Making Kombucha Cool with Saba Kombucha – Case Study

That’s right – Kombucha wasn’t always a cool, trending beverage widely available across the UAE.
Rumor has it that it had a good PR team.

Kombucha and UAE Market History

From 2015 – 2018 when the drink was becoming increasingly popular across the globe for its gut health benefits and immune-boosting properties, access in the UAE was essentially non-existent, with only a handful of retailers importing the drink.

Adding on, as the drink goes through a fermentation process like wine, spirits, and beer but with minuscule alcohol levels resulting, this presented a roadblock for local production and retail.

Coming into 2019, with local production and retail laws changed, the passionate team behind what is known today as Saba Plant-Based started the business as Saba Kombucha, producing and selling the namesake beverage.

Aside from being a new beverage, Saba’s launch was much more significant. It was the first legally registered Kombucha to be locally produced – making it the first of its kind.

A Turning Point: Kombucha Meet the UAE

Shortly after its launch in 2019, the drink was available widely available across the UAE. There was decent buy-in and that was largely in part from individuals familiar with the drink. Given the recent global craze and increasing praise of health benefits in our wellness-conscious world, you’d expect the product to go flying off shelves.

Lack of Awareness and Need for Education

POP Communications started working with Saba Kombucha in late 2019 and into 2020 to support its brand awareness. In order for sales to thrive brand awareness and optimal positioning were needed.

Making Kombucha Cool: Six Months of Brewing: Media Coverage, Influencer Engagement, and Partnerships

Key Focuses:

• Highlighting the significance of Kombucha being locally produced and sold in the UAE.
• Engaging with the end consumer directly.

Start-from-the-Beginning Approach:

• Education on the beverage along with its health benefits:
  • Health benefits were a relevant and needed element during COVID.
  • Address the drink’s makeup and fermentation process, leading to the dissolvement of alcohol sugars.
    • This communication was key for some media outlets given regional sensitivities.

‘Brewing the Tea’ – What We Did

• Media Relations:
  • Gifted 25 editors product samples
  • Storytelling: Creative brand pushes reflective of the media title and genre
• Influencer Engagement:
  • Constant awareness Made the product a part of consumer’s everyday lives
  • Targeted gifting across lifestyle, health/wellness, and foodie influencers for wider awareness
    • Dedicated Product Gifting Theme Campaigns:
      • Valentine’s Day:
        • Highlight the Hibiscus flavor; red color for Valentine’s Day
        • Delivered with roses and a box of strawberries connecting love and health.
      • Mother’s Day:
        • Mothers need immunity to keep families doing
        • Ginger-Turmeric flavor shared along with a Mother’s Day Card

With time and persistent messaging, we achieve:

• 80 top-tier media placements including Harper’s Bazaar Arabia, Cosmopolitan Middle East, The National, Mojeh, HIA, and Arabian Business.
• 300+ social media engagements (posts or stories) across 100+ influencers, including macro-level individuals
• 2 Million Social Media Viewers Reached

How Saba Kombucha is viewed today:

An on-trend health-boosting beverage and go-to among many UAE residents. We further worked with the brand to launch its coconut-based yogurt products in 2022.

That’s PR Done Well!

With a passionate team, anything is possible – even making your brand a trendsetter.

Here are some of our favorite coverage placements, influencer posts campaign material: