The art of letting content brew slowly

Carlsberg is embracing a new approach to reaching its audience – and content marketing is the vital ingredient

Two years ago, Danish beer giant Carlsberg took the decision to bring its global content marketing in-house. The move was part of a general overhaul in the brand’s output to include a new website with content, product and branding in the same place.

This evolution continued earlier this year with reports that Carlsberg is aiming for its website to become a hub for brand and user-generated content.

The benefits of a slow pour

Part of the plan earmarked by Carlsberg sets aside 2016 as a time to develop content ideas and share them through its social channels.

This is an interesting note for content marketers to consider. It shows that the priority should not always be to produce as much content as quickly as possible. Piggybacking on current trends can work on one level, but a well considered, and well executed, campaign is far more likely to sustain engagement in the long term.

Carlsberg has the advantage of great brand recognition and is firmly established as a powerful business. But allowing such a lengthy amount of time to establish a new arm of the company output shows a clear priority of quality over quantity.

The information drip

Carlsberg has also looked to its history as a central part of its content marketing strategy.

Its website includes the story of the Carlsberg Pioneers, such as Carlsberg Group founder J.C. Jacobsen and his son Carl, and a guide to ‘The Art of Making Beer’. The design is attractive and the copy engaging – J.C. Jacobsen is dubbed ‘probably the first hipster’ on account of his bow tie and beard combo.

Information is at the heart of Carlsberg’s content marketing, focusing on the history and traditions of the beer, rather than looking to contemporary trends.

It’s your round

Not surprisingly for a business so connected with sociable activity, interactivity is another central aspect of its content marketing.

It recently enlisted the help of 16,000 volunteers to track the beer from brewery to glass and prove the freshness of its product. Carlsberg Malaysia, which produces 200,000 litres of the beer a day, asked customers to look at bottle caps for a code. That code contained information on when the bottle was made and therefore the time from production to consumption. Submitting the cap back to Carlsberg and filling in a survey would entitle you to a free case of beer.

The campaign was also in line with its general marketing strategy of carrying out stunts – a tactic that is likely to play well with its audience, and fits with the fun-loving angle of its content.

Recent stunts include unveiling a bar made out of chocolate and a beer tap on the street for people to pour themselves a drink.

Such displays are perfect for creating shareable video content, and inevitably encourage passers-by to inadvertently spread the message through their own social media channels.

B2B content marketers should take note of such an approach – encouraging social shareability and brand reinforcement by ensuring a high level of quality throughout all output.

Although Carlsberg is in an enviable position in terms of the resources it has available, its move into content marketing shows the company investing in ideas. As content marketers, we can learn from the faith in creativity on display, as well as the willingness to take time in bringing those ideas to fruition.

Content marketing, much like a good pint, should be dispensed from the correct angle, delivered with care and make you feel just a little bit giddy.

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