Carlsberg is launching a new global brand campaign – Do the best things begin with curiosity? Probably - championing that all progress in the world starts with a spark of curiosity.
The new campaign from Fold7 follows consumer research that uncovered a universally recognised human truth: the best things in life come to the curious. Although we are born innately curious, this can be tempered by the pressures of modern life as we grow into adulthood.
The campaign leads with a brand film sitting across social, digital, TV and film. The story takes a trip through the ages to discover how, through a spark of curiosity, music was born.
To learn more, we spoke to James Hudson and Rob Griffiths - Creative Directors at Fold7 and Lynsey Woods, Global Brand Director at Carlsberg.
What was the brief?
LW: We wanted to really appeal to the next generation of beer drinkers with a new positioning that is true to Carlsberg’s history, relevant to today’s drinker and fit for the future. Something that unifies Carlsberg’s activity around a universal insight that resonates with drinkers - no matter where they are in the world.
How did the initial pitch/brainstorming phase go?
JH: Rob and I joined the process a year in, after months of strategy and insights work (which thankfully made our job a hell of a lot easier). Because we weren’t just making an ad, we were launching a gigantic new global positioning, in over 120 different markets, for a brand famed for its iconic campaigns. No pressure there then.
But as soon as we landed on the concept of ‘curious beginnings’, we knew we were onto a winner because of all the fun we were having playfully reimagining the brand’s starring role in the birth of a whole host of the world’s best inventions. Probably.
What was the process behind ideating the concept?
LW: We did months of consumer research which crystallised the idea that people are born curious but as we age and take on more ‘life responsibilities’ we don’t fuel our curiosity as much as we’d like. As a brand, Carlsberg has a rich heritage with curiosity, something that is really ingrained in our DNA, and we wanted to inspire and invigorate curiosity amongst our audience. The research results truly resonated with this core value and was therefore right concept for the campaign.
What was the production process like?
RG: Honestly, we were like a couple of kids in a sweet shop. Each (blink and you will literally miss it) three second scene has been crafted within an inch of its life. From auditioning authentic Jazz bands to the casting of just the right shade of sheep; clambering through countless corridors of costumes to ensure we have the very best Viennese colour palette to painstakingly producing a suite of neanderthal prosthetics Hollywood would be proud of.
And that’s before we even get to the live recording of each musical arrangement. The passion and attention to detail of the entire team was unlike anything we have had the privilege to work on before.
What was the biggest challenge during production? How did you overcome it?
JH: Music. Little did we know how hard it would be to find a track with a globally recognised earworm of a riff, that would work when reinterpreted into a wide range of musical genres, fit within the tight timing construct of our scenes, be owned by rights holders willing to sign off within our timeline, and be on budget.
To be fair, when you see it written down like that, it should have been obvious.
What kit/tools/software were used to create the project?
RG: The star of the show was undoubtedly the Technocrane (Which disappointingly isn’t a niche musical genre). It’s a pretty incredible bit of camera kit that was integral to the timing and fluid construction of the entire ad.
What is one funny or notable thing that happened during production?
JH: Watching the wranglers try (and fail) to herd a flock of beautiful brown (see Rob’s comment about sheep shades) Bulgarian sheep back into their van at the end of the day.
What’s the main message of this project and why does it matter?
LW: Carlsberg itself is a beer born of curiosity. Curiosity as a concept is inherent to our DNA and something that is truly intrinsic to our values as a business. We all collectively believe it is the root of all progress in the world, and although we are born innately curious, this can be tempered by the pressures of modern life as we grow into adulthood we can lose it.
We wanted to showcase, with a little fun, wit and entertainment through this campaign that we can all reinvigorate our curious side, and we hope the campaign does just that for beer drinkers across the world as Carlsberg plays a role in sparking that curiosity.
How long did it take from inception to delivery?
RG: From first script to delivery was about 9 months. We were writing in July, developing animatics for research in August, reaching out to directors in September, reviewing treatments and kicking off production in October ahead of shooting in December.
We then locked the edit at the start of the year and kicked off a marathon stretch of VFX craft to stitch it all together, along with the sound sessions with all the different musicians. We then had a final round of research and optimisation before delivering in March.
What do you hope it achieves for the brand?
LW: This is the first time we’ve used one set of assets across all our 120 markets and we hope that it unifies our activity and gives us some focus and a clear purpose in reinvigorating curiosity around the world.
It’s very exciting as a new position and am looking forward to seeing it roll out over the next year and beyond.
