Project Snapshot / BTL Activation
Pirinsko
BTL & Shopper Activation for a Mass-Market Beer Brand
A proposed activation platform translating Pirinsko’s association with mountain freshness into urban and retail experiences through pop-up activations, responsible sampling, POS materials and mobile interaction.
From shelf presence to brand experience.
context
Pirinsko is an established Bulgarian mass-market lager within the Carlsberg Bulgaria portfolio. Positioned in the accessible price segment and widely associated with everyday consumption, the brand has traditionally built its communication around nature, authenticity and refreshing moments.
The Bulgarian beer category is highly competitive and price-sensitive. Supermarkets and grocery stores remain important purchase channels, while promotions, seasonal consumption occasions and visibility at the point of sale strongly influence brand choice.
challenge
How could Pirinsko remain a familiar and accessible choice while becoming more relevant to younger urban adults?
The brand benefits from strong recognition and an established consumer base, but this familiarity also creates a risk: Pirinsko may be perceived primarily through affordability, larger packaging formats and promotional offers.
The challenge was therefore not to replace its existing identity, but to give its core promise a more contemporary expression. The project explored how the association with mountain freshness could become a tangible experience in the environments where people encounter, choose and purchase the product.
audience
The project considered two complementary adult audiences: the established consumer who supports the brand’s volume and the younger urban audience that can broaden its image and connect it with more active consumption occasions.
Primary Audience: The Traditionalist
Adults aged 35-60, predominantly men, who know and regularly purchase the brand. They value familiarity, accessibility and a good price-to-quantity ratio, often choosing beer for consumption at home or in informal social settings.
Insight
“Sometimes I need a sense of mountain freshness without leaving the city.”
Strategic Direction: Bring Pirinsko’s most recognisable brand code - mountain freshness - into a real, accessible experience across the city, the store and the moment of purchase.
Secondary Audience: The Urban Explorer
Men and women aged 22-35 with active and social lifestyles. They are interested in outdoor experiences, convenient formats, lifestyle content and brand interactions that feel relevant, enjoyable and shareable.
activation
“Take the Freshness With You”
The concept brings the feeling of mountain freshness into urban and retail environments.
Instead of relying only on shelf visibility, Pirinsko creates a short, sensory and shareable experience that allows adult consumers to encounter the brand promise directly.
Pop-Up Activations
Mobile branded spaces placed at relevant urban locations, creating direct interaction with legal-drinking-age audiences and transforming product contact into a more memorable brand experience.
Sampling
Supervised product tastings at appropriate locations, giving adult consumers an opportunity to experience the product while reinforcing the communication around refreshment and discovery.
POS Materials
Island displays, shelf stoppers, floor graphics and other in-store elements designed to interrupt routine shopping behaviour and bring the visual language of mountain freshness into the retail environment.
AR/QR Interaction
A mobile layer connecting physical materials with branded games, rewards or outdoor activities. The interaction extends the experience beyond the initial POS contact and creates an additional, measurable point of engagement.
My Role
BTL & Shopper Activation Strategy
This was a three-person university project developed with Polina Drumeva and Selin Mehmed. As a team, we worked across category and competitor analysis, audience segmentation, brand positioning, creative concept development and activation planning.
I contributed to the analysis of the category, target audiences and consumer barriers, as well as to the development of the BTL and POS direction.
My focus was translating Pirinsko’s promise of mountain freshness into a tangible experience across the city, the retail environment and the moment of choice, while connecting physical activation with a supporting digital interaction.
