DB EXPORT BEER BOTTLE SAND

Short List
TitleDB EXPORT BEER BOTTLE SAND
BrandDB BREWERIES
Product / ServiceDB EXPORT
CategoryA01. Fast Moving Consumer Goods
EntrantPHD Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
Idea Creation PHD Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
Idea Creation 2 COLENSO BBDO Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
Media Placement PHD Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
PR PHD Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
Production FINCH Auckland, NEW ZEALAND

Credits

Name Company Position
Cassidy Meredith Spark PR & Activate Senior Account Director
Heidi Thompson Spark PR & Activate Senior Account Manager
Katie Walton Spark PR & Activate Creative Services Director
Dallas Gurney Spark PR & Activate General Manager
Amanda Palenski PHD Group Business Director
Philippa Mckenzie PHD Media Manager
Kat Burnett PHD Digital Director
Simon Bird PHD Group Strategy Director
Duncan Timlin PHD Media Planner
Joy Fowler PHD Senior Trader
Lillie Brownlie PHD Buyer
Michelle Hua PHD Digital Planner
Stephen Lee PHD Digital Campaign Manager
Nick Worthington Colenso BBDO Creative Chairman
Andy Blood Colenso BBDO Executive Creative Director
Simon Vicars Colenso BBDO Creative Director
Andre Sallowicz Colenso BBDO Creative Director
Brett Colliver Colenso BBDO Art Director
James Tucker Colenso BBDO Creative Strategist
Brent Courtney Colenso BBDO Senior Designer
Angela Watson Colenso BBDO Head of Account Management
Brodie Reid Colenso BBDO Group Business Director
Mitch Lovich Colenso BBDO Business Director
Jen Storey Finch Head of Broadcast
Karen Bryson Finch Executitve Producer
Andy Routley DB Breweries Managing Director
Sean O’Donnell DB Breweries Marketing Director
Tony Wheeler DB Breweries Senior Marketing Manager – Mainstream Brands
Heath Dickson DB Breweries Brand Manager – DB Export

The Campaign

The world is running out of sand. It’s is used in everything from construction to pharmaceuticals, and as result two thirds of the world’s beaches are retreating. Desert sand is too fine to be used in construction, sending the demand for beach sand soaring. A billion-dollar black market has resulted in the illegal extraction of sand from Sierra Leone to Singapore. Sand is the second most exploited natural resource on the planet and takes hundreds of thousands of years to regenerate. At the same time, global mainstream beer consumption is in decline. So, we built machines that turn empty beer bottles into a sand substitute. To save their beaches, we asked New Zealanders to empty a bottle of DB Export. Made from desert sand originally, each bottle makes 200 grams of sand substitute. To make a difference we needed New Zealanders to empty as many DB Export bottles as possible!

Execution

INTRODUCING BEER BOTTLE SAND We seeded the initiative to media via a press release and branded film, media were encouraged to cut their own version of the video. The original film was then seeded on social gaining 53 million organic views. MAKING IT REAL We created a physical presence for the brand through a partnership with Mitre 10 – NZ’s largest DIY retailer. Beer Bottle Sand was stocked in 45 outlets nationwide. We negotiated inclusion of a building challenge using Beer Bottle Sand on popular NZ renovation show ‘The Block’ and used building wraps of construction sites to communicate that they were using our sand in construction. AMPLIFYING THE STORY Kiwi men were then recruited to join our movement through media relations, TV, social, media partnerships supported by digital video and billboards – driving awareness and delivering longevity.

With category decline at 6%, our drinkers emptied 13 million bottles - helping DB Export become the only mainstream beer to grow in value and volume. Thousands of user-generated videos were shared from machines, with our campaign video receiving 53 million views and 700,000 shares. Our sand was supplied to construction, roading, golf and drainage companies. A two-year deal to supply our sand to Drymix (NZ’s largest concrete producer) has seen us create our own brand of eco-concrete, sold to consumers through the country’s biggest home improvement chain. Requests for machines have come from all over the world, scoping to supply 500 machines is currently underway. Currently we are working with one of NZ’s biggest construction companies to test using DB Export Beer Bottle Sand in public roading.

The Situation

Sand mining has seen two thirds of the world’s beaches retreating. Extensive research told us Kiwi blokes were environmentally conscious. We also knew our guys loved the beach, but didn’t know they are under threat. This insight drove our creative idea - turning beer bottle waste into an environmentally friendly sand substitute. We combined this great idea with a carefully crafted communications strategy. Much more than a one off stunt, our planet-saving initiative was rolled out nationwide with a multi-phased PR campaign driving not only local, but global buzz. The campaign far exceeded KPIs, delivering 203 million impressions PR worldwide.

The Strategy

Our target audience was beer drinking Kiwi blokes. The communications strategy was to launch with PR, organic social and earned media so our drinkers would hear about DB Export Beer Bottle Sand in the news or from their mates, then use paid media to magnify the message and remind them to buy DB Export. This broke down as follows: 1. Introduce NZ to DB Export Beer Bottle Sand; the story of how it works through PR, native and earned media 2. Make it real; Let the public use the machine and buy the product, showcase the bags of sand retailed in Mitre 10 through PR and earned media, and create bespoke media solutions in places where our sand was being used. 3. Amplify the story with a call to arms; tell beer drinkers that they can help save our beaches by drinking more DB Export through paid media.