Carlsberg Group digital chief predicts 3-year expiry date to his role as he unveils plans to 'reinvent' Happy Hour

"I expect in three years’ time I will be out of a job as the role of chief digital officer will be redundant as digital expertise is fully integrated into the teams," he said.

Carlsberg is in the process of rebuilding its media infrastructure, which will include the overhaul of all its digital platforms, according to Jermiin.

A major part of this includes the launch of a social media-based digital platform which seeks to reinvent Happy Hour for breweries.

It has been working with Danish creative digital agency Konstellation, which has created an Instagram-based platform designed to encourage the creation of user-generated content in return for an extension of the usual Happy Hour discounted drinks.

The #HappyBeerTime initiative will be rolled out to bars globally, and aims to redefine and lengthen the notion of Happy Hour.

Bar goers must tweet a selfie of themselves and whoever they are with at the bar along with the hashtag, after which an algorithm will generate their picture to appear on the bar’s main TV screens along with the extended Happy Hour time they have been allocated in exchange for the UCG.

In time the group may look to evolve this concept, with a view to adapting other known bar games to incorporate into the platform.

“We are looking at it as a platform rather than an isolated idea. So we are looking at the bar games that already exist and how to implement them into the platform, so they [Konstellation] are presenting ideas around Group Toasts.

"This is where you can incentivise the guest in the bar to upload pictures and for example, for every 100 pictures there is a group toast which everyone in the bar can celebrate. We hope to launch a new game each year on the platform – to build a portfolio of social games. That’s the vision,” he told The Drum.

The #HappyBeerTime initiative has rolled out in Denmark, with several bars already using it, which they can plug in to their TV screens via an HDMI stick. It is now looking to extend this to Asia and eastern and western Europe.

Whether it launches in the UK is yet to be decided, given UK Carlsberg representatives are cautious regarding their social responsibilities as a brand, according to Jermiin.

"I've had discussions with my UK colleagues who are very cautious that this should not be seen as a tool to promote excessive drinking as that is obviously not the intention. In fact we are taking the time constraint out of the equation so people are not forced to drink a lot within the hour. Now they can add on time, and relax and have a good time.

"We have a huge social responsibility as a brewer and must be very mindful of how we are promoting our brand – we must not push excessive drinking, so when launching a happy hour idea, it's important it is centred on happy beer time – it's not about the hour – so I hope the UK is getting on board but I can’t confirm it yet,” he said.

In time the hope is to become an “institution”, representing a new way of people talking about and thinking about happy hour, replacing it with happy beer time, according to Jermiin.

It is increasingly important that the drinks giant can keep abreast of consumer behavioural changes, and “live the world as we are defining it” according to Jermiin.

He added: “This world is fluid with people moving seamlessly from platform to platform. We must have our own platforms to mirror that. Previously the company has built market by market, now we want to bring it all together to be a platform agnostic, responsive design-based experience.”

His comments regarding the future role of the chief digital officer chimed with those made recently by peers in the industry, including Burberry’s new VP of digital commerce Dan Heaf, who told The Drum chief digital officer is a “transitory” role.