Food and beverages was one of the hotly contested categories at the Cairns Crocodiles Awards last year. Alcohol brands did the business taking out the three top awards
The top prize was taken out by The Monkeys (now Droga5) and VB for a tongue in cheek campaign that pokes fun at the English cricket team.
They were joined on the podium by Awaken and Jose Cuervo, who won silver, and Howatson+Company and Matilda Bay took home a bronze croc.
Here is a rundown of the winning campaigns
Bronze – Second Favourite Beer, Matilda Bay by Howatson+Company
Rather than compete with beer brands head on, Matilda Bay took a novel approach by promoting its rivals with merch giveaways if you tried its new Hazy Lager.
Ordering Hazy Lager at participating venues and bottle shops, meant that punters could walk away with unique prizes, like a custom-made VB Knock-Off chair, a one-of-a-kind Carlton Dry hot tub, Great Northern fishing kits, Carlton Draught fridges, snowboards, surfboards, BBQs, plus much more.
All of the merch was created, built and sourced by Matilda Bay.
Howatson+Company ECD Gavin Chimes said at the time: “It may seem counterintuitive to put our production budget into making prizes for other beers but when we looked at Hazy Lager’s legendary competition, we knew we had to think differently.
“This is a promo that’s unashamed, self-aware and a little bit crazy. But that combo is what has always made Matilda Bay such a special brewery.”
Awaken your competitive spirit by entering the Cairns Crocodiles Awards 2025.
Silver – Jose Cuervo – Sparkling Margarita, Jose Cuervo Proxima Spirits by Awaken
Spirits Jose Cuervo hired Awaken to create a media campaign to drive awareness of the Sparkling Margarita as a convenient, refreshing serve and convert white spirits drinkers to tequila drinkers through refreshment and flavour cues.
The six-month campaign aimed to raise awareness, consideration and conversion, running across EMX, Spotify, Tinder, ARN, Dan Murphy’s, Snapchat, QMS, BWS, Meta, Val Morgan and The Trade Desk.
It smashed its KPI goals, overdelivering on seven of the fourteen channels, and meeting our KPIs on two further channels.
Spotify, ARN, and Meta smashed their KPI goals, coming in 50-75 per cent below the cost target.
Can your brand knock VB off its perch? Enter the Cairns Crocodiles Awards 2025.
Gold – England Bitter, VB by The Monkeys (now Droga5)
During the Ashes, iconic Aussie beer brand Victoria Bitter created a limited-edition run of its beer for the English after their side failed to beat the Aussies in a series with several contentious moments.
About 30,000 cases of ‘England Bitter’ were shipped to Old Blighty today and a rejigged version of the VB’s iconic jingle was also created and full page ads taken out in newspapers to make sure the Poms would not be able to avoid England Bitter.
The campaign followed English coach Brendon McCullum’s refusal to have a beer with the Aussies.
“We know the English are bitter about the Lord’s Test, but when they’re feeling less bitter we’ve got a beer to shout them … our fresh new England Bitter,” said VB marketing manager Marc Lord at the time.
One Cairns Crocodiles judge said the campaign is: “a lovely idea to leverage a cultural moment and I love that 30,000 cases of England Bitter were actually manufactured and sold…that’s great”.
