DB’s Fraser Shrimpton is on a mission: to make beer ads exciting again.
The marketing director at DB Breweries has led a host of memorable campaigns. He says his priority for 2026 is to bring back “legendary” creative.
“We’re a beer business, but I think as an industry we’ve got a little bit worthy, a little bit safe,” he says.
“We are part of those moments of connection and joy, so we should be fun and topical and interesting – and understand our role. My mission is to get back to more of the bold, creative work we might not have seen for a while.”
Shrimpton’s recent marketing work can hardly be accused of lacking boldness. After reviving Tui’s iconic ‘Yeah right’ billboards, DB launched the hugely successful ‘Export Ultra Cold Call Back Service’ featuring rapper Vanilla Ice.
The campaign picked up a long list of accolades, including four golds, three silvers and three bronzes at the Axis Awards, a silver and bronze at the Cannes Lions and Best B2C Marketing Campaign at the YouTube NZ Marketing Awards 2025 (Shrimpton was also nominated for Marketer of the Year).
He describes ‘ Cold Call Back’ as a “massive highlight” of his career, and says it all started from a consumer insight: many Kiwis’ beers exploded after forgetting they’d put them in the freezer to chill.
“It’s very rare that you find something that both is so anchored in an insight but also creatively expressed in a way that is quite bold and out there, but engaging. Not offensive, just fun.”
Not a lawyer
Fun, or the lack of it, was why Shrimpton chose not to pursue his earlier ambition of becoming a lawyer.
“I remember going to an open day at university in my last year of school and went to a mock trial. They tried to make it really sexy and interesting and engaging and it was still batshit boring.”
However, he didn’t get into marketing straight away, completing a Communication Studies degree at Waikato University before working at British American Tobacco.
From there he “just fell into” marketing. He’s worked his way around the food groups: starting at British giant United Biscuits before spending three years at coffee company Cerebos Gregg’s and six years at Griffin’s, in a variety of roles. Prior to joining DB, he was head of marketing NZ for Nestlé.
“I really fell in love with the consumer space and building brands and innovation and figuring out those gnarly questions around consumer behaviour and how you adapt to tap into that.”
Having built his career in FMCG, Shrimpton says one of the biggest differences in beer marketing is the importance of what he calls the “consumption occasion”, compared to products like snack foods.
“I really love that it’s one of the few places left where you are very focused on that consumer experience: everything from the drink that they’re drinking to the moment they’re drinking it.”
Global and local
Shrimpton says DB benefits hugely from being owned by Heineken. This gives them not only one of the strongest beer brands in the world but “all of the best practice that you can ask for” from a marketing perspective, he adds.
DB’s marketing team of 20 is supported by an “agency village”. Inhabitants include Publicis Groupe and Saatchi & Saatchi as its global partners for Heineken and Tiger, and Special as its creative and PR partner for its local brands. DB also uses Multiplied for below the line marketing and dentsu as its media agency.
Shrimpton says DB’s brands are constantly evolving to keep up with trends, such as the move towards low-carb beers like Export Ultra and Heineken Silver. Marketing for these lines is more about the occasion itself than a specific audience.
“You need to have distinct spaces, which is why we think about both the consumer and the occasion coming together to where we want to focus those brands,” he says.
“With Heineken, it’s about revitalising it within that low carb space for this shifting consumer need, and bringing premium occasions to that low-carb, easy drinking occasion,” Shrimpton says.
“Export is much more around those moments of bonding and coming together and fun and joy and connectedness. That’s where we have this great partnership with the Alternative Commentary Collective.”
Get exposure
Shrimpton says a key to his success has been getting broad exposure to different aspects of marketing early on in his career. It’s an opportunity he fears young Kiwi marketing talent might be missing out on these days as entry-level roles stay in Australia.
“We are losing those opportunities for young marketers to get exposure. To actual brand strategy for example, building brands, to the design to win phase of your positioning, your points of difference, your distinctiveness, what you stand for through to your brand architecture and how you show up and build iconic brand assets to your product,” he says.
“A lot of those things you don’t have control of nowadays.
“At DB, we have the full breadth of designing and executing, and I think it’s really fortunate.”
This story comes from NZ Marketing magazine issue 85, Dec 2025-Feb 2026. Why not subscribe? Get four issues a year for just $50 (including delivery) if you autorenew.
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