Bull's eye from the beer barrel
Beverages: In addition to Liverpool and the England national team, Carlsberg is now also a sponsor of the Swiss national team.
Drinks In addition to Liverpool and the England national team, Carlsberg is now also the sponsor of the Swiss national team. One team, one spirit, one beer. The saying, which could have originated in our northern neighboring country, became nationally valid on April 27, when Feldschlösschen CEO Erwin Flückiger sealed the sponsorship agreement with the Swiss national football team for four years. "Now Carlsberg is also positioned as a football beer in Switzerland," said a delighted Flückiger.
The EM as an ideal platform
And with good reason: the perfectly concerted profiling strategy was already under a good star even before the actual start of the cooperation on July 1 and despite the ambivalent experience of our footballers at the European Championships: as the official main sponsor of all European Championship tournaments since 1984
and partner of several football clubs throughout Europe, the
Danish beer brand is highly relevant and credible in this image and audience-rich sport - especially among football fans. "Euro 2004 was an ideal platform for us to address Swiss football fans with the Carlsberg brand. With the Swiss national team, we now have a vehicle to share our passion for football with fans in the long term," explains Senior Brand Manager Massimo Di Dia.
Thanks to a full package of European Championship measures, awareness and sales of the brand launched in Switzerland in 2001 skyrocketed within just a few weeks. In the brand track, spontaneous mentions have doubled since the beginning of the year to a good 24% at the end of August, while sales are 25% above budget despite the stagnating beer market. After the European Championship hype, the question therefore had to be: How can this pleasing development be sustainably implemented for the aggressive growth policy without having to significantly increase the share of voice (13%)? After all, Feldschlösschen Getränke AG is pursuing an ambitious goal with its premium brand: "By Euro 2008, which will be held here in
in Switzerland, of which we are the main sponsor, to come as close as possible to Heineken's market share," says Di Dia. By way of comparison, Carlsberg is currently experiencing almost triple-digit growth. Heineken, which has been in Switzerland for twelve years, is the strongest international beer brand and currently controls 6.4 percent of the local market.
The initial situation made it clear that a continuation of the side-by-side campaign was out of the question. This campaign, like the Lorry campaigns before it, was unable to emotionalize the brand enough with its sub-optimal media strategies - print and posters. Carlsberg's image remained diffuse and led to a level of relevance (consideration) that lagged far behind Heineken. In contrast, the Euro 2004 measures very quickly had a positive impact. The brand's relevance doubled to 35 within two quarters.
TV as a basic medium
With the sponsorship commitment, the media key was also adapted. "In order to make Carlsberg widely and quickly known as the official beer of the Swiss national football team and thus benefit from the image transfer, we decided on TV as the basic medium," says Di Dia. This also sets Carlsberg apart from Heineken, which concentrates its media spending heavily on posters. This was accompanied by posters in the major cities and information on secondary packaging.
The recent start of qualifying for the World Cup in Germany heralded the launch of the football image campaign last Saturday: Two TV commercials, the 15-second reminder, in which the Swiss national team advertises a branded product for the first time. Based on the international campaign idea "Enjoying alone is impossible", the Saatchi & Saatchi Simko creatives have dramatized the shared moment of enjoyment. In one strip, Murat Yakin, Johann Vogel, Patrick Müller and national team coach Köbi Kuhn abruptly interrupt the game because they and a horde of football fans storm the home of a TV viewer who was about to enjoy a cool Carlsberg.
Great future predicted
But that's just it: Wherever you are in the world - it is impossible to drink Carlsberg without attracting friends, according to the implemented brand essence "Drink with a world of friends". "Production was a real challenge," says Pedro Simko, CEO of the Geneva agency, looking back. "Due to the short availability of the footballers, the two TV commercials and the two print subjects had to be in the can on the same day." Even if there are doubts about the symbolic effect of the fixed spot production and the first six qualifying goals against the Faroe Islands, those responsible predict a great future for the sponsorship commitment, which is broadly supported by the media with joint promotions (Blick, Le Matin and the new Carlsberg-Football.ch homepage). Even the criticism that has been voiced about the alliance between beer and sport has been well countered by the Rheinfeld-based company: Carlsberg's positioning clearly envisages a "grown-up" beer with a strong anchor in football. Everything else is yesterday's beer.
Carlsberg is now also sponsoring the Swiss national team and is focusing on the "we-feeling" with TV commercials >> page 7
With Saatchi & Saatchi Simko and the Swiss national team, beer group Carlsberg lets all Markom funds flow.
Transferring the sense of togetherness from football to beer: Carlsberg pours beer with new commercials.
Luca Aloisi
The EM as an ideal platform
And with good reason: the perfectly concerted profiling strategy was already under a good star even before the actual start of the cooperation on July 1 and despite the ambivalent experience of our footballers at the European Championships: as the official main sponsor of all European Championship tournaments since 1984
and partner of several football clubs throughout Europe, the
Danish beer brand is highly relevant and credible in this image and audience-rich sport - especially among football fans. "Euro 2004 was an ideal platform for us to address Swiss football fans with the Carlsberg brand. With the Swiss national team, we now have a vehicle to share our passion for football with fans in the long term," explains Senior Brand Manager Massimo Di Dia.
Thanks to a full package of European Championship measures, awareness and sales of the brand launched in Switzerland in 2001 skyrocketed within just a few weeks. In the brand track, spontaneous mentions have doubled since the beginning of the year to a good 24% at the end of August, while sales are 25% above budget despite the stagnating beer market. After the European Championship hype, the question therefore had to be: How can this pleasing development be sustainably implemented for the aggressive growth policy without having to significantly increase the share of voice (13%)? After all, Feldschlösschen Getränke AG is pursuing an ambitious goal with its premium brand: "By Euro 2008, which will be held here in
in Switzerland, of which we are the main sponsor, to come as close as possible to Heineken's market share," says Di Dia. By way of comparison, Carlsberg is currently experiencing almost triple-digit growth. Heineken, which has been in Switzerland for twelve years, is the strongest international beer brand and currently controls 6.4 percent of the local market.
The initial situation made it clear that a continuation of the side-by-side campaign was out of the question. This campaign, like the Lorry campaigns before it, was unable to emotionalize the brand enough with its sub-optimal media strategies - print and posters. Carlsberg's image remained diffuse and led to a level of relevance (consideration) that lagged far behind Heineken. In contrast, the Euro 2004 measures very quickly had a positive impact. The brand's relevance doubled to 35 within two quarters.
TV as a basic medium
With the sponsorship commitment, the media key was also adapted. "In order to make Carlsberg widely and quickly known as the official beer of the Swiss national football team and thus benefit from the image transfer, we decided on TV as the basic medium," says Di Dia. This also sets Carlsberg apart from Heineken, which concentrates its media spending heavily on posters. This was accompanied by posters in the major cities and information on secondary packaging.
The recent start of qualifying for the World Cup in Germany heralded the launch of the football image campaign last Saturday: Two TV commercials, the 15-second reminder, in which the Swiss national team advertises a branded product for the first time. Based on the international campaign idea "Enjoying alone is impossible", the Saatchi & Saatchi Simko creatives have dramatized the shared moment of enjoyment. In one strip, Murat Yakin, Johann Vogel, Patrick Müller and national team coach Köbi Kuhn abruptly interrupt the game because they and a horde of football fans storm the home of a TV viewer who was about to enjoy a cool Carlsberg.
Great future predicted
But that's just it: Wherever you are in the world - it is impossible to drink Carlsberg without attracting friends, according to the implemented brand essence "Drink with a world of friends". "Production was a real challenge," says Pedro Simko, CEO of the Geneva agency, looking back. "Due to the short availability of the footballers, the two TV commercials and the two print subjects had to be in the can on the same day." Even if there are doubts about the symbolic effect of the fixed spot production and the first six qualifying goals against the Faroe Islands, those responsible predict a great future for the sponsorship commitment, which is broadly supported by the media with joint promotions (Blick, Le Matin and the new Carlsberg-Football.ch homepage). Even the criticism that has been voiced about the alliance between beer and sport has been well countered by the Rheinfeld-based company: Carlsberg's positioning clearly envisages a "grown-up" beer with a strong anchor in football. Everything else is yesterday's beer.
Carlsberg is now also sponsoring the Swiss national team and is focusing on the "we-feeling" with TV commercials >> page 7
With Saatchi & Saatchi Simko and the Swiss national team, beer group Carlsberg lets all Markom funds flow.
Transferring the sense of togetherness from football to beer: Carlsberg pours beer with new commercials.
Luca Aloisi
