Since their partition in 1947, India and Pakistan have shared a 75-year history of war, political tensions and rivalry.

But despite all their differences, the two nations have so much more that unites them through centuries of shared history and culture – from languages and art to movies, music, cuisines, and even a fanatical passion for cricket.

But the one thing that perfectly captures this shared culture, above all else – is their mutual love of chai.

Project Chaiwala is a homegrown tea house in the UAE that caters mainly to the Indian and Pakistani chai-lovers.

As a new and relatively small player in the category with a limited budget, they wanted to activate the brand with an idea that appealed to the sentiments of this core target audience – with the objective of earning brand love.

Indian and Pakistani expatriates form up to 60% of the UAE’s total population – and Project Chaiwala’s biggest target audience.

To win a share of their hearts, we took their shared love of chai – and turned it into a symbol of unity between the two nations, by creating the first-ever blend of tea made by combining tea leaves sourced from the plantations of Darjeeling, India and Mansehra, Pakistan.

We collaborated with Sanjay Sethi – renowned tea taster with over 39 years of experience – to perfectly balance the flavour characteristics of the two tea leaves with completely different soil origins, taste densities and compositional structures. After multiple rounds of trials, we finally achieved the perfect balance with Milaap (the Hindi and Urdu word for ‘unity’).

We found real stories of people from India and Pakistan, who share more in common they know, and turned them into hand-crafted illustrations made in collaboration between two artists – one from India and one from Pakistan.

Sarfraz in India and Sarfraz in Pakistan. Both barbers. And both chai-lovers.

Wassim in Mumbai. Wassim in Islamabad. Both cobblers. Both, also chai-lovers.

And so on, five unique illustrations featuring street sign painters, rickshaw pullers, and even chaiwalas (chai sellers).

Along with a specially created multi-lingual logo (Urdu, Hindi and English), each of the illustrations was featured on new packaging, ranging from delivery flasks and metallic kettles to takeaway tea tins – which was made available for sale in our stores as well as online.

In-store collateral also featured the illustrations – from disposable cups and serving trays to on-site posters that explained the story behind each illustration.

Project Chaiwala sold more than 53,000 on the day of launch, and over 208,000 cups through online orders within the first 72 hours of launch.

With only US$ 23,000 spent, we earned a media value of over US$ 390,000, and searches for Project Chaiwala increased by 260%.

All of this resulted in an overall brand awareness increase of 173%, with Project Chaiwala receiving the “Best Chai in Dubai” award at the Dubai Food Festival. Project Chaiwala was even recognised with TimeOut’s ‘Best Restaurants Award’.