Sara Riis-Carstensen

Head of Global Branding at the De Beers Group & Former Director of Global Brand Development at LEGO

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Biography

Sara Riis-Carstensen is the woman behind LEGO’s global brand success. During her time at LEGO, Sara transformed the toy brand into the most powerful brand in the World (recognized by ‘Brand Finance’). Sara is considered one of the world’s leading thought leaders for all things brand and marketing. She draws on experience from positions at LEGO, Carlsberg, Giorgio Armani, and De Beers. Read More >

When Sara began working for LEGO there was not a strategy or a dedicated department working on the brand. Sara created LEGO’s first global brand strategy from scratch and she implemented organizational change to aggressively grow the brand and make LEGO a genuinely customer centric company.

Moreover, Sara drove several iconic brand campaigns and creative activations across the World – many of these are award winning.

After creating LEGO’s global brand success, Sara joined the World’s leading diamond company, De Beers. Here, she revolutionized the company’s approach to marketing by developing an always-on digital strategy. This included moving the company from being non-existent on digital channels to engaging hundreds of thousands of consumers on social channels.

Today, Sara is a sought-after strategic consultant who helps international clients build and transform their approach to branding, marketing and creative executions.

Sara is on the Digital Advisory Board of the prestigious Royal Ballet School in the United Kingdom.

Sara is a frequent speaker at global forums, conferences and events. Her style is energetic and her keynotes give insights into the work of one of the world’s top brand transformation leaders. Due to the nature of her work, Sara is used to engage diverse audiences ranging from top executives to local managers.

Sara has been a keynote speaker at public events and at private companies such as Burberry, Facebook, Coca-Cola, and many others. She is consistently ranked in the top 5% of all keynote speakers at the events she attends. Read Less ^

Speech Topics

Building a Brand. Brick by Brick

In this keynote, Sara Riis-Carstensen explains how she build LEGO’s global brand strategy from scratch. She will reveal how she took LEGO on a transformational journey towards becoming the World’s most powerful brand.

The Future of Power Brands

In this keynote, Sara Riis-Carstensen reveals the secrets behind building global power brands and how brands can stay ahead of the game.

Don’t Grow Up. It’s a Trap

Some of the biggest disruptors of our time has a child-like mindset. In this keynote, Sara Riis-Carstensen explains how organisations can disrupt and transform by adapting the creative mindset of children.

Hygge, The Danish Secrets to Happy Living

The Danes are famously the happiest people in the world, and ‘hygge’ is a cornerstone of their way of life. In this keynote, Sara Riis-Carstensen explains about ‘hygge’ and how the concept can be applied in marketing.

From Prince Charming to Diverse Self Expression

Many brands fall in the trap of stereotyping women. In this keynote, Sara Riis-Carstensen explains how the representations and expectations of women are constantly evolving and how brands can transform their approach to female.

Leadership. Scandi Style

Happiness is a well-documented attribute of life in Denmark which often extends to the workplace. In this keynote, Sara Riis-Carstensen explains the key lessons for developing a Scandinavian management structure that fosters teamwork and productivity.

Brand It! Visually

The visual identity of a brand is often underestimated by management. In this keynote, Sara Riis-Carstensen explains how some of the strongest global brands take a strategic approach to the brand visual identity and brand architecture.

The Future of Luxury Branding

Luxury brands are built on much more than exclusivity. In this keynote, Sara Riis-Carstensen explores best practices in luxury branding and provides guidance on how to build the future of luxury brands.

Testimonials

"Sara’s presentation gave me a glimpse into the best in-class brand strategy development. This was an excellent presentation that gave me a lot to think about in the way we approach brand building strategically and creatively."

- Burberry

"Sara helped us kick off the internal implementation of our corporate brand. She infused us with great energy and motivation. Thank you!"

- Danske Bank

"Sara is an inspiring and captivating speaker!"

- Creative Strategist, Facebook

"Building on her extensive knowledge about branding, Sara provided a wealth of real-life examples and stories, which all served as inspiration to consider branding in a new way."

- Coca-Cola