Carlsberg Asia launches Digital Acceleration Program to drive future growth across Asia
- Written by: Telegraph Magazine
The initiative comes at a pivotal time, as digital behaviours continue to transform how people discover, shop, and engage with brands. The Digital Acceleration Program aims to future-proof its commercial model, infuse AI and data into core operations, and redefine beer experiences for the next generation of consumers across the eight key Asia markets, and further expanding beyond. 
Building on a strong year of digital sales growth in 2024, underpinned by strategic MoU signings and multiple brand activations, the Program is designed to empower and integrate with digital partners while cementing Carlsberg's position as a leader in the beer industry. In the coming years, Carlsberg Asia aims to drive deeper use of data and insight from digital platforms to unlock beer consumption occasions in order to understand each target market's consumer behaviours, to broaden regional wide partnerships and enhance cross-markets synergy, and to accelerate online-to-offline commerce and further support brand's local penetration.
"We see our digital partners not just as platforms, but as strategic growth engines," says Arindam Varanasi, Vice President, Commercial Asia, Carlsberg. "This is the boldest partnership at Carlsberg Asia to date. The success of our digital sales on e-commerce platforms last year is a testament to the power of collaboration and innovation. By joining forces with Meituan, Grab, and Delivery Hero, we are eager to deepen these partnerships to unlock mutual growth opportunities."
"As we move forward with our Digital Acceleration Program, we are looking forward to continuously making our Carlsberg brands portfolio more relevant, to build a digitally connected ecosystem that enhances every touchpoint of the consumer journey from discovery to delivery, also to elevate consumer experiences through convenience and relevance while reinforcing our commitment to celebrating responsibly." says João Abecasis, Executive Vice President, Asia, Carlsberg.
Immersive brand experiences to strengthen strategic digital partnerships
To supercharge the collaborative alliances, Carlsberg Asia hosted a three-day strategic forum at its global headquarter in Copenhagen, welcoming executives from Meituan, Grab and Delivery Hero. The immersive experience at the Home of Carlsberg offered partners a behind-the-scenes look at the brand's heritage, brewing philosophy, and long-term growth vision.
At the forum, digital partners engaged in closed-door top-to-top discussions with Carlsberg's senior executive team to align on growth strategies and new approaches to distribution across O2O channels. To expand digital growth opportunities from Asia to global, the forum focused on unlocking insight-driven, scalable commercial value through the utilisation of each partners' platform technology, data, and consumer insights to co-creating modern, consumer-centric experiences.
From click to cheers: Taking beer moments to exciting new heights
In partnership with Meituan, a new chapter is brewing in China, with long-term plans to co-create the next generation beer experience across cross-border markets. At the core of the partnership is to expand on series of initiatives that integrate with Meituan's ecosystem of advanced technology and consumer behavioural data that will deliver real-time, occasion-based beer experiences, such as 30-minute quick commerce delivery to personalised promotions and curated product selections.
Meanwhile in Southeast Asia markets, Carlsberg and Grab strengthen the partnership with a focus on online to offline product distribution, always-on responsible drinking initiatives and driving brand awareness through direct consumer engagement with shared passion points such as football matches and music festivals via Grab's platform. The partnership aims to elevate on-trade experiences with partner restaurants by introducing dine-in reservation promotions and bundled deals.
Carlsberg and Delivery Hero are teaming up to fully integrate Carlsberg's premium beer offering into Delivery Hero's dynamic delivery ecosystem. Through foodpanda and its pandamart grocery stores in Asia, this partnership bridges on-trade and off-trade channels to create a unified home-dining experience, complete with a chilled beer delivered to consumers' doorsteps. The shared vision is to make Carlsberg's product effortlessly accessible and create memorable occasions that celebrate the joy of food and drink. Looking ahead, the brands are committed to expanding this innovative partnership globally, bringing an elevated beer experience to consumers around the world.
These immersive engagements underscore Carlsberg Asia's ambition to redefine its digital partnerships through innovation, collaboration, and a deep focus on the consumer. Stay tuned for future announcements about exciting campaigns and activations under each partnership. For more information, please visit: https://www.carlsberggroup.com/.
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About Carlsberg Asia
Established in 1847 by brewer J.C. Jacobsen, the Carlsberg Group is one of the leading brewery groups in the world, with an attractive portfolio of beer and other beverage brands. With over 37.000 employees, and with a presence in more than 125 markets, the Group has a purpose of brewing for a better today and tomorrow Doing business responsibly and sustainably supports that purpose – and drives the efforts to deliver value for shareholders and society.
Carlsberg Asia is a dynamic and diverse region comprising of 8 operating markets: Cambodia, China, Hong Kong S.A.R., Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore and Vietnam. Altogether we have 34 breweries and some 12,000 employees spreading across the Asian markets. The Asia Regional Office is based in Hong Kong.
