Client Matters: Allan Solomon, Carlsberg | M&M Global

Client Matters: Allan Solomon, Carlsberg

Carlsberg’s global marketing director Allan Solomon discusses the Danish beer brand’s intentions behind bringing back one of its most iconic ad taglines of all time – ‘If Carlsberg did…’ – for its latest global campaign.

Carlsberg

The ‘if Carlsberg did’ strapline is something that we’ve felt has never really gone away. It’s a line of thought that – although we’ve dialled down the use of it in our internal communications – is something that consumers and people in general have always been using and will continue to use. It’s largely used as a sort of shorthand for ‘the best.’ We feel that now is a good time to dial up our usage of it again and make it prominent in our communications due to the added emphasis that we are placing on the beer itself and its quality – and it allows us to do this in a fun and engaging way.

It’s going to form the key parts of our communications platform across every media channel we use – the intention is to use it on a continuous basis. I don’t think we see things in general on a campaign-to-campaign basis. We have an always-on strategy at the moment, so from a traditional above-the-line (ATL) point of view it’s effectively the first campaign that’s bringing it back.

Carlsberg was previously an assortment of local companies housed under one roof – but as we’ve consolidated we’ve had to form a global platform. It was only a few years ago that we were largely based in Europe, but we realised that we needed to start applying a global brand approach to Carlsberg. Today we are rolling out our communications and brand management on a global basis.

I think with any category and with any brand there are challenges. Beer is a very local product so we find challenges around achieving the key global vs local mix. Ensuring that we are using local insights at the same time as applying our global strategy in a way that is relevant for each market can be difficult – but we feel that we have a great strategy and communications platform in place. We feel that we have a fantastic foundation with which to build a global brand in a locally relevant way.

Today we live in a world where conversations happen in social media. It’s a great storytelling medium and we can move that conversation to so many different places. A few years ago, Carlsberg was only really considered largely from an old ATL point of view. It mainly used print or TV as its creative platform. Now we have the platforms and the means to develop many creative ideas consistently across different channels. Channels that are increasingly more relevant such as social media, PR or word of mouth allow us to develop work quicker and engage with consumers on an ongoing basis as well as providing a fantastic scope for creativity.

We’re really looking forward to reinvigorating the campaign in markets where it’s well known, but also in markets that we haven’t yet penetrated. We’re looking forward to seeing how it is received and are very positive about the impact that it will have in those markets. The key is to talk about our beer in a fun and engaging manner.

No Comments Yet

Leave a Reply