Steinlager has always appealed to an older, mostly male audience of loyalists, but has never really broken through to an audience beyond that, in particular the 18–34-year-old audience, and female audiences.

Steinlager also sponsors the world-famous All Blacks – a team that Kiwis of all ages, genders, and backgrounds dream of playing for. So, we created the Alt Blacks: a new team that gave regular Kiwis the chance to play a test match in a black jersey for the first time ever, regardless of age, gender, or complete lack of sporting ability.

This was the moment every Kiwi has dreamed of since they were a child growing up watching the All Blacks. A moment they never imagined would become a reality.

We leaned into the insight that getting the chance to wear the All Blacks' famous black jersey in a game of rugby is every New Zealander's dream. A dream that most of us will never get the chance to live in reality. A dream that we knew, if given the chance, very few Kiwis could say no to.

So we gave regular Kiwis the chance to play in a black jersey for the first time ever by creating a new team: the Alt Blacks, in a new world: the gaming world.

With the developers of the popular video game, Rugby Challenge, Steinlager went into the gaming world. In this world, we could turn anyone into the rugby hero of their dreams, so they could play in a test match versus world champions, South Africa, in front of millions of fans – something that could never happen in the real world.

The dream of playing for the All Blacks and pulling on the famous black jersey is a dream that every New Zealander grows up with. A dream that no one could pass up if given the chance.

This was the perfect opportunity to use Steinlager’s sponsorship of the All Blacks to appeal to every New Zealander – regardless of age, gender, or complete lack of sporting ability. A new audience far greater than Steinlager’s typical audience.

To give this opportunity real credentials with the fans, we used a familiar face to Kiwis, World Cup-winning All Blacks coaching legend, Sir Graham Henry, to put out a call for entries and select a squad of 23 regular Kiwis to play for the Alt Blacks. A call that thousands of Kiwis answered, and millions tuned in to watch around the world.

Our live eSports match went head-to-head with the All Blacks game, playing on the same day that they played world champions, South Africa – the ultimate test of our team's newfound stardom. And our game streamed to a potential audience of over 4 million fans around the world.

As a whole, our campaign reached 3x the population of New Zealand and achieved our ultimate goal of bringing Steinlager to a new audience, as we achieved our highest awareness with people aged 18-34 in the past decade.

In the end, we didn’t just make a team that lived the dream. We made a team that took on the world champions, in front of millions of fans, with the Steinlager logo on their chests - and won.