CARLSBERG USHERS IN YEAR OF THE HORSE WITH FESTIVE PACKAGING AND PROSPERITY-LED CAMPAIGN

Carlsberg Group Malaysia is celebrating the Year of the Horse with a Chinese New Year campaign featuring limited-edition lacquer-inspired packaging, experiential on-ground events, and a broad rewards programme. Anchored on its “Brewing prosperity together” platform, the campaign blends cultural symbolism, gifting appeal and modern brand engagement to tap into peak festive consumption.  

Carlsberg Group Malaysia is ushering in the Year of the Horse with a vibrant and auspicious Chinese New Year campaign that blends artistry, tradition, and modern brand engagement. As festivities approach, the brewer is tapping deeply into cultural symbolism and consumer celebration through limited-edition packaging, immersive on-ground experiences, and an expansive rewards ecosystem—all anchored on its long-running platform, “Brewing prosperity together.” The move signals an evolution of Carlsberg’s festive strategy, reflecting how international brands continue to tailor their Lunar New Year presence with cultural fluency and ever-richer storytelling.

At the centre of this year’s effort is the launch of Carlsberg’s new limited-edition Chinese New Year packaging. The brewer has developed an intricately designed series of cans and bottles that pay homage to the nobility and elegance of the Horse, the zodiac animal that represents endurance, grace, pursuit of achievement, and forward-moving energy. For many consumers across Chinese communities in Malaysia, Singapore, and the broader region, the Horse symbolises strength and ambition—qualities considered especially auspicious as families and businesses enter a new year of renewal and optimism. Carlsberg builds on that symbolism with packaging that evokes a traditional yet contemporary aesthetic language.

The illustrations draw directly from the craft of Chinese lacquer art, known for its richness, shine, and depth. Majestic horses are depicted galloping from swirling cloud motifs, an artistic choice that conveys dynamism and rising fortune. The clouds themselves are an Easter egg of sorts for brand loyalists: rather than conventional celestial strokes, the textures are composed from Carlsberg’s signature hop leaf, subtly merging brand assets with classical symbolism. This merging of tradition and brand identity allows the packaging to operate as both a festive collector’s item and a storytelling device that reinforces the company’s consistent Lunar New Year narrative around prosperity, celebration, and togetherness.

Festive packaging has long played a strategic role for beverage brands in Malaysia and Singapore, where gifting culture peaks during Chinese New Year and celebratory toasting remains a strong aspect of family and corporate gatherings. In that sense, Carlsberg’s design choices are more than aesthetic—they extend the brand beyond consumption into ritual. Limited-edition cans often circulate in homes, reunion dinners, offices, and retail displays, creating additional touchpoints that no conventional advertisement can deliver. For this reason, limited editions are as much about sentiment and cultural participation as they are about sales.

To ensure the campaign resonates beyond packaging, Carlsberg is rolling out a suite of on-ground experiences across retail channels, food and beverage venues, and major consumer hotspots. These activations blend tradition with contemporary brand engagement, likely including games, photo opportunities, sampling, festive decor, and prosperity-themed gifting mechanics. Such on-ground campaigns have grown increasingly important for brands attempting to stand out in an exceptionally busy seasonal advertising environment. Chinese New Year in particular has become a competitive battleground for FMCG, alcoholic beverage, financial services, and telco brands, all eager to secure share of voice in what remains one of the region’s most emotionally charged buying seasons.

Equally significant is Carlsberg’s wide-ranging festive rewards programme, designed to incentivise participation across purchase channels while rewarding brand loyalty. While full details are yet to be disclosed, reward mechanics during past Carlsberg campaigns have involved instant redemptions, digital rewards, grand prizes, and exclusive collectables—suggesting this year’s iteration will reinforce a multi-touchpoint strategy that links retail, digital, and experiential engagement. Rewards programmes have become a cornerstone of Lunar New Year marketing strategies as brands seek to integrate cultural symbolism with measurable outcomes such as uplifted sales, repeat purchases, and rich consumer data capture.

The campaign theme, “Brewing prosperity together”, is not new. Carlsberg has built a strong identity around prosperity and festivity for over a decade, leveraging the beer category’s natural alignment with celebration and communal gatherings. The consistency of the platform enables the company to deepen rather than reinvent its festive narrative each year—allowing creative energy to focus on executional freshness, cultural relevance, and design innovation. Returning themes also help reinforce brand recall among consumers who associate Carlsberg with the conviviality of Chinese New Year, subtly positioning the brand as a ritual staple rather than an incidental purchase.

For the broader beer and FMCG sector, Carlsberg’s 2025 Chinese New Year push lands at a time when cultural marketing has become more global, more experiential, and more design-led. International brands have increasingly embraced zodiac symbolism, artisanal design traditions, and collector packaging, signaling a recognition that Lunar New Year is as culturally influential as Western festive periods like Christmas. Malaysia’s multicultural context makes the season even more commercially significant: both Chinese and non-Chinese consumers partake in the celebrations, and cross-cultural gifting and visiting have become part of the annual social rhythm.

Carlsberg’s emphasis on lacquer-inspired design also reflects a broader trend in premiumization. By adopting motifs usually associated with fine craftsmanship, the brand elevates the perception of its packaging from functional FMCG material to a festive object that can be shared, displayed, or gifted. This aligns with consumer shifts toward symbolic and aspirational purchases during holiday periods, when buyers are more willing to choose products that carry cultural meaning, visual richness, or status value. Limited-edition designs also drive organic amplification, particularly across social media platforms where consumers increasingly share festive setups, reunion dinners, and gifting rituals.

While the Year of the Horse holds particular cultural meaning, its thematic qualities also align neatly with brand messaging. The horse is celebrated not only as a noble and vigorous animal but also as a symbol of progress—commonly invoked in idioms that speak of swift success, advancement in career, and prosperous journeys. Such symbolism harmonises with Carlsberg’s prosperity narrative, subtly reinforcing the idea that the new year is a moment to accelerate ambitions and pursue communal success. In the context of a post-pandemic consumer environment defined by renewed aspiration and economic recalibration, the symbolism feels timely rather than merely decorative.

As with previous years, the campaign is likely to extend beyond the Malaysian market, reaching Chinese New Year celebrants across Southeast Asia. Carlsberg’s festive editions have become cross-border properties, reflecting the brand’s increasing sophistication in cultural localisation across a global operating footprint. This cross-regional consistency also helps unify diaspora communities, many of whom view Chinese New Year as a shared cultural anchor regardless of geography.

Ultimately, Carlsberg Group Malaysia’s 2025 Chinese New Year campaign arrives at the intersection of cultural tradition, modern experiential marketing, and design-driven brand storytelling. While the limited-edition packaging may be the most visible public expression of the campaign, it sits within a broader ecosystem of touchpoints aimed at reinforcing the brand’s role in seasonal celebration. From lacquer-inspired horses galloping across collectible cans to experiential activations and rewards programmes, every piece is engineered to ensure that Carlsberg remains not only present but meaningfully integrated into the rituals of reunion, gifting, and shared joy.

As the Year of the Horse approaches, the brewer raises its glass not merely to consumption but to the enduring cultural forces that make Chinese New Year one of the most dynamic and emotionally resonant marketing seasons in Southeast Asia. In doing so, Carlsberg continues its bid to position itself as a brand that not only brews beer but also brews prosperity—together with the consumers who welcome it into their homes each festive season.