Carlsberg asked us to overhaul their brand in readiness for future growth. In the absence of a holistic visual system, consistency across variants and across markets was impossible. This was contributing to diverse consumer perceptions so that, for instance, Carlsberg had a poorer reputation in the UK than in India and Malaysia where it’s considered premium.

In addition, Carlsberg’s sustainability agenda was baked into the heart of the brief, which meant designing the system for longevity rather than obsolescence in a few years.

The final creative expression would be rolled across all of Carlsberg's touchpoints, including 122 SKUs, OOH advertising campaigns, digital channels, global HQs and off and on trade marketing collateral.

J.C Jacobsen was a true pioneer of his time. He was the first brewer to combine the art of science with the art of brewing, creating the famous Carlsberg laboratory, which is still in existence today.

His progressive attitude is encapsulated in the so-called 'Golden Words' from his will:

'In working the brewery we should be in constant pursuit of better beer so that the brewery may always set standards and assist in keeping beer brewing at a high and honourable level’.

These Golden Words were the driving force behind the rebrand, which has the 'constant pursuit of better beer' at its heart. As part of this ethos, sustainability was a critical part of the design brief. Bucking current industry trends, the robust, versatile identity system has been designed for longevity rather than obsolescence.

From these golden words, we developed three design principles: Crafted Authenticity, Danish by Nature and Progressive Ingenuity. These design principles give us a lens we can use to appraise all elements of design. They are the guardrails that ensure consistent global execution.

Once we had the lens to evaluate every design decision, we were able to start looking closely at all the individual component parts that conveyed the Carlsberg brand. And the research into the brand's heritage (archive) led to all the brand elements being carefully re-crafted for the first time in many decades years, striking the perfect balance between form and function.

The recrafted elements combine to form a coherent master brand-led identity system that works across packaging, promotions, communication and point-of-sale materials for all of Carlsberg's global variants. The core elements include the logo, hop leaf, crown

The recrafted elements combine to form a coherent master brand-led identity system that works across packaging, promotions, communication and point-of-sale materials for all of Carlsberg's global variants. The core elements include the logo, hop leaf, crown and brand typeface, as well as the signature of Carlsberg founder J.C Jacobsen.

And in redesigning the Carlsberg logo, we were able to achieve something previously not possible - lock-up elements to create a robust, flexible design architecture.

- Rebrand rolled out across 122 SKUs

- Distributed into over 80 markets around the world

- Became the "people choice - most popular beer brand" in China

- 250 million media impressions on launch

- Restored brand pride and galvanised internal teams