Carlsberg's Marketing: Gamification As A Vital Part

Objective

Carlsberg, a leading Danish beer brand and sponsor of the Danish national football team, sought to capitalize on Euro 2020 (held in 2021), which was partly hosted in Denmark, with a limited-edition can promotion called "With the Team" — run even though Carlsberg was not an official tournament sponsor. The challenge was to increase code redemption and engagement through a more efficient digital mechanism than traditional physical code redemption.

Solution

The campaign, built around a "Win with the team" message, deployed a 'lucky number' gamified code redemption mechanic. Customers purchased limited-edition Carlsberg cans bearing hidden numeric codes beneath the can's pull-tab split, invisible until the can was opened. Upon visiting the campaign website and entering their code, they discovered whether they had won Danish national team fan merchandise. The mechanic generated over 2 million codes and ran on Playable's gamification platform — using its lucky number game, bulk prize integration, and code validation integration services — which simplified campaign administration and improved execution speed. Carlsberg's Media & Digital Manager, Allard de Wijkerslooth, noted that code promotions are notoriously difficult to execute digitally, but found the Playable platform intuitive, versatile and reliable.

Results

Carlsberg's campaign achieved a redemption rate 2x higher compared to typical code-on-pack campaigns, with website traffic increasing 1,500%, time on site increasing 2.5x, and bounce rate decreasing approximately 25%.