Carlsberg celebrates 30 year old Liverpool FC partnership with 'Forever Fans' film and kit-inspired packaging

Carlsberg celebrated 30 years of its Liverpool FC sponsorship – the longest brand alliance in the Premier League dating back to 1992 – through an integrated, multi-channel international campaign spearheaded by a hero spot revolving around a three-decade visual pub crawl through team highlights and the launch of a set of six limited edition beer packs inspired by some of the most iconic team kits from the Danish brewer’s period as a Liverpool FC partner.

The anniversary activation, which ran across 26 markets worldwide, was created jointly by a group of agencies and partners including The Network, Worth Your While, The Council, Drive Studios, Taxis Studios and Everland.

The pub-set, hero film, titled ‘LFC x Carlsberg: Partners for 30 Years. Forever Fans’ dropped in  August, offered a nostalgic look back at some of the legendary Liverpool moments during the sponsorship – all frozen forever in time. Shot by award-winning Danish director Tore Frandsen, it seeks to tap into a familiar fan feeling: cheering your club, while simultaneously stopping your beer from spilling. It was set to a bespoke sound-track in the style of Liverpool’s own fan bards and singer-songwriters in a nod to the special significance of songs in LFC fan culture and rolled out across brand and club online platforms.

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The creative was supported by a limited edition packaging activation with designs paying tribute to six iconic Liverpool kits worn during the sponsorship and featuring some of the most celebrated players associated with each of the six selected shirt designs: including Ian Rush, John Barnes, Sami Hyypïa, Robbie Fowler, Jamie Carragher and Luis Garcia.

The design-led, limited edition packaging activation, which aims to tighten the bonds between the brand, the club and the fans, rolled out from 22 August (ahead of the team’s high profile match against fierce rivals Manchester United FC) and was created in harness with Bristol based agency Taxi Studios and Copenhagen’s Everland.

The packs were available in selected markets globally (Bosnia, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, China, Croatia, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Israel, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Poland, Serbia, Singapore, South Korea, UAE, Ukraine, and USA) and were promoted by a video led social campaign spanning brand and club platforms which drove viewers to a bespoke web hub to find out further details.

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More activities continuing to champion Carlsberg’s Liverpool Fc legacy as ‘fans of the fans’ will roll out throughout the 30th anniversary season.

“We are extremely proud to be celebrating 30 years as partners of Liverpool FC,” outlined Carlsberg Group Head of Global Sponsorship Louise Bach. “This partnership is deeply rooted in a shared set of values and goes way beyond a regular sponsorship. To share a journey for 30 years, through the ups and downs, is truly special and what better way to celebrate this by sharing something unique with the fans.”

Liverpool FC Commercial Director Ben Latty added: “We are thrilled to celebrate 30 years of our partnership with Carlsberg. It’s an iconic collaboration, and we consider them more than a partner; Carlsberg are a true supporter of Liverpool Football Club. They’ve been a part of some of the club’s most memorable moments and we have a unique relationship.  The new limited-edition packs are a brilliant way to recognise this and reignite some fond memories for LFC supporters, reflecting on our great history together”.

The campaign was created for Carlsberg Head of Global Sponsorships Louise Bach by a joint team of agencies and partners including by The Network (where the team was led by Chief Creative Officer Per Pedersen), agency Worth Your While (where the group working on the project included Creative Director/Co-Founder Lukas Lund, Creative Director/Writer Tim Pashen, Creative Alexander Winge Leisner, CEO/Client Director Morten Ingemann and Account Director Sofia Brockenhuus-Schack), plus SMALL (with ECD’s Luca Lorenzini and Luca Pannese), plus production company New Land (with Director Tore Frandsen, Executive Producer Sara Samsøe, Producer Audun Lyngholm Wittenberg and Editor Jacob Schulsinger) and input from Drive Studios.

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From its evolving roles as the club’s front of shirt sponsor to its status as its official beer, Carlsberg’s 30-year partnership has seen Liverpool win every major trophy available to the club from the domestic Premier League, FA Cup and League Cup, to the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup and the FIFA World Club Cup.

The Liverpool activation not only followed in the footsteps of previous celebratory limited edition can/pack design activations such as 2020′s ‘Champions Can‘ and ‘Red Keg‘ plus 2019′s ‘Red Barley Beer‘, but also rolled out just a few days after Carlsberg activated another sports partnership – with SailGP – to promote its new ‘beer bottle of the future’. Carlsberg Denmark unveiled its sustainable, 100% bio-based and reusable new bottle in Copenhagen ahead of the 19 August ‘ROCKWOOL Denmark Sail Grand Prix’.

The regatta set sail as the new eco bottle became available over the counter for the first time in Denmark at ‘Champions for Change’: SailGP’s thought leadership programme that brings leaders and sustainability advocates together to talk about their approach to the climate crisis and share valuable learnings.

 The bottle, created in collaboration with Paper Bottle Community over the last seven years, consists of wood fibres, while the internal barrier consists of a plant-based mass that keeps the beer fresh and full of flavour.

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“We’re thrilled to launch our bottle at the ROCKWOOL Denmark Sail Grand Prix. SailGP’s purpose is to accelerate the transition to clean energy and be the world’s most sustainable and purpose-driven sports and entertainment platform. It is a purpose that goes hand in hand with our many sustainable initiatives,” commented Sustainability Manager at Carlsberg Denmark Tenna Skov Thorsted.

SailGP Global Director of Purpose and Impact Fiona Morgan added: “With our ambition to be the world’s most sustainable and purpose-driven global sports platform, we have always had a strong focus on collaborating with like-minded brands to find sustainable solutions, so we are really excited to work with Carlsberg and launch the ‘bottle of the future’ that, from our point of view, shows real innovation in packaging and design.”

This case study originally appeared on Activative which offers clients creative and strategic intelligence to fuel game-changing sports and sponsorship marketing. www.activative.co.uk