Carlsberg rolls out another variant in its ongoing “If Carlsberg did…’ series with a football-themed international TV commercial leveraging its official beer status at the start of the new 2015-16 Premier League season.
Following the well worn Carlsberg creative path, the ‘If Carlsberg Did…Kickabouts’ spot’s narrative kicks-off with a pick-up game of park football (complete with the classic ‘jumpers for goalposts’ cliché) that evolves into the most spectacular casual kick-about of all time.
The ad includes appearances of a youth-restoring ‘magic sponge’, big-screen slow-motion replays and cameo appareances from former Manchester United goalkeeping legend Peter Schmeichel and Sky Sports soccer commentator Jeff Stelling.
The work was amplified through the beer brand’s social platforms.
#IfCarlsbergDid kickabouts they would #probably be the best in the world… http://t.co/TP3yAtBa8m
— Carlsberg (@carlsberg) July 30, 2015
The campaign, a celebration of football, the new Premier League season and the beer brand’s property rights, was developed in harness with agency 72andSunny – with lead creatives Carlos Font, Jorgen Sibbern and Damian Isaak – and the spot was directed by Mustard’s James Brown.
Comment
Carlsberg is one of just five Premier League partners – the others are title sponsor Barclays, games partner EA Sports, ball supplier Nike, official card partner Topps and official beer Carlsberg.
Unlike US sports leagues, the scarcity of official league-wide commercial partnerships keeps the maximum space open for clubs to sign their own individual deals.
It was in early 2013 that Carlsberg agreed a new, three-year Premier League deal to be the Official Beer Partner of the Barclays Premier League and it activcated through a campaign called ‘Join The Ride’ (see previous case study) and a ‘Take Your Seats’ ticket initiative (see previous case study).
The sponsorship, which runs until the end of the 2015/16 season, offers a range of rights from official branding, signage and designations, the use of marks and imagery, match-day access and hospitality and digital/social content.
The deal’s objective is to connect with UK consumers and football fans around the world and drive greater engagement with the Carlsberg brand.
Carlsberg has a long standing heritage in football partnership with major international and national alliances that began when it began backing its home Danish league and Danish national team in the 1970s, then expanded to linking with other national sides such as England, Ireland and Serbia, plus club deals with the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur (England), FC Copenhagen, OB-Odense (Denmark), Hamburger SV, Hertha Berlin, FC St. Pauli (Germany), FC Porto (Portugal) and many more.
Carlsberg began a partnership with UEFA’s European Football Championships in 1988 (in 2012 it activated under a ‘Fan Academy’ campaigns – see case study and a ‘tournament app’ – see case study and a ‘Facebook led ticket challenge’ – see case study) and it sponsored the 1990 World Cup and the Champions League in 2003 and 2004.
Links
Carlsberg YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/user/carlsberg
Carlsberg Twitter:
Carlsberg Facebook:
Carlsberg Google+:
https://plus.google.com/106321641497845338524/videos
Carlsberg Website:
Premier League Website:
