Guinness looks to the future

Guinness has posted organic net sales growth of 4% in its year end results, thanks largely to its performance in the African and Asian markets.

As Dublin warmed up for the brand’s 250th anniversary Arthur’s Day celebrations, Guinness reported a growth in its on-trade market share across the UK and Ireland.

With the TV audience alone for the Arthur’s Day celebration estimated at over 120 million people worldwide, Brian Duffy, global brand director for Guinness, expressed confidence in the brand’s ability to build further on this performance. “We’re expecting the platform of awareness from this programme to be great”, he said, adding: “In Great Britain we’ve seen 30 months’ consecutive share growth”.

Despite the current decline in the UK’s on-trade sector, Andy Fennell, chief marketing officer for Diageo, emphasised the company’s commitment to this channel in driving forward Guinness’ sales performance.

Fennell told the drinks business: “The contraction of the on-trade happening in the UK is not a global phenomenon – just look at Africa." He added: "The on-trade will always be important to us and in many ways it’s the heart of the industry.”

While Guinness remains a marketing executive’s dream, innovation with the product itself seems to have been rather slower in capturing the consumer’s imagination. Guinness Red remains on trial in the Midlands and the brand’s latest development, Guinness mid-strength, has just been extended from its domestic market to Scotland.

Duffy describes “pockets of success” for this product, especially in Australia, where in some states mid-strength has won up to 18% of Guinness’ market. Nevertheless, Duffy maintains: “Guinness is a challenging problem to innovate because the archetype is so strong. Mid-strength is something that needs to be developed across a number of brands, beyond just ours.”

Nevertheless, Fennell notes that Guinness “is not a brand where you can knock out three new styles a year”. He believes “innovation is about making sure your offering is right for the day,” describing the anticipated effect of the 250th anniversary celebration as “just as exciting as any product innovation”.

Looking forward to the future, Duffy outlined the plan for Arthur’s Day to become an annual event for the brand. In addition to the high profile celebrity performances, last Thursday’s celebration saw Guinness launch the Arthur Guinness Fund, pledging an initial €6 million to the project.

Duffy explained: “The core aim is to support individuals around the world whose objective is to create employment and release opportunities.”

The coming months will see further announcements on the development of the Arthur Guinness Fund as the brand seeks to capitalise on the momentum from its monumental birthday party.

Gabriel Savage, 30.09.2009