The Making of a New Beer
How PIFT Was Built with the Target Audience
THE CHALLENGE
Beer plays a unique role in Danish social culture. But a growing group of consumers – particularly younger consumers and women – were increasingly choosing wine, cider and cocktails instead. Not because they rejected the social occasions around beer, but because they found the taste of traditional beer too bitter.
Royal Unibrew saw an opportunity to bring these consumers back into the beer category and asked CPH Strategy to help develop a completely new beer proposition – from consumer insight and concept development to brand positioning, naming and identity.
The ambition was clear: create a beer for people who don’t necessarily think of themselves as beer drinkers.
UNCOVERING THE OPPORTUNITY
Our research revealed a clear tension.
The target audience was attracted to the relaxed, informal and social culture surrounding beer, but many preferred the taste and aesthetics associated with other drink categories.
This pointed to an opportunity for a fresh wheat beer with fruity notes and low bitterness – designed to make beer more accessible without losing what makes beer socially distinctive.
But the research also revealed something equally important: this could not feel like a “beer for women”. The brand needed to be inclusive, contemporary and relevant across genders.
We also discovered that the packaging played a much bigger role than simply containing the product. For the target audience, the bottle was part of the experience – almost an accessory with its own aesthetic and social value.
And for a Gen Z audience, a distinctive look was not enough. The brand needed a point of view and a credible role in culture.
CO-CREATING WITH THE TARGET AUDIENCE
Rather than developing the brand behind closed doors, we made the target audience an active part of the development process.
Based on the initial insights, we developed eight different brand concepts, which were explored and tested with the target audience through focus groups.
This allowed us to understand not only which ideas people liked, but which had the potential to create a distinctive new space in the beer category.
One concept clearly stood out.Make it stand out
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
THE STRATEGIC IDEA: URBAN BEER
A beer that celebrates street art and the artists who make our cities more vibrant.
The idea connected PIFT with urban culture in a way that felt relevant to the target audience while creating a platform that could live far beyond traditional beer advertising.
But credibility was essential. Rather than simply borrowing the visual codes of street art, we wanted the brand to become part of the culture itself.
Renowned street artist Copenhagen Poster was therefore brought in to curate the artistic direction and identify the right artists for the brand.
Two acclaimed street artists, Rasmus Balstrøm and Isaac Malakkai, were selected to create the first artworks for PIFT.
Their original works were painted on giant canvases and documented as they came to life – creating both the foundation for the labels and authentic content for the brand’s social channels.
creating PIFT
Alongside the creative concept, we developed the complete brand expression – including positioning, naming, verbal identity, visual direction and packaging.
After an extensive naming process, the name PIFT was chosen.
In Danish, pift means “a hint” or “a touch of something” – capturing both the beer’s subtle fruity flavour and the idea of adding something fresh and unexpected.
The final design centred around a distinctive frosted CERES bottle in petrol, transformed into an urban canvas for the artists’ work.
The result was a beer designed to stand out not only on the shelf, but in the hand.
VALIDATING THE CONCEPT
Before launch, PIFT was evaluated through Kantar’s eValuate concept testing.
The result was exceptionally strong.
PIFT was classified as a STAR concept – a concept with broad consumer appeal and strong potential to drive incremental growth.
Kantar’s recommendation was clear:
“Fast-track development and bring it to market quickly.”
FROM BRAND IDEA TO CULTURAL PLATFORM
PIFT launched in Copenhagen at Easter 2022 with an immersive event bringing the brand universe to life.
The original artworks by Rasmus Balstrøm and Isaac Malakkai became part of an indoor installation, surrounded by street artists, DJs and an urban crowd – turning the launch itself into an expression of the brand.
But street art was never intended to be a one-off launch device.
The activation platform was designed to enable PIFT to continuously collaborate with artists, support street art festivals and create new artworks across the city.
In that way, PIFT became more than a new beer.
It became an urban beer brand built with its audience – and designed to contribute to the culture it wanted to be part of.
Kasper Andreasen, Head of Insights & Category, Royal Unibrew:
"CPH Strategy has the complete package. The combination of strategic, genuine insight-based, and creative thinking – all at a high level. It's actually a bit unique and creates very strong results, especially when it also comes in a package with top-notch project management."