macdonald adds that partnering with an artist in B.C. who is Chinese Canadian was a great way to bring the program to life.

“We wanted to use the themes of vitality, prosperity and growth as three main themes for the designs, and bring them into everything we’re doing into the campaign,” she says.

Roxanne Tsui, VP of customer experience for Chatime, had a personal connection with Wong and admired her work for brands such as BMO and Ten Ren Tea. Based in Vancouver, Wong is an illustrator and mural artist who also has roots in Toronto and is a loyal Chatime customer.

“She’s done some past work bringing her culture to the forefront of her art, and we liked that style,” Tsui says. “It was about the authenticity of her storytelling that was perfect for this campaign.”

Customers who purchase two large drinks automatically receive a purple pocket containing one of three coupons featuring a guaranteed drink prize, along with the chance to win larger prizes. This means that fans also have a chance to collect a series of the three coupons, each representing vitality, growth and prosperity. The contest’s prizes include a six-month HelloFresh subscription (growth); a weekend getaway, near the winner’s location (vitality); a $500 gift card (prosperity); and a limited-edition Year of the Dragon pin (bonus). The packets and coupons will be available at participating locations in Ontario and B.C.

Three videos, including one featuring Wong and her artistic process, are rotating across social media platforms (Instagram, Facebook and TikTok), and in stores roughly each week of the nearly four-week campaign, which ends Feb. 18.

Chatime is running the campaign across paid media and OOH, and via e-blasts and on its website. Tea tastings, to which media influencers have been invited, are also being held in-store in both B.C. and Ontario.

Chatime handled engagement for both media and food influencers, along with paid media. EQPR handled public relations.

While Chatime is celebrating 10 years of its Lunar New Year celebrations, Tsui says the brand will go even bigger in a couple of years.

“The Chinese zodiac runs in a 12-year cycles, so in two years, we will ramp it up and amplify this program even more,” Tsui says.

Chatime is working with 123w, which was tapped last year, to develop a new brand platform expected to launch later this year.