Brief Explanation

We had two audiences – the people holding the bottle, and the people looking for it online. So the design had to be clearly visible when viewed as a selfie taken by someone who was drinking beer. We were working with an extremely limited space on the bottle, which also had to include legalise to comply with alcohol advertising rules. We needed the design to capture the spirit of the All Blacks, but also pragmatically work as a promotional element.

The Brief

Steinlager needed to be the most visible brand in stadiums during the Steinlager Series, but our media budget was $0. We had one tiny space no one else did ¬– the label on our beer. So we changed every bottle to match an All Black player on the field and turned the beer into a social game for fans. Most beers have promotions. Ours was the promotion.

How the final design was conceived

We were working with the most iconic image in New Zealand – the All Blacks jersey. After a long process we ended up selecting only the most significant elements of it like the 'V' and texture, and of course the number. These were combined to produce the final design that captured the essence of the jersey whilst also working functionally as a promotional design.

Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market

• In just three games, we reached over a quarter of the population of New Zealand via the social feeds of the fans who posted selfies during the series. • During the series Steinlager had 91% share of voice, squeezing other brands out. • Steinlager’s Twitter followers increased by over 500%. • Best of all and for the first time ever, Steinlager sold out at Eden Park, New Zealand’s biggest stadium.