Carlsberg was having an identity crisis. Millennials knew the beer for its humorous advertising but little else and gross profits had been declining for four years.
With a shrinking lager market and a rise in discerning drinkers searching for premium alternatives, Carlsberg was losing its position at the bar and on the shelf. Something needed to be done to reinvigorate the brand – to win back the hearts and minds of drinkers, retailers and Carlsberg’s own people.
With a new proposition and a Scandinavian inspired design that oozed style and focussed on the brand’s Danish roots, Carlsberg Export gained a premium, contemporary feel, which transformed its outlook.
Before the new visual identity, Export had 3,240 distribution points in Grocery customers – this jumped to over 9,000, a 170% increase. It even gained a place on Sainsbury’s shelves having been delisted for five years. These big wins, including being relisted in Waitrose, have helped not only stabilise gross profit, they have since grown by 2% on every Hectolitre sold and a wider halo effect is being felt by the Carlsberg brand.
And all of this happened before any other supporting comms aired and within a remarkably short period of time – only 14 weeks after relaunch.
