How Swedish brand Oatly created a new Cantonese word for plant-based milk so we could start a conversation about sustainability.

Our brief was to launch Oatly oak milk in Hong Kong, a small market of 7.4m people. Hong Kong was Oatly’s first market entry in Asia – it was vital for the brand succeed here ahead of potential expansion across the Asia Pacific region.

Oatly is a provocative Swedish challenger brand and believes shifting to a plant-based diet is better for humans and the planet. Already established in the West, Oatly drives debate and aims to change behaviour whenever it enters a new market, but in Hong Kong it had a problem: dairy consumption was increasing, and predicted to grow, and less than half the population understood the benefits of plant-based milk.

Plant-based milk is not regulated or even defined as a category by the Government, in fact there was not even a word for it in Cantonese.

Commended category: Strategy: Springboard to Success
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