PR Case Study: How Saltine Communications Helped Merlyo Beverages Build Buzz for Its Home-Grown Canned Tea
Singapore’s beverage market is highly competitive, with home-grown brands competing for attention alongside established international players. For an emerging beverage company, having a differentiated product is only part of the challenge. Building credibility, telling a compelling story and getting in front of the right audiences are equally important.
Merlyo Beverages partnered with Saltine Communications to increase brand awareness and establish itself as a home-grown Singaporean beverage brand. Through strategic media relations, founder storytelling and targeted pitching across business, lifestyle, food and broadcast media, Saltine helped turn Merlyo’s journey into a compelling media story.
Campaign Summary
Merlyo Beverages engaged Saltine Communications to generate media awareness for the brand and showcase its position as a home-grown challenger in Singapore’s beverage market. Instead of focusing solely on its canned tea products, Saltine developed several complementary story angles around founder entrepreneurship, local product innovation, healthier beverage choices and Merlyo’s growing corporate presence.
This multi-angle approach enabled Saltine to pitch Merlyo to different types of media, resulting in coverage across mainstream, business, lifestyle and broadcast platforms including The Straits Times, Lianhe Zaobao, CNA938, MoneyFM and Alvinology.
Client Background
Merlyo Beverages is a home-grown Singaporean beverage brand founded by former army regular Chester Koh. After spending six years in the army, Chester took a leap into entrepreneurship and invested his personal savings into building a beverage business.
Merlyo offers a range of canned teas including Kumquat Jasmine Green Tea, Cucumber Mint Tea and Lemon Tea. Developed with Singaporean tastes in mind, the beverages are positioned as lighter, less-sweet alternatives and have received a Nutri-Grade B rating.
Despite being a relatively young brand, Merlyo has also secured corporate customers, with its beverages making their way into the pantries of major technology companies including Meta and Microsoft.
The Challenge
Breaking into Singapore’s beverage market can be difficult for an emerging local brand competing against large international beverage companies. While Merlyo had a differentiated product and an interesting founder story, the challenge was turning these elements into stories that would be relevant and newsworthy to different media audiences.
Merlyo needed to build awareness beyond its immediate customer base while establishing credibility as a serious home-grown beverage brand. Saltine Communications therefore needed to identify multiple media angles that could demonstrate why Merlyo was worth paying attention to.
Our PR Strategy
Saltine Communications built Merlyo’s PR campaign around four key storytelling angles: founder entrepreneurship, local innovation, healthier drinking and business traction.
The founder story became one of the strongest angles. Chester’s decision to leave his previous career and invest his own savings into building Merlyo gave journalists a relatable human-interest story while demonstrating the determination behind the brand. Saltine used this narrative to position Merlyo as more than a beverage company, but as a home-grown entrepreneurial success story.
Saltine also highlighted Merlyo’s product differentiation. The brand’s locally inspired flavours and lighter beverage positioning provided relevant angles for lifestyle and health-focused media, while its corporate customers provided a stronger business angle. By adapting the story depending on the publication, Saltine was able to create multiple opportunities for Merlyo rather than relying on a single product pitch.
The campaign was also extended into broadcast media. Through opportunities with CNA938 and MoneyFM, Merlyo’s founder was able to discuss the company’s journey, products and ambitions directly with listeners, adding a more personal dimension to the campaign.
Media Coverage Secured
Saltine Communications secured media coverage across a diverse mix of Singapore’s mainstream, business, lifestyle and broadcast media.
The Straits Times highlighted Chester Koh’s entrepreneurial journey and his decision to invest his savings into the business, providing Merlyo with strong mainstream and business visibility. Lianhe Zaobao covered the brand from a lifestyle and health perspective, highlighting its locally developed tea flavours and lighter beverage positioning.
On the broadcast side, CNA938 featured Merlyo on Eat, Drink, Singapore, giving the founder an opportunity to discuss the brand and its ambitions. Merlyo also received exposure through MoneyFM, helping the company reach a business-oriented audience. Alvinology further explored the founder story, Merlyo’s products and its growing corporate presence.
Campaign Results
The campaign successfully increased Merlyo Beverages’ visibility across Singapore’s media landscape and helped establish the company as a noteworthy home-grown beverage brand.
By securing coverage across multiple media categories, Saltine enabled Merlyo to reach different audiences rather than relying solely on traditional food and beverage publications. The combination of mainstream news, lifestyle coverage and broadcast appearances also gave the brand multiple opportunities to communicate its story and strengthen credibility.
The campaign demonstrated how strategic earned media can help an emerging consumer brand move beyond product awareness and build a stronger overall brand identity.
Why This Campaign Worked
The campaign worked because Saltine Communications did not position Merlyo as simply another canned tea brand.
Instead, the campaign combined a relatable founder story with product differentiation and tangible business traction. Chester’s entrepreneurial journey provided the human element, while Merlyo’s locally inspired flavours and growing corporate customer base provided the substance behind the story.
The use of different angles for different publications was also important. Business media could focus on entrepreneurship and the challenges of building a local challenger brand, while lifestyle and health publications could explore the products and changing consumer preferences. Broadcast media then added another layer by allowing the founder to communicate the story directly to listeners.
Why Brands Hire Saltine Communications
Emerging consumer brands often have interesting stories but struggle to identify which parts of their business are genuinely newsworthy.
Saltine Communications specialises in turning those stories into strategic media angles that are relevant to different publications and audiences. Rather than sending the same product pitch to every journalist, Saltine develops tailored narratives around founders, products, business milestones, trends and industry developments.
For Merlyo, this approach helped transform a home-grown canned tea company into a broader story about entrepreneurship, local innovation and building a challenger brand in Singapore’s competitive beverage market.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can a beverage brand get media coverage in Singapore?
Beverage brands can increase their chances of securing media coverage by developing stories beyond their products. Founder journeys, local innovation, consumer trends, health-conscious products and business milestones can all provide compelling editorial angles.
Why is founder storytelling effective for startups?
Founder stories give journalists a human narrative behind a business. They can demonstrate the motivation, challenges and personal journey behind a brand, making the story more relatable to readers and audiences.
What does a Singapore PR Agency do?
A Singapore PR Agency develops media strategies, identifies newsworthy story angles, pitches relevant journalists and helps brands build credibility through earned media coverage.
How did Saltine Communications help Merlyo Beverages?
Saltine Communications developed multiple media angles around Merlyo’s founder story, locally inspired products, healthier beverage positioning and business growth, resulting in coverage across mainstream, lifestyle, business and broadcast media.
Why should consumer brands invest in PR?
PR helps consumer brands build credibility through third-party media coverage while increasing awareness among audiences they may not reach through their own marketing channels.
About Saltine Communications
Saltine Communications is a Singapore-based PR agency specialising in media relations, thought leadership, founder profiling and guaranteed media opportunities for startups, SMEs and established brands.
The agency has secured coverage across publications including The Straits Times, CNA, Business Times, Tatler, Vogue Singapore, Mothership, Lianhe Zaobao and many others.
If you’re looking to increase brand visibility, establish thought leadership and secure meaningful media coverage, contact Saltine Communications to discover how strategic PR can support your growth.
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