NEW ZEALAND MEETS JAPAN

Short List
TitleNEW ZEALAND MEETS JAPAN
BrandLION
Product / ServiceTOKYO DRY
CategoryA08. Use of Licensed or Adapted Music
EntrantDDB NEW ZEALAND Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
Idea Creation DDB NEW ZEALAND Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
Media Placement ZENITH Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
PR THE PR SHOP Grey Lynn, NEW ZEALAND
Production GOODOIL FILMS Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
Additional Company LION Auckland, NEW ZEALAND

Credits

Name Company Position
Damon Stapleton DDB Group New Zealand Regional Chief Creative Officer
Shane Bradnick DDB Group New Zealand Executive Creative Director
James Conner DDB Group New Zealand Creative Director
Christie Cooper DDB Group New Zealand Creative Director
Jenny Travers DDB Group New Zealand Business Partner
Michael Doolan DDB Group New Zealand Senior Business Manager
Rupert Price DDB Group New Zealand Chief Strategy Officer
Judy Thompson DDB Group New Zealand Executive Producer
Samantha Royal DDB Group New Zealand Senior TV Producer
Mark Foster Goodoil Executive Producer
George Mackenzie Goodoil Business Director
Joe Kefali Goodoil Director
Andrew Mclean Goodoil Producer
Peter Grasse Mr Positive Line Producer
Germain McMicking Goodoil DOP Lighting Cameraman
Mark Burnett The Editors Offline Editor
Dave Gibson Goodoil Colourist
Stu Bedford The Machine Room Online
Jonathan Mihaljevich Franklin Road Music Licensing
Cam Ballantyne Beatworms Music Arranger/Producer

Write a short summary of what happens in the film

This film is for Steinlager Tokyo Dry, a beer that combines Steinlager's New Zealand ingredients with Japanese brewing mastery, Music is intrinsically linked to a country's national identity and nothing goes with beer more than a great song. So, what could be a better way to advertise a beer that combines two different cultures, than with music that does the same? We took an iconic New Zealand song that every Kiwi knows and loves, 'Slice of Heaven' by Dave Dobbyn and Herbs, and remade it in Japan. This film was the outcome, a music video featuring a whole range of Japanese musicians from J-pop singers to Taiko drummers, each of whom put their own spin on the song. The film and song combine New Zealand and Japan to get a fresher take on an old Kiwi classic, just like Steinlager did when they made Tokyo Dry.

Cultural/Context information for the jury

Steinlager is New Zealand's national beer. But they were seeing a worrying trend emerge as Kiwis in their 20s moved away from traditional NZ brands. For these young Kiwis, the classic, iconic Steinlager was a little bit old fashioned and uncool. With a quarter of the population living overseas and immigrants now making up another quarter of our demographic, NZ culture has changed. More and more, young Kiwis were looking overseas for inspiration and rejecting anything that represents 'old New Zealand' as they strive to appear more worldly. It was from this insight that Steinlager Tokyo Dry was born. A beer made from NZ ingredients and Japanese brewing mastery. Steinlager wanted to advertise this Japanese inspired beer without losing their NZ heritage, So we followed the format of Tokyo Dry by taking another iconic New Zealand classic and remaking it with Japanese masters of a different kind.

Tell the jury about the choice of music track.

To represent the New Zealand side of Tokyo Dry and our classic beer - Steinlager, we needed an iconic classic song that every Kiwi knew and loved. So we chose ‘Slice of Heaven’ by Dave Dobbyn and Herbs. Pegged as NZs unofficial National Anthem, Slice of Heaven is the song that every Kiwi can sing along to. When released in 1986 it outsold Michael Jackson's 'Beat it' in NZ and Australia and has been played at every sports game, wedding, school show, and party ever since. Now, more than 20 years after it first appeared in the charts it was perfectly poised for an update to make it relevant to a whole new generation of young Kiwis. To represent the Japanese side of Tokyo Dry, we collaborated with a range of Japanese musicians from J-pop singers to Taiko drummers to remake Slice of Heaven as create a true cultural mash-up.