Early morning kick-offs and the tendency for people to watch the match at home may have led sceptics to question whether Carlsberg could fully exploit its status as the official beer of the England team, but by the final whistle an extra 5.5 million pints of the lager had been sold. In pubs, Carlsberg sales:
- increased by 21 per cent throughout the tournament
- rocketed by 128 per cent during the last week - even with England out
- were as big as Christmas Eve in the England v Denmark game.
According to Adam Young at brewer Carlsberg-Tetley, Carlsberg is benefiting not only from a growing interest in football over recent years but the brand's long association and deepening engagement with the sport.
"In the past it was just a question of sticking your badge on," he said. "Now there are so many brands that want to exploit football we are more involved, we are deeper into it and have a stronger association.
"A brand needs permission to speak about football and that is what we have gradually built up. We get incredible approval ratings from people for whom football is important. They are aware of what we're doing for their sport."
Carlsberg has also deepened its relationship with the pub trade. "We have changed the way we promote," explained Adam. "It's less about the big centrally organised promotion and more about tailoring the activity to a pub operator.
"We can help with a sports awareness package, with good quality posters and banners that help licensees make the most of what they're spending on Sky."