The encyclopedia · Marketing & Brand · Marketing decision · 2015–2016
DB Export turned beer waste into car fuel and told men to drink to save the world
New Zealand's DB Export made biofuel from brewing yeast, sold it at every Gull station, and won the Grand Effie twice.
DB Breweries (DB Export)
The solution
DB Export was losing ground: mainstream beer was declining 6% while craft and premium beers took the narrative. Research showed the core male target (25-34) was more invested in the environment than stereotype suggested — they just had no way to act on it.
Colenso BBDO and DB Breweries created Brewtroleum: a clean-burning biofuel made from the yeast left over after brewing, blended with 98-octane petrol so any car could run on it. Partnering with Gull, New Zealand's leading biofuel retailer, they rolled it out to every Gull station nationwide.
The launch began with a fully rebranded Gull station in Auckland, where queues stretched for kilometres, then scaled to a full through-the-line campaign: TV, social, digital, outdoor, sampling and a branded tanker.
It exceeded all sales and brand objectives and won the Grand Effie at the 2016 New Zealand Effie Awards, then another top honor at the 2017 APAC Effie Awards.
Why it worked
- The biofuel was real, not a metaphor: drinking genuinely produced fuel, which made the claim bulletproof.
- The tongue-in-cheek call to action gave the audience fun, not guilt.
- Gull's nationwide forecourts became free ambient media for the brand.
- The idea gave a declining brand a reason to exist beyond taste and price.
What can be applied
When a category is in decline because it feels unappealing, change what the purchase means: a real, tangible purpose can reverse the social cost of choosing the brand.
Aftermath
Brewtroleum became the launch platform 'Made By Doing' for DB Export, followed by a second chapter turning empty beer bottles back into sand for construction. Sales and brand targets were exceeded, and the work took the Grand Effie at the 2016 New Zealand and 2017 APAC Effie galas.
Sources
- Winner Spotlight: DB Breweries & Colenso BBDO, 'Brewtroleum'
- Tiger global brand director talks APAC creativity and the challenges across the region
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