Like all global brands, Carlsberg is committed to enhancing local brand and product relevance: but doing so for Singapore’s Millennial and Gen Z consumers demanded a bold reimagining of brand expression.

Brand-savvy and trend-seeking: these digital native consumers demanded not only novelty, but authenticity and meaning to match their appetite for purposeful co-creation. It was a real challenge for Carlsberg, which had been maligned as a beer for mature drinkers and challenged by competitors’ youth-focused offerings like Heineken Silver and Tiger Crystal.

The creative ask: ignite Carlsberg brand re-appraisal by revamping the approach to youth relevance and engagement, while hero-ing Smooth Draught as the product that facilitated and enhanced their meaningful moments.

The creative strategy: expand Smooth Draught’s existing “Make It Smooth” campaign: a simple yet rich concept that leveraged unique product attributes, while embodying Carlsberg’s premium positioning.

Grounded in the brand purpose, “Carlsberg moves us all to better” and a thirst for its rightful share of young Singapore’s mind and pocket, the brand took to the stage at Gastrobeats: Singapore’s urban lifestyle mashup of food, music and entertainment. This event would seat Carlsberg alongside heavy-hitter brands for a young audience of 400,000: a unique opportunity unveil a bold, new vision.

Translating the campaign idea into a truly surprising, share-worthy on-site activation meant a strategic deep-dive into brand and product assets and equities and resulted in a truly outstanding on-site activation, where guests were immersed in a multisensorial journey into the vibrancy and intricacy of Smooth Draught. Whether in the stunning Smooth Draught Hall, or atop the Hop Leaf Platform: every experience was designed to lead back to the product’s smoothness and the brand’s drive to always Move to Better.

Gastrobeat’s target audience was uniquely demanding: a newly-prosperous group of Millennial and Gen Z Singaporeans, who were rapidly shifting away from superficial brand acquisition toward purposeful and creative brand participation. This meant activating across multiple interactive platforms and communicating a boldly creative attitude alongside true purpose, meaning and an open invitation to co-create.

With the success of Carlberg’s Sneakercon having already shifted youth perceptions, 1HQ Singapore pushed even further: bringing Carlsberg Smooth Draught’s existing “Make it Smooth” campaign to life as an integrated event space for Singapore’s Gastrobeats event. Creatively, the trifecta of Brand Purpose, Product Attributes and Consumer Insight meant identifying, then re-defining key visual equities to take their rightful place on the Gastrobeats playground.

On the ground, 1HQ utilised an extended suite of assets and creative skills in bringing the space design and touchpoints to life. Brand and product colour, iconography, 2D graphics and 3D forms encapsulated the essence of Carlsberg Smooth Draught in indoor and outdoor spaces, allowing guests to experience Smooth Draught with all senses.

The consumer journey was carefully mapped: considering not only the navigation of spaces and structures, but also opportunities for collective enjoyment, physical-digital shareability and to ultimately to fulfil the brand purpose of “moving us all to better”.