Carlsberg Somersby

Creating a refreshingly optimistic global icon for the future

Brand Identity
, Brand Strategy
, Brand Guardianship
, Portfolio Strategy
, Brand Design
, Brand Guidelines
, Packaging Design
, Campaign
, Visual Identity System
, Multi-sensory Design

Having redefined the codes of the cider category with Somersby once before, it was time to do it again. Following rapid growth since its rebrand in 2016, Somersby was fast becoming a victim of its own success as it expanded into new markets and its portfolio continued to grow.

With competition catching and the prolific rise in new flavours, Somersby needed to reinvent itself to improve navigation of its portfolio, drive a more consistent and relevant brand story in market, and become recognisable in the blink of an eye.

The Impact

“The new brand identity is a big step for the brand to become more relevant. With Born Ugly, we have created a brand that allows Somersby to show up in a more iconic and refreshing way. We believe this evolution will help us become more distinctive in a rapidly growing Beyond Beer category.”

Andrew Kahn
Vice President Premium and Beyond Beer

“We are thrilled with Somersby’s exciting new brand identity, which embodies the spirit of the brand perfectly and reflects our commitment to refreshing people’s natural optimism. With our playful identity system, we aim to inspire consumers to create meaningful moments and connections with Somersby.”

Anna Katrine Drumm-Hakin
Global Brand Director for Somersby

The insight

Refreshing people’s optimism has always been at the heart of the Somersby brand. But we needed to reinterpret the brand’s purpose to ensure it would be relevant for today’s and tomorrow’s consumer.

Rather than occupying a space of blind optimism, we knew that consumers were seeking a more active form of escapism from the stresses of their daily lives.

With life feeling faster, noisier and more repetitive than ever before, we knew that people needed help to elevate themselves out of the mundane and be the catalysts of positivity spreading amongst their group of friends.

The big idea

Refresh Your Perspective

Encouraging people to take a little time to slow down and look up to discover wonder in the everyday.

Somersby was to become synonymous with encouraging people to refresh their perspective and stay curious, and to see the unexpected to discover true moments of joy.

That is the Somersby way of life.

The Solution

Brand Assets

We created a suite of refreshing, new distinctive brand assets to tell the Somersby story. From reinterpreting and reimagining the brand’s core asset – the Tree – to improve its iconicity, to creating a bank of new assets to bring the Somersby brand to life.

Born Ugly somersbycasestudy tasteexpressions 5

The packaging

As a key brand touchpoint, we decluttered the pack and the role of Somersby’s core brand assets to help consumers pick and navigate the Somersby portfolio, whilst dialing up the sense of a high-quality, refreshingly fruity product inspired by nature.

The brand world

A rich brand world of discovery was created that could help markets activate the Somersby brand across any channel, on- and off-trade.

With intricate layering of graphical element and sensory and sonic design we created a multi-dimensional and multi-sensorial brand experience that you could not just see, but also hear, smell and touch.

Across all touchpoints

Crafting the perfect font for Somersby

We created the font and tap handles inspired by the fluidity and dynamic attributes of the brand. Using our sensory principles, we determined the materials and naturally vibrant colours to continue the Somersby experience in an on trade environment.