The mainstream lager category has been under significant threat for some time now. Volume sales were down by 5.6% over the past 4 years and, as the no. 1 lager in the UK, Carling was being hit hard by these growing macro trends. In an effort to redress its fortunes Carling moved away from some of its key visual equities. But the effect was adverse; Carling was struggling to resonate and to be recognised by target consumers, both in off-trade and on-trade.

But beer has always been at the heart of community. It brings people together through stories, laughter, jokes, and nights both in and out. And none of that had really changed. In phase 1 of our project, we redefined Carling as a brand for real life and real people by going back to what it’s always been…simple, genuine and dependable – brought to life through a new brand identity.

In order to drive re-appraisal of the Carling brand and mainstream lager we had to go further than a traditional redesign. We needed to create something that actually changed the way people connected and spent time in the pub. Something that brought people together in whatever community they came from, in a simple, genuine and dependable way.

The pint glass sits at the heart of the pub experience, but recently brands have started to make them too complicated, prioritizing aesthetics over functionality. We wanted to create a pint glass that was designed for real life. One that prioritized what mattered to people by being easy to carry, hard to spill and actually keeping beer fresh.

The distinctive glass is ergonomically designed with a firm grip, a narrow waist and interlocking grooves to make it easier to carry and harder to spill, whilst embossed lettering creates a tactile grip. The glasses are wider at the top and thinner towards the middle forming a natural gap and allowing hands to easily wrap around. What’s more, the nucleated bottom keeps pints fresher for longer. This innovative new design combines functional feasibility with consumer relevance, resulting in a glass that is not only structurally sound and impactful, but encourages the shared experiences that sit at the heart of the Carling brand.

In a declining category, Carling is now back in solid growth, with both its key competitors in double digit decline, showing Carling’s new story is resonating with wider culture. But nowhere has this been more visible than with the new Carling pint glass. On launching, the news reached over 49million people, with over 50,000 social media engagements in the first week. As Jeremy Vine said, ‘it’s almost impossible to drop them’, leading Lad Bible to aptly conclude, they are ‘a feat of engineering - the Formula One car of pint glasses’.