The 2022/23 football season marks the 30th anniversary of Carlsberg’s sponsorship of Liverpool FC (LFC) – the longest partnership in Premier League history – so to celebrate and commemorate the tie-up, the beer brand’s ‘Forever Fans’ platform rolled out a video series of fan stories titled ‘Most Loyal Fans’.
The six-part film series reverse the usual player/supporter set-up and sees legendary Liverpool players from past and present interview a selection of the club’s most loyal fans: thus putting the fans at the centre of the narrative and giving them the chance to tell their own stories about supporting LFC.
Created By The Network agency Worth Your While and produced by Drive Studios, the films began rolling out in late 2022 and continued to be posted across brand and club online platforms through early 2023.
The star players involved include John Barnes, Jamie Carragher, Robbie Fowler, Luis Garcia, Sami Hyypiä and Ian Rush, plus Manager Jurgen Klopp, as well as current stars Virgil Van Djik and Megan Campbell and these soccer super stars act as the interviewers sat across a table from some of the clubs most loyal fans from around – giving the supporters an experience to remember and a chance to tell their own, personal fandom tales.
The creative approach puts legendary players and hardcore fans on an equal footing as they chat about the club’s last 30 years over a pint of Carlsberg for a pub conversation reliving the past 30 years. The supporters range from terrace chant songwriters, a Malaysian fan who gets up at 3am to watch Champions League matches and Fins who show their love for former defender Hyypiä, plus discussions about the rise of the women’s game and even supporters planting a LFC flag at the top of Mount Kilamanjaro in 2005 to mark a Champions League win.
The films are posted across Carlsberg’s global digital and social platforms and also on the club’s online channels: making them available in all 26 markets who are participating in Carlsberg’s ‘30 Years of Liverpool’ partnership programme which includes limited edition 30-year cans.
Those markets are Australia, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, China, Croatia, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong SAR, Hungary, Iceland, India, Israel, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Poland, Serbia, Singapore, South Korea, UAE, Ukraine and the USA.
The short films see Ian Rush interview Allan March and Jack Pilkington, Robbie Fowler meet Megan Campbell and Jo Goodall, Luis Garcia talk with Marc Kenny, Sami Hyypiä chat with Reuben Kang and Allen Clarke, while John Barnes questions Keld Rinfeldt and Caroline Rinfeldt.
“You will find Liverpool FC fans in literally all corners of the world and as an audience they are highly engaged,” commented Carlsberg Global Sponsorship Director Louise Bach. “With this campaign, we are celebrating our partnership from all angles and highlighting what great partnerships really are.”
Worth Your While Creative Director Lukas Lund added: ”Most content series simply interview the celebrity or influencer. Because this platform is all about Carlsberg celebrating the fans, we decided to turn the tables on the standard interview format, and have our Liverpool FC legends interview the fans instead. Not only did we make some fresh compelling content, we also gave the fans an experience they’ll remember forever.”
The campaign was developed through by The Network via Chief Creative Officer Per Pedersen and created by a team at agency Worth Your While which included Chief Executive Officer Morten Ingemann, Creative Directors Lukas Lund and Tim Pashen, Creative Alexandar Winge Leisner and Account Manager Sofia Brockenhuus-Schack.
Production was handled by DRIVE Studios with Director Sigurd Kongshøj Larsen and Producer Emil Walter.
Comment
Carlsberg’s 30th anniversary activation of its LFC partnership began back in August 2023 when the brand released a nostalgic ’30 Years’ spot that took viewers through three decades of memories to promote a limited edition can.
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