Beam Suntory

1. Trent Chapman - Marketing Director ANZ

The Monkeys Sydney *Lead Agency

1. Hugh Munro - Head of Strategy
2. Fabio Buresti - Chief Strategy Officer
3. Ben de Castella - Business Strategy Director
4. Mark Green - Group CEO and Co-Founder
5. Matt Michael - Managing Director
6. Scott Dettrick - Creative Director
7. Topher Jones - Business Lead
8. Lisa Zimpel - Business Director
9. Brett Edwards - Art Director

From summer ale to seltzer, “innovation” in the drinks industry usually just means jumping on the latest bandwagon. But not in the case of -196. This isn’t just the story of a new product, but a distinctive new brand that turned category convention on its head and turned Aussies onto an obscure shochu drink that was “big in Japan”, but unknown here. In one year, ‘Extreme Japanese Spirit’ helped -196 overtake ‘White Claw’, becoming the no.3 Light RTD with an ROI of $4.75: Beam Suntory Australia’s most successful launch ever.