Carlos Antonius, global CEO of Chatime (former Nando's General Manager) called Sphere in 2015 with a clear mission. The brand had grown on Asian consumer demand but had never broken through to mainstream Western audiences. The task was to Westernise bubble tea for a market that had never tried it.

Sphere's founder flew to Sydney, tasted bubble tea for the first time, spent three days immersed in the product, and came back with a single insight, this wasn't bubble tea. It was iced tea. Pimped up beyond recognition. Western iced tea hadn't changed in centuries. Chatime blew the whole category open.

The positioning: You've never had an iced tea like this before.

The creative expression was the Kim Jong, Storm in a Tea Cup video, a universally recognisable figure, a Barry White disco soundtrack, and a product that transformed his world. Bold, irreverent, designed to work across every market Chatime operated in globally.

The international team happened to be in Sydney during the Brand Incubator workshop. They went back to Taiwan blown away. Sphere was appointed to reposition the brand worldwide.

Australian results in year one: 17% sales increase. 210% increase in franchise leads in the first month. 40 new stores in two years. One of Australia's fastest growing franchises.

Awards: 2018 Top Franchise Awards category winner. 2019 Top 100 Australian Youth Brands. 2019 International Franchisor of the Year, FCA Excellence in Franchising Awards.

Global appointment: 1,200 stores across 80 cities. Henry Wang publicly compared Chatime's potential to Starbucks and cited Sphere as pivotal to getting there.