The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf](https://corporate.thecoffeebeanandtealeaf.com/) is deploying a multi-phase anniversary campaign called Make It Yours across its network of more than 1,200 locations in over 20 countries, using the 63rd birthday of the brand as a platform to drive engagement around beverage customization, influencer content, and limited-edition merchandise.
Headquartered in Asia and owned by the Jollibee Group — the Philippines-based quick-service conglomerate with a growing portfolio of global coffee and restaurant brands — CBTL was founded in Southern California in 1963. The Make It Yours campaign is positioned as a contemporary expression of that founding premise, connecting heritage messaging with current consumer trends around personalization and self-expression in the specialty coffee and tea segment.
The Campaign Architecture
The initiative unfolds across three sequential phases. The first, dubbed Kindling Brand Love, centers on loyalty-driven storytelling: longtime customers, baristas, and creative collaborators are invited to share personal brand memories through social and in-store channels. Global artists are participating as brand ambassadors, sharing their beverage preferences and the role CBTL plays in their creative routines — a format increasingly common among specialty café operators competing for mindshare against larger chains.
The second phase, Sharing The Love, expands the reach through creator and influencer activations built around the hashtag #MakeItYours. CBTL is specifically spotlighting its On The Rocks customization format, through which customers assemble drinks from a menu of Crème Crowns, Espresso Shots, and Flavor Boosts — a build-your-own mechanic that mirrors broader industry moves toward modular beverage programs. For foodservice operators, this kind of high-margin customization platform can lift average ticket size while deepening habitual purchase behavior.
Merchandise and Retail Extension
The campaign culminates in a Celebrating Together phase anchored by in-store activations and a line of limited-edition artist-designed anniversary merchandise, including patches, keychain straps, and tote bags — all marketed as personalizable items. The merchandise layer reflects a wider trend among specialty café brands using branded goods to generate ancillary revenue and reinforce lifestyle positioning beyond the cup. For grocery and retail buyers tracking café-adjacent consumer goods, the move signals continued blurring between foodservice and lifestyle merchandise categories.
The Jollibee Group has used CBTL as a vehicle for international specialty coffee expansion since acquiring the brand, and campaigns of this scale — spanning social, in-store, and influencer channels simultaneously — align with the group's strategy to build global brand equity in premium beverage segments. CBTL's claim as the originator of The Original Ice Blended® continues to anchor its innovation narrative as the chain competes with regional and global rivals across Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and the Americas.
For operators and franchise partners in the specialty coffee and tea segment, the Make It Yours framework illustrates how legacy café brands are leveraging milestone anniversaries not merely for nostalgia, but as structured marketing vehicles to acquire younger consumers, activate creator communities, and extend brand touchpoints into merchandise. The campaign runs globally through the 2026 fourth quarter.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
