Carlsberg Asia unveils strategic partnership with Grab to drive transformation and growth across Southeast Asia

Media Outreach

Apr 17, 2024

The partnership will kick off in Q2 of 2024 with an exclusive football season campaign in the summer and a Responsible Drinking initiative on GrabAds later this year

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 17 April 2024 – Carlsberg Asia is pleased to announce the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (“MoU”) with Southeast Asia’s everyday superapp, Grab, for a strategic partnership that will transform how consumers enjoy their beer. This partnership will cover awareness and promotional campaigns on GrabAds across four key countries in Southeast Asia (SEA) – Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar and Singapore, and will kick off with the launch of an exciting football season campaign featuring Liverpool Football Club and a collaborative Responsible Drinking campaign. The partnership also includes the setting up of a virtual store for Carlsberg on the Grab app in Singapore and Malaysia, to make it easier for consumers to order and have their favourite Carlsberg beers delivered.

Carlsberg Asia enters a strategic partnership agreement with Grab across four key Southeast Asian markets.
Photo: (from left to right) Arindam Varanasi, Vice President, Commercial Asia, Carlsberg; Ken Mandel, Regional Head of GrabAds and Brand Insights; Russell Close, Global eCommerce Director, Carlsberg Group; Jerry Lim, Regional Head, Grab Sales & Support

Both Carlsberg and Grab have a strong presence in Southeast Asia, with a significant overlap in their consumer bases. An internal survey from Grab indicates that 61% of Grab’s user base across the region identify as alcohol consumers¹. Over 90% of users are also motivated by responsible drinking and safety reasons to choose Grab’s ride-hailing services over driving their own vehicles². By tapping into Grab’s extensive ecosystem and hyperlocal insights in the region, Carlsberg aims to expand its digital footprint in the region and make its portfolio of products available to a larger audience.

“As part of Carlsberg Group’s Accelerate SAIL strategy, this exciting partnership will help us drive digital transformation and growth in the region by going beyond traditional retail channels,” said Arindam Varanasi, Vice President, Commercial Asia, Carlsberg. “With our joint forces, we will be able to introduce more drinking moments to consumers and make it easier and safer for them to access Carlsberg’s portfolio of local and international beers and Beyond Beer brands at their doorstep. This will also be a strong initiative to Carlsberg’s continuous efforts in driving responsibility drinking.”

Unlocking consumer experiences and improving accessibility

The partnership will kick off in the second quarter of 2024, with special offers, dine-in deals and rewards that consumers, of legal drinking age, will be able to access through the Grab app. As part of this, Carlsberg and Grab will launch an exciting campaign during the UEFA Euro 2024 season in the summer. Carlsberg has been a principal partner of Liverpool Football Club (LFC) for over three decades and became the club’s official beer in 2010. This football season, Carlsberg will bring football excitement to LFC fans across the SEA region by leveraging Grab’s multiple touchpoints, online to offline. Carlsberg will also collaborate with GrabAds, Grab’s advertising arm, on a Responsible Drinking campaign later in the year to promote responsible alcohol consumption and prioritise safety by encouraging GrabCar rides.

“It’s truly an honour that Carlsberg, one of the world’s leading brewery brands, chose Grab’s advertising arm, GrabAds, to strengthen their brand equity through purposeful consumer campaigns – the LFC partnership and the Responsible Drinking Campaign,” added Ken Mandel, Regional Head of GrabAds and Brand Insights. “This partnership not only showcases the extensive and impactful reach of GrabAds’ online to offline touchpoints but also attests to GrabAds’ effective engagement with high-value consumers who use Grab to engage or transact with brands and merchants every day.

Stay tuned for future announcements about more exciting campaigns and activations under this partnership. For more information, please visit: https://www.carlsberggroup.com/

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¹ Source: (2023) Grab in-app survey with 14,971 responses from active Grab users in ID 2,882; SG 1,681; MY 2,540; TH 3,246; PH 2,752; VN 1,870

² Source: (2023) Grab in-app survey with 6,020 responses from active Grab users in ID 749; SG 721; MY 1,057; TH 1,535; PH 1,091; VN 867

Hashtag: #CarlsbergAsia #Grab

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

About Carlsberg

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 30.000 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 33 breweries and some 12,000 employees spreading across the Asian markets. The Asia Regional Office is based in Hong Kong.

About Grab

Grab is a leading superapp in Southeast Asia, operating across the deliveries, mobility and digital financial services sectors. Serving over 500 cities in eight Southeast Asian countries – Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam – Grab enables millions of people everyday to order food or groceries, send packages, hail a ride or taxi, pay for online purchases or access services such as lending and insurance, all through a single app. Grab was founded in 2012 with the mission to drive Southeast Asia forward by creating economic empowerment for everyone, and strives to serve a triple bottom line: to simultaneously deliver financial performance for its shareholders and have a positive social and environmental impact in Southeast Asia.

About GrabAds

Established in 2018, GrabAds has evolved into an integrated advertising solutions provider that provides advertisers with multiple channels, such as in-app advertising, branding, and product sampling via the Grab ecosystem, for building awareness, engaging audiences, and triggering action across the Grab platform. Through its advertising and technology capabilities, GrabAds aims to help people discover, engage, and connect with the best businesses in Southeast Asia. For more information, visit GrabAds For Business.