LIFESTYLE
Chatime is Now Tealive! The Rebranding Exercise is Done
Goodbye Chatime, long live Tealive!
First of all, a quick mention of some Facebook users who claimed, "Rebranding only lah. Not close down" or "Clickbait bullsh*t" – as you can see, the brand Chatime, is gone. Chatime has closed down in Malaysia, and what you're enjoying now is tea under a new brand, not using the same recipes (assuming Tealive doesn't want to get sued).Tealive is the new brand under the former franchise holder of Chatime in Malaysia, Loob Holdings.
According to Malaysia Tatler, the rebranding took less than six weeks. With the rebranding, Tealive will move away from creating just bubble teas and will "... cultivate a modern tea drinking culture".
Image: Tealive Malaysia
If you're like us, you're probably wondering how to pronounce the new name. Is it Tea-live, like a live concert or live like live your life? " According to the interview, it is meant to be ambiguous and that customers can pronounce it any way they like. We're going to call it "tea-liff". Live as in live-in maid, say it 10 times in a row – tea-live, tea-live, tea-live, tea-live, tea-live, tea-live, tea-live, tea-live, tea-live, tea-live – and it sounds like "tea leaf", which is cool. According to The Star, the rebranding cost the company less than RM10 million and they have plans to increase their outlets from 165 to 250 in Malaysia with plans to tap into the regional markets, starting in Vietnam in the third quarter of this year.
Image: Tealive Malaysia Facebook
With the buy-one-free-one promotion, it seems like customers are liking the new look and are staying loyal to the brand. Now Bryan can finally turn that frown upside down. 
"Is that... Is that a smile!?" (Image: Salhani Ibrahim, BHarian.com.my)
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