How Leo Burnett helped beer brand, Alexander, to triumph over the devastation of war (and become famous)

In December last year, Leo Burnett Israel gave a small, local Israeli beer brewery a big boost to its “fame” in a very unusual way – a beer made from the wheat salvaged from the wheat fields destroyed along the Gazza border as a result of the ongoing conflict there.

The story and the results are rather remarkable:

Alexander is a small Israeli boutique beer brewery, that was known mostly to Israeli beer connoisseurs. Very few people in the general public had heard of it, let alone considered buying it. That, coupled with the fact most of Alexander’s competition came from the well-funded big international beer brands, meant that the brand and its agency, Leo Burnett, had some serious challenges on its hands.

“On the one hand, we needed to devise a way to break into the Israeli beer drinker’s consciousness and consideration set and on the other hand, we also needed to create a compelling enough reason for Israelis to choose our beer over the well-known international brands they usually bought and loved,” Leo Burnett noted.

“To answer both challenges, we decided to give Israelis a cause to rally around and launched Alexander Gaza Border Beer.”

The first-of-a-kind limited edition beer was made with wheat salvaged from over 28000 hectares of wheat fields along the Gaza border, that had been torched by incendiary kites – a new measure devised by Gazans to keep the Israel-Palestine conflict center stage. The kites were causing national outrage as nature and wildlife were being decimated and turned to ashes. The attacks also put farmers of Israel’s border towns and kibbutzim squarely on the frontline as the fires ravaged their crops and wiped out their livelihood, in the process also turning to ash the very wheat Alexander depended on to make beer.

“That’s why, betting on Israelis’ solidarity (when you go to the army and your life depends on the guy standing next to you – you’ll go to any extent to have his back ), the brewery offered Israelis a way to help their brothers – by buying Alexander Gaza Border Beer whose proceeds were all going to replanting farmers’ fields,” the agency explained.

The brewery began by issuing an initial batch of 200,000 bottles which were made available at supermarkets, bars, restaurants and online with free next-day-delivery anywhere in the country.

It launched the initiative with a heartbreaking commercial where Gaza border farmers spoke about the pain and despair they felt, as they witnessed the result of their hard work going up in smoke. The commercial ended with a call to buy the beer in solidarity.

Leo Burnett Israel: The beer giving Israeli farmers hope

Israelis responded immediately and bought up the entire supply of limited edition beer in just five days. Alexander Gaza Border Beer became a trending topic on Google.

The press raved and morning shows, evening news broadcasts, the daily press –all covered the limited-edition launch. Alexander sold more beer in one week than it sold in the past 6 months.

In fact, Israelis’ demand for the beer was so fierce that Alexander had no choice but to make more. So what started as a limited edition beer is still being sold today.

So far, Alexander has given back over US$60000 to farmers. And that’s just the beginning. The little brewery has gone from a little unknown local boutique beer brand, to the beer that’s on everyone’s lips (literally and figuratively), with its sales growth rate outpacing those of the competing big international beer brands.

“Alexander Gaza Border Beer turned out to be an initiative that guaranteed the beer brand would from now on own a very emotional place in Israeli consumers’ minds and shopping carts. Now that’s something we’re happy to drink to,” Leo Burnett stated.