New NZ beer ad campaign wins medals at Cannes
A New Zealand beer brand has won silver and bronze medals at the 2012 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, which went from 17–23 June in Cannes, France.
DB’s advertising campaign, “The Wine is Over”, marketed their Export Dry product as New Zealand’s first premium dry beer, launched in 1987. The campaign noted that the brand had become just one of many over the years, but emphasised that it was the first beer to “save men from wine”.
The campaign appears to have been based on market research showing that DB Export Dry’s target market, mainly young men, generally didn’t like wine, but sometimes felt that certain social situations required them to drink it. For instance, the need to appear sophisticated at weddings, work functions and restaurants encouraged the target market to drink wine, rather than uncouth beer.
The DB campaign accordingly took the angle that Export Dry was a premium beer that men could drink comfortably on any occasion, without appearing unsophisticated. It included a television commercial, titled “The Great Wine Depression”, and print and online advertising. As part of the campaign, DB even released a special-edition wine that, when purchased, gave consumers a $5 discount on Export Dry beer.
