| Title | FIGHT FOR TERRITORY |
| Brand | LION |
| Product / Service | STEINLAGER |
| Category | B09. Sponsorship & Brand Partnership |
| Entrant | DDB NEW ZEALAND Auckland, NEW ZEALAND |
| Idea Creation | DDB NEW ZEALAND Auckland, NEW ZEALAND |
| Media Placement | APN OUTDOOR Auckland, NEW ZEALAND |
| Production | DDB NEW ZEALAND Auckland, NEW ZEALAND |
| Additional Company | LION Auckland, NEW ZEALAND |
| Name | Company | Position |
|---|---|---|
| Damon Stapleton | DDB Group New Zealand | Chief Creative Officer |
| Shane Bradnick | DDB Group New Zealand | Executive Creative Director |
| Brett Colliver | DDB Group New Zealand | Creative Director |
| Mike Felix | DDB Group New Zealand | Creative Director |
| Josep Jover | DDB Group New Zealand | Art Director |
| Jacob Newton | DDB Group New Zealand | Copywriter |
| Jenny Travers | DDB Group New Zealand | Senior Business Director |
| Michael Doolan | DDB Group New Zealand | Business Manager |
| Liz Knox | DDB Group New Zealand | Digital Director |
| Haydn Kerr | DDB Group New Zealand | Digital Creative Director |
| Johannes Gertz | DDB Group New Zealand | Executive Digital Director |
| Jason Vertongen | DDB Group New Zealand | Head of Digital Design |
| Simon Betton | DDB Group New Zealand | Lead Developer |
| Paul Hutcheon | DDB Group New Zealand | Lead Front End Developer |
| Mike McMillan | DDB Group New Zealand | Front End Developer |
| Judy Thompson | DDB Group New Zealand | Agency Executive Producer |
| Alva Waldron | DDB Group New Zealand | Agency Producer |
| Mark Trethewey | DDB Group New Zealand | Editor |
To show we really understood the customer journey we bought every sign at the airport… and then we offered them to our rivals, Guinness beer, the official sponsor of the Lions... for free. Why on earth would we do that?
So, we bought every sign across both terminals, which included 65 digital screens and 8 large scale static billboards. We then told our rival, Guinness, the official sponsor of the Lions, that they could have the signs. But they had to fight us for them. We had fitted each of the 65 digital screens with a camera and microprocessor and programme them to recognise fans. Fans from either team could then take over the signs and blanket the airport for their team. All they had to do was approach the screen and stand their ground and the screen would change in front of their eyes. Just like a rugby match on the field it was a fight for territory. The campaign ran for the duration of the Lions tour of New Zealand from 31st May 2017 till 11 July 2017.
Over the course of the campaign we had 90,000 fans approach a sign to force a turn over. That’s enough to fill the rugby stadium twice and both beers saw an increase in sales with Guinness up 18% and Steinlager, already the top selling beer in the country, up 5%. But most importantly one of the biggest parts of the tour actually felt like part of the tour. When the media arrived to document the players arriving and leaving the airport looked like a battleground and the spirit of the competition was everywhere you looked.
Steinlager (the iconic New Zealand beer) have been a sponsoring the All Blacks (the iconic NZ rugby team) for 30 years. Why? Because rugby and beer go together. In fact, drinking beer while watching rugby ‘is’ part of the consumer journey. But every brand is trying to get on the field where the cameras are pointed. This campaign found a way to go where the cameras are, but no other brands were. The airport.
Well, during the Lions Tour teams and fans actually spend more time at the airport than they do at the actual stadiums. They spend literally hours there travelling between stadiums. But there is nothing going on at the airport, no advertising, no support, it doesn’t even feel like part of the tour. Apart from the fact that news media flock to the airport to interview players and capture the Lions fans arriving in all their red supporter gear.