Melbourne-based brand content and performance agency Drake Content has been appointed by Chinese coffee brand NOWWA to lead its Australian launch, a major international expansion move for the Chinese based beverage.
With more than 5,500 stores across 150 cities in China, NOWWA chose Melbourne, one of the world’s most discerning coffee cities, as the test market for its first international store. Located inside The Strand on Elizabeth Street, the store opened in early 2025 with a full-funnel go-to-market strategy delivered by Drake Content across brand, content, social, influencer, PR and paid media.
Drake’s social launch for the brand generated strong local buzz, lines down the street and has positioned NOWWA as a culturally relevant contender in a market known for its coffee snobbery and resistance to franchises.
“This is a city that doesn’t give out coffee loyalty easily,” said Jeremy Drake, founder of Drake Content.
“NOWWA didn’t just want to open a store; they wanted to land with impact. We treated the campaign like a cultural launch, building trending content, engaging local coffee and food influencers and have devised a strategy around how Melbourne audiences engage, rather than just importing a global playbook of generic assets.”
The client win marks Drake Content’s first major engagement from mainland China, and has directly accelerated the agency’s investment in cross-cultural marketing services. Building on the momentum, Drake Content is now launching a dedicated RedNote advisory team, designed to help local brands connect with Chinese-speaking consumers both in Australia and abroad.
“RedNote isn’t just a China-facing channel,” said Drake. “It’s a lifestyle platform used daily by millions of Chinese, Malaysian, Singaporean and broader Southeast Asian diaspora communities. In Australia, it’s increasingly where people are discovering new places to eat, stay, shop and invest.”
The NOWWA launch on Meta and TikTok, and now the agency’s presence on RedNote has already generated increased interest from Australian brands in travel and property, eager to engage this growing audience through platform-native content and culturally fluent storytelling.
Drake Content was engaged for its ability to communicate cross-culturally between Shanghai and Melbourne, translating NOWWA’s vision into a message that resonates with Melbourne’s coffee lovers, and has since expanded its team to include Mandarin-speaking strategists and content creators, enabling full-service delivery across both traditional and Chinese platforms.
“If NOWWA can make it in Melbourne, they can make it anywhere,” Drake added. “And if we can help them do it, we can help other brands too, by applying the same local insight, platform specific thinking and performance-focused approach.”
Drake Content’s broader client portfolio includes Rydges Hotels & EVT, SMA Projects, The Royce Hotel, Tourism Central Australia, SeaLink Travel Group, Tourism Holdings Limited, The Flights Club & iFLYFlat and Captain Cook Cruises in Sydney.
The agency continues to expand its offering across social brand content, digital media, martech integrations and now cross-cultural communications strategy.
