Campaign Asia-Pacific confirmed the news with Jimmy Liang, the agency's China CEO.
The client called a multi-agency pitch in Q4, which spanned two rounds of presentations and involved a number of undisclosed 4A digital agencies.
Without leaking the confidential campaign details, Liang said that the nationwide campaign will kick off sometime in Q2. The core target is male football fans. The agency is still fine-tuning creative details with Carlsberg.
Liang said that although beer is a common refreshment for football fans in many countries, in China the linkage is not strong enough for the brand's taste. For example, he pointed out that football stadiums in China are not allowed to sell beer.
Heineken and Budweiser are the key international brands competing for brand profile with Carlsberg in China, though the beer segment is extremely cluttered with both foreign, regional and local brands.
In terms of credentials in sports marketing, JvM in Germany has an agency called JvM Sports. And one of that agency leaders is Christoph Metzelder, a retired German national-team player who took part in the 2002 and 2006 World Cups, as well as the 2008 European Championships.
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