Forever Fans Carlsberg Liverpool Football Club The Network

New Carlsberg campaign takes us on a “three-decade pub crawl”

By The Network has created the Forever Fans campaign, which marks 30 years of Carlsberg’s sponsorship of Liverpool FC – the longest-running partnership in the Premier League

Carlsberg has sponsored Liverpool FC for 30 years this season, making the partnership the longest-running in the Premier League. To mark the occasion, the Danish beer brand has launched a new multi-channel campaign, dubbed Forever Fans and helmed by by The Network, a global network comprised of independent agencies.

A film directed by Danish director Tore Frandsen is at the heart of the campaign. The short delineates a “three-decade long visual pub crawl down memory lane through legendary moments, frozen in time,” says Carlsberg. The idea was to tap into a habit likely familiar to many football fans: “cheering on your club with one hand, while protecting your beer with the other”. The film’s soundtrack was created in the style of Liverpool fan culture songs.

Several founding partners of The Network collaborated on Forever Fans, including Danish agency Worth Your While, SMALL from New York, London-based The Council, and Drive Studios, which is based across Copenhagen, Berlin, and Oslo. Forever Fans, which is running across 26 countries worldwide, aims to “inspire pride and passion amongst Liverpool FC fans across the world”, according to Carlsberg.

The campaign launches alongside six limited-edition Legends cans designed by Taxi Studio, each of which depicts a “legendary Liverpool FC fan favourite from the past three decades”: Ian Rush, John Barnes, Sami Hyypiä, Robbie Fowler, Jamie Carragher, and Luis Garcia.

Taxi Studio, Carlsberg Liverpool FC 30 Years limited-edition beer cans
Taxi Studio, Carlsberg Liverpool FC 30 Years limited-edition beer cans

Louise Bach, head of global sponsorships at Carlsberg says that the campaign highlights “what great partnerships really are” by looking back at the brand’s history with LFC. These partnerships are delineated by “spotlighting moments from the last 30 years – some big, some small, some unforgettable; and sharing it through legends present and past, and the fans”.

Alongside the film and limited-edition can designs, various other campaign activities will be launching throughout the season including mini-documentaries “connecting Legends and fans over a beer” and “fan-centric activations that pay tribute to long-time loyal fans”.

Forever Fans Carlsberg Liverpool Football Club The Network

Credits:
Creative: The Network (Worth Your While, The Council, SMALL, Drive) 
Hero film director: Tore Frandsen
Can designs: Taxi Studios, Everland
Mini docs: Drive Studios
Composer: Lasse Martinussen