We were asked to advertise DB Export Gold, a beer in steady decline for almost a decade. Instead, we released another beer. The problem facing Export Gold was that it had no history. We spoke to the brewer. He told us the incredible story behind the first Export brew - the grandfather of Export Gold - a story with heroes, villains, betrayal, rebellion, and the uprising of the common man. Our plan was simple, re-release the infamous first 1950s brew and tell its story. And by doing so give Export Gold a history and a connection with New Zealand that it had never had before. The day the vintage brew hit the shelves we released a short film telling the story of how the 1950s New Zealand government taxed imported beers out of the reach of the common man, and how one brewer defied the government by releasing an import quality beer that avoided tax.The campaign got major media attention, invoking a response from parliament, and featuring at TED.For the first time in almost a decade Export Gold sales increased, growing from 11.1% Volume Share to 12.9% in just 6 months.Without doing a single ad for Export Gold we revived the fortunes of the brand.Proof that every brand needs a good story.

Once we had the story of the DB Export family. The trick was to tell it in the most compelling and honest way we could. We chose to lead the campaign with a short film. The film ran in cinema and online.Next we released the original brew exactly as it had appeared in the 1950s. The product was a hit.From there we told the story everywhere we could; press, radio, posters, online, on TV, in bars. Everywhere we told the story we connected Export Gold with the Original Export.On the DB site we released interviews of people who knew Morton Coutts personally, and old timers who were affected by the Black Budget crisis of the 1950s.The campaign got major media attention, even invoking a response from parliament.

Export Gold has gone from 11.1% Volume Share to 12.9% in just 6 monthsExport Gold’s low Carb cousin, Export 33 has gone from 22.7% Market Share in December 2010 to 27.7% in February 2011.Overall the Export Family Volume Share has gone from 6.2% March 2010 to 6.7% in the total beer categoryThe DB Export Original Beer has a 41% Awareness of the beer with the target and an 8% Trial of the beer with the target.