Carlsberg to consolidate social media around branded sites

The project, dubbed Pegasus, sees the business introduce the online template to support its 500 plus brands in more than 150 markets. It allows marketers to build and manage social and web activity from a single content management system, which the brewer claims empowers those teams to “think customers and content first”.

Carlsberg hopes the platform encourages brands to reuse content from other markets and react faster to real-world events after they struggled to share campaign data, assets and website code using the old system. Ultimately the investment aims to make Carlsberg’s websites more interesting destinations.

The brewer, like its rivals, has been wrestling with how it opens digital channels for its brands at a time when many drinkers are less inclined to visit them online unless it is for a specific campaign. Carlsberg says the platform, developed by agency Spring/Summer, paves the way to attract not only beer fans but also those people that are interested in broader interests such as music and sports.

A spokesman for the business says: “We are not trying to replace social media but rather give new opportunities through integration. In essence we want to create a place for our brand initiatives to have a home while lifting the entire presence of the brands.

“To boil it down, we now have a system where we can have beautiful design on all the main platforms, giving a consistent digital impression. We will have a centralised content bank that works across borders, across brands and with content coming from a broad range of channels. We believe we are on the right track with this.”

The move is the latest in a shake-up of how the company’s marketing function realigns around digital. Budget is being redirected into social media and away from traditional channels to support the shift and create what the brand has previously labeled “share-worthy’ marketing.

Aly Richards, chief executive of marketing consultancy The Intelligent Marketing Institute, which works with brands on consumer engagement strategies, says: “It is encouraging to see that the content also covers the broader interests of the audience and not just the beer giving Carlsberg a far greater opportunity to engage.

“As such, if this content strategy is pursued then the issue of the audience resistance to branded sites should be overcome. What is not clear from the statements is if this is part of a structured content journey and strategy, or if it is just a channel strategy. In other words, having attracted and maintained an engagement with people on a site, what is Carlsberg going to do with them next?”