By the time we started planning the launch, “Dubai chocolate” had stopped being a product.
It had become a cultural aesthetic.
Pistachio banana bread.
Dubai chocolate red velvet cake.
Green and brown everywhere.
Staying inside the trend meant becoming invisible.
So instead, we changed the conversation. This is how we launched FrischSchoggi Dubai in Singapore:
When my team was given the brief to launch FrischSchoggi Dubai in Singapore, it was immediately identified as a challenge.
The problem wasn’t that nobody knew the product.
The problem was that everybody already did.
Green. Brown. Gooey. Everywhere in Singapore.
What started with the viral ‘fix’ chocolate bar being hand-carried into the country quickly became a nationwide flavour trend. Pistachio desserts appeared everywhere — from pasar malam stalls to 7-11, supermarkets and TikTok Shop.
Within a year, Dubai chocolate wasn’t a novelty anymore.
It was everywhere….which made our ask particularly difficult. We were supposed to launch FrischSchoggi Dubai – our interpretation of the trending flavour – in a market that had already seen 12 months of Dubai chocolate mania.
And unlike the versions flooding the market, this one couldn’t be seen as accessible.
Here’s the thing: FrischSchoggi Dubai wasn’t typical Dubai chocolate.
Instead of kunafa, it uses kataifi, creating a crunchy pistachio core instead of a gooey filling. It was enrobed in pure Swiss milk chocolate.
Each slab was finished with blonde chocolate patterns inspired by Dubai’s royal motifs.
In short – a masterpiece.
But sometimes, explaining the craftsmanship wasn’t enough.
Because when a trend becomes this big, people stop paying attention to the details.
By the time we were knee-deep into planning the launch, “Dubai chocolate” had stopped being a product.
It had become a cultural aesthetic.
My neighbour baked pistachio banana bread. My best friend brought Dubai chocolate red velvet cake “try lah babe” (ok add to my pain hahaa).
Competing inside the narrative didn’t seem to be the right route to launch.
So instead, we changed the conversation. Where everyone spoke in green and brown, focusing on the flavour, we spoke in black and white.
Literally. Black and white, our brand colours. Because we decided to sell the brand instead as our key approach.
Instead of simply showing the chocolate, we showed the bag. I thank my boss for the trust in this campaign, because my brief was seriously “Our influencers are going to be carrying our bag –instead of holding Chanel flaps or their favourite Birkin, they’ll be carrying: our bag.”
The same iconic black-and-white Läderach bag — a symbol of having purchase some indulgent treats from our Boutiques – that would be our key visual. We pulled together campaign faces and instructed them to document themselves leaving our Boutiques dressed to kill, our bag swinging from well-manicured fingers.
Designer handbags were replaced by chocolate.
Because chocolates are a girl’s good friend.
And if it’s Läderach?
Her best friend.
But all was not over. The launch had another complication.
FrischSchoggi Dubai would debut at Jewel Changi Airport — our East-most Boutique.
Influencers said it was too far and RSVP’ed “no” for media day. Followers asked for Orchard instead.
So we turned the distance into the story.
Between Jewel Changi Airport and Changi Airport Terminal 1 lies a pedestrian crossing.
We turned it into a runway.
With one iPhone and one hot-pink Sony camera, we paparazzi’ed our campaign faces strutting across the road — waaaay too overdressed for the airport, our bag in hand.
But unlike real paparazzi, we wanted the photos to spread.
No watermark.
No branding.
Just glamorous people crossing an airport road with a very recognisable bag.
Followers commented, swiped up, DM’ed: “What did they just launch? What did you just buy?”
We continued the Leak. Our campaign faces didn’t even need to tag us on Stories; the bag and their FrischSchoggi-stained fingers said everything.
Their style of dressing? Total Dubai bling. We fought within a trend with another trend – remember that hot-pink Sony camera? We turned each airport-crosswalk-strut into a ‘digicam flash’ picture, leveraging on the trend of taking photos with that 2000s effect: perfect for integrating into Instagram feeds, and reeking of opulence and exclusivity.
This time, our followers came to us. “Is it coming?” They wrote.
That’s when we released the final, specific announcement on our end.
Plain and simple. “FrischSchoggi Dubai. Launching Dec 23rd. At Jewel Boutique.”
On launch morning, the team arrived at Jewel Changi Airport at 10am.
But we weren’t the first at our own Boutique.
A queue had already formed.
Stats our team is proud to share:
FrischSchoggi Dubai sold out in two hours.
Within two days, stock had to be replenished.
Customers were showing off their FrischSchoggi Dubai bites and purchases, sharing it like a win.
Singapore discovered something the trend hadn’t delivered before.
Not gooey pistachio.
Crunch.
All I have to say is: thanks, grand-concept-of-Dubai chocolate. You took my team for a spin, and we’re proud to delve into your green-and-brown goodness islandwide now – from Westgate to Jewel, Marina Bay Sands to Takashimaya, ION Orchard, Raffles City – and our newest Pop-Up at Changi Airport Terminal 3 Transit.
You can find the freshest FrischSchoggi Dubai slabs there. Tell us about the crunch!
Athena Tan 