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Guinness is more than just beer. It is one of the oldest and greatest examples of branding success in history. The recognizable black stout with its creamy white head and harp logo has captivated consumers and marketers worldwide for more than 250 years. What began in a small brewery in Dublin, Ireland has evolved into a global phenomenon, brewed in 40 countries and savored in over 120. Today, you’re just as likely to find someone enjoying the ‘black stuff’ in downtown Lagos as you are a tourist in Dublin’s Temple Bar.
Some of the biggest-selling markets for Guinness Draught include Great Britain, Ireland, Nigeria, US, and Cameroon. In 2024, the company had a brand value of €2.4 billion, according to Brand Finance and saw a surge in popularity and sales, boosted by its non-alcoholic version, Guinness 0.0.
Prior to reaching St. Patrick’s Day every March, social feeds fill up with videos of people comparing pints – like this one from The Nudge, an essential guide to London.
Additionally, Guinness’s innovative and empathetic advertising campaigns are a crucial part of the brand’s bow. From the “surfers” advertisement with its galloping horses to the “Looks Like Guinness” campaign, Guinness is able to get people talking and the brand mentioned all over the world. In addition, there is the Guinness Storehouse, which is one of Ireland’s most popular tourist attractions, the iconic posters, which are now considered collectibles, and the brand’s commitment to brand consistency. Despite increased competition from other brands – big and small – the historic drink is still going strong and is currently seeing shortages in supply due to the growing demand by Gen Z drinkers: a fascinating story in itself!
So, over the course of two and a half centuries, how did Guinness develop and evolve as a brand? And what digital marketing strategies does it use to stay front of mind in homes and pubs across the world?
What’s the history of Guinness?
Arthur Guinness started the company that is now known as the brand in 1759. He was a businessman and philanthropist who started making beers at St. Dublin’s James’s Gate Brewery. In a shrewd move, he signed a 9,000 year lease for the brewery for just £45 a year and exported the dark stout to Great Britain, ten years later in 1769.
Guinness went public in 1886 and was selling 1.138 million barrels per year on average. This was despite the brewery’s refusal to advertise or offer discounts because it preferred to rely on the quality of its beer to attract customers. When it did advertise, it was with the stipulation that the ads had to match the quality of the product.
During that time, the company was the first to implement quality control, generous welfare, and even housing programs for employees. In 1936 the first Guinness brewery outside Dublin was opened in London followed by its first overseas brewery in Nigeria, which opened in 1962. This was followed by Malaysia, Jamaica, Ghana, and Cameroon.
Due to declining sales in the 1970s, the company decided to make Guinness more ‘drinkable’ and lighter by reducing the gravity – a measure of its density and potential alcohol content – to incorporate pale malt and hop extract in the brewing process. These changes resulted in the relaunch of Guinness Extra Stout in 1981.
In 1988, Draught Guinness in a can was launched, which used a widget to recreate the creamy surge from a tap. In 1991, this invention received the Queen’s Award for Technological Achievement. Diageo is now a multinational alcoholic beverage company with over 200 brands. In 1997, Guinness merged with Grand Metropolitan, a leisure, manufacturing, and property conglomerate. Guinness kept the rights to its product and trademarks as part of the merger. In 2017, Guinness broadened its market by making its beer suitable for vegetarians and vegans by avoiding the use of fish bladders in the filtration process. More recently, it has very successfully leveraged the booming non-alcoholic market by launching the very successful Guinness 0.0 in 2020.
Consequently, Guinness is now the most popular draft beer in the UK, accounting for one out of every nine pints consumed in pubs. While sales increased by 19% across Europe, a YouGov survey crowned it the most recognized and popular beer brand in the UK, according to Raconteur.
This has caused shortages of the black stuff, forcing some pubs to introduce rations. According to the Irish Times, jokes about Ireland’s relations with its neighbors about “whether we’ll have to hand over some of our Guinness” to tide the British over have even reached the Irish Embassy in the UK as a result of the lack of supply. So, what are the most important aspects of the Guinness marketing enchantment? And how can other brands benefit from their experiences?
1) Capitalize on heritage
When a brand has this much history, it would be remiss to not capitalize on it! By commemorating a global occasion like St. Patrick’s Day, Guinness, an Irish brand, taps into the country’s association with the brand. Day of St. Patrick. Its famous harp logo was created to emulate the official symbol of Ireland, going all the way back to the medieval high kings.
But it was creating a homegrown experience that really helped set Guinness apart. The 2000 launch of the Guinness Storehouse at the old fermentation plant of the brewery celebrated its origins. The Storehouse provided an immersive experience and captured the imaginations (and attentions) of younger consumers who may never have considered drinking stout before.
It’s also the product that helps Guinness to be widely recognized. The black and white layers of the drink are synonymous with the brand and they have become an important part of marketing and advertising campaigns because they provide simple brand recognition.
“Most brands would kill for the [visual] assets that Guinness has. They don’t come more distinctive than the harp logo and the black and white. The recognition is unparalleled, according to Pearlfisher branding agency partner David Jenkinson.
2) Focus on good advertising
Guinness is now known for its imaginative, clever, and sometimes spectacular advertising campaigns, despite the fact that there was not much promotion in the beginning (170 years!). The first Guinness advertisement came out in 1929 featuring the slogan “Guinness Is Good For You” in the Daily Chronicle in the UK. After that, advertisements and posters with a zookeeper and mischievous animals designed by artist John Gilroy continued for many years, and the originals are now collectibles. The brand’s first foray into television began in 1955 and it went on to create campaigns that celebrated not only the brand and product, but the diversity of people and community.
One that took the public and marketing community by surprise was ‘The Surfer’ commercial launched on St. Patrick’s Day in 1999.
It depicts a surfer waiting for the right wave, similar to a Guinness drinker waiting for a pint to settle in a pub, before a herd of horses appear to represent the sea. The advertisement was praised as an example of how a brand should advertise and won numerous awards.
Josep
