Yesterday evening at the 2024 Australian Drinks Awards, Tooheys New took home the prize of Classic Beer - Gaining in Popularity. The award, which was one of a number of major wins for Lion Australia, occurred just one day after the NSW Blues rugby league team made a surprise 14-4 victory against the QLD Maroons to take home the State of Origin series title. 

“It's so exciting, I mean you've got to also remember it's 150 odd years old this brand so to receive an accolade like gaining in popularity kind of warms the heart," said Chris Allan, Lion’s Connections Director.

"It has been a big week [with] a lot going on and it's great to have Tooheys be a part of that.”

According to Thrive Insights, the market research solution provider that works with the Drinks Association each year to determine the winning brands of the Australian Drinks Awards, the return of the I Feel Like a Tooheys brand campaign was a key factor underpinning Tooheys New's success. 

“Tooheys new really kicked on in the classic category, reinvented that, using something old, making it new again,” said Chris Papadimitriou, Director at Thrive Insights. 

“This year, they've then taken it to the next level where they brought the Tooheys Blues into it and all the team’s singing it, it's a really clever campaign… you're going to have multiple generations knowing that song, growing up going ‘I feel like a Tooheys, I feel like a Tooheys too’... That's a marketing masterstroke.”

When asked about the return of the iconic campaign, Lion's Chris Allan said, “it was a conscious decision to look into what has made the brand great in the past and bring that back, but also there was a bit of a swollen wave of consumer nostalgia. And Tooheys, at its heart, being such a genuine brand that brings people together.

“Also with the Blues, for example; how it's connecting with the next generation of New South Wales and broader consumers in Australia just shows that these 150 year old icons certainly have a lot more life left in them… people who were around in the 80s have like a fond memory of what it means to them but then there's also a generation coming through now who are hearing it for the first time… I think it's just it's just allowing everyone to connect to it.”

The growth of Tooheys New will likely continue to develop in the wake of Tooheys’ State of Origin win given its connection to the winning team. While the partnership has been ongoing for 13 years, the resurgence of the jingle became a viral sensation when the NSW Blues were recorded singing it at the recent Melbourne State of Origin.

“The highlight for us was having the players sing our jingle in the sheds spontaneously,” said Allan.  

“We didn't ask them to do it, they just have taken it on because the brand means something to them and is a representation of the great state of New South Wales."

At last night’s Australian Drinks Awards, Lion Australia took home other major accolades including the two Contribution to Industry Awards and one Supplier Award. For more information about the overall results, read this Drinks Trade article.

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