After facing struggles in a “challenging environment”, Carlsberg remains committed to its marketing investment amid the “good performance” of Britvic.
The Carlsberg Group has affirmed its commitment to long-term brand investment despite a “difficult half year”.
The drinks giant claims to have reported “solid development in a challenging environment” during the six months ending 30 June. Despite missing its profit and volume forecasts, Carlsberg notched up revenue growth of 18.2% to 45,885m DKK (£5.3bn), mainly driven by Britvic – the acquisition of which was completed in January – and reported operating profit growth of 15.1% to 7,233m DKK (£837m).
Alongside this, its organic marketing-to-revenue ratio “increased as planned”, reflecting CMO Yves Briantais’ mission to position marketing as a growth driver.
In a report accompanying the results, CEO Jacob Aarup-Andersen recognised the half year was difficult due to the consumer environment.
The Carlsberg Group has affirmed its commitment to long-term brand investment despite a “difficult half year”.
The drinks giant claims to have reported “solid development in a challenging environment” during the six months ending 30 June. Despite missing its profit and volume forecasts, Carlsberg notched up revenue growth of 18.2% to 45,885m DKK (£5.3bn), mainly driven by Britvic – the acquisition of which was completed in January – and reported operating profit growth of 15.1% to 7,233m DKK (£837m).
Alongside this, its organic marketing-to-revenue ratio “increased as planned”, reflecting CMO Yves Briantais’ mission to position marketing as a growth driver.
In a report accompanying the results, CEO Jacob Aarup-Andersen recognised the half year was difficult due to the consumer environment. However, he confirmed the group is continuing its “long-term investments in key brands and capabilities”, which includes “digital, marketing and value management” – the goal being to “create an even stronger Carlsberg”.
Carlsberg Group completed its £3.3bn takeover of Britvic in January. In both the UK and Ireland, the intention is to increase sales and marketing investments “as planned” to support the long-term growth. Prior to the acquisition, Britvic invested heavily in marketing, increasing its marketing budget by 30.9% in 2024.
The group noted market share gains for Britvic brands Pepsi Max, 7UP, Tango and Jimmy’s Iced Coffee.
Based on the “good performance” year-to-date in the UK and Ireland, coupled with “good progress” made on the integration and “higher commercial investments”, Britvic is expected to achieve a full-year operating profit of £250m.
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Alongside the Britvic acquisition, strategic highlights for the group include its long-term partnership with UEFA, which makes Carlsberg the Official Beer of UEFA National Team Football, alongside global campaigns for beer Tuborg and alcopop Seth & Riley’s Garage.
Elsewhere, the group’s premium portfolio, excluding the impact of San Miguel volumes in the UK, grew organically by 5% “supported by increased marketing investments”. The company stopped selling the San Miguel brand in January after losing its licence to Budweiser.
Premium Carlsberg volumes grew by 16%, in part due to the company’s biggest brand activation ever in China for the Chinese New Year, which reached 560 million impressions.
Speaking to Marketing Week in Cannes, Briantais said the group’s previous marketing was “OK”, but that “that’s not enough in this world”, highlighting the need to make Carlsberg’s marketing “exceptionally good”.
He added that the group is developing “big brand ideas”, which he described as platforms the business will “be using for hopefully 20 years”. Somersby is one of these brands, which recently adopted a social-first approach to connect with Gen Z consumers, after admitting it had become “generic” and “passive” as a brand.
