The paper – Effectiveness in black and white: How Guinness supercharged growth in GB and Ireland – explains how Guinness saw the opportunity in 2020 to take advantage of changing consumer behaviour, leading them to become the best-selling pint in the UK for the first time.
An opportunity for change
Beer was struggling as a category in early 2020, with mainstream brands losing relevance and volume. This was followed by the Covid-19 pandemic which decimated the hospitality industry and saw almost 10,000 licenced premises close permanently in Great Britain in 2020 alone.
As the definitive ‘pub beer’, a renewed brand strategy was needed to open Guinness up to more adults and more occasions, helping them to rely less on traditional seasonal peaks of Christmas, the Guinness Six Nations and St Patrick’s Day. With 80% of media spend traditionally falling between November and March, Guinness saw this as an opportunity to evolve and challenge its own assumptions about the brand.
A more vibrant and culturally diverse brand world
AMV BBDO developed a strategy to create a more open, inviting and communal brand that embraced a brighter, more vibrant and culturally diverse brand world, while doubling down on the distinctiveness that made Guinness what it is.
To do this, AMV BBDO employed social listening to understand how younger audiences were innovating and playing with the Guinness brand and its distinctive black and white pint and Guinness harp. By loosening its grip on the brand, Guinness tapped into organic trends including ‘Splitting the G’, and people sharing things that looked like Guinness while pubs were closed during 2020. The 2021 ‘Welcome back’ advert played on people’s desire to have their first pint post-lockdown by displaying bins, bollards and other items that looked like a pint of Guinness. The #LooksLikeGuinness campaign also saw them build special outdoor advertisements with 3D surfboards and deck chairs to drive awareness of the brand in traditionally lean summer months.
To further drive brand fame and relevance among the next generation of Guinness drinkers, AMV BBDO launched several cultural activations and partnerships during this period, including with British fashion brand LABRUM celebrating both brands connection to West Africa.
Becoming the face of responsible drinking
Guinness is a brand synonymous with St Patrick’s Day, however, 69% of Irish adults felt that excessive drinking during the period contributed negatively to stereotypes about Irish people. To counter that, and help make moderation a mainstream discussion, Guinness made the 0.0 non-alcoholic alternative the hero of its St Patrick’s Day 2023 campaign. The campaign saw them partner with pubs, Tesco and other key locations to highlight where Guinness 0.0 was available. TV and social ads used singing pints to champion moderation and ‘holding out for a zero’, a spot which would become the brand’s best-ever performing TV advertisement.
‘A St Patrick’s Day to Remember’ helped Guinness become the beer brand most associated with responsible drinking in both Great Britain and Ireland, and changing attitudes to St Patrick’s Day. Social mentions rose by 74%, resulting in a 50% increase in sales of Guinness 0.0 and 150 more pubs carrying the non-alcoholic beer permanently.
Key results:
- Guinness became the top on-trade beer in Great Britain for the first time in its history in 2023.
- Revenue ROI grew significantly between F21 and F23, reaching £1.89 per £1 invested in GB and £3.22 in Ireland
- Penetration increased to its highest-ever level in Great Britain, with growth strongest among younger generations.
- From 2019-2023 on-trade sales volume grew by 30% and off-trade by 45% in Great Britain, and 22% and 80% respectively in Ireland
- Guinness became the UK’s most searched-for beer and its share of search in the category almost doubled between 2020 and 2023
Says IPA President and CEO, UK and EMEA, GroupM, Josh Krichefski:
"Congratulations to AMV BBDO for winning the President’s Prize for Next Generation Brand Building at the IPA Effectiveness Awards. This award was designed to celebrate the brands that are keeping pace with how the modern world is evolving around us. By seeking to be the face of responsible drinking, revamping an iconic brand and diversifying their audience, there is no doubt that Guinness and AMV BBDO are very worthy winners."
Says Convenor of Judges and Chief Strategy Officer, Ogilvy UK, Jo Arden:
"Guinness is a brand synonymous with great advertising, but one that has a particular reputation about the times of year it can be enjoyed and the people that drink it. AMV BBDO has delivered a powerful strategy to reignite an already strong brand and turn it into the nation’s favourite pint.
"By using social listening to understand what younger generations were already doing with the Guinness brand, AMV BBDO has developed a playbook that has made Guinness more accessible and driven incredible success at a turbulent time for the wider category. Congratulations."
All winning case studies are available to download from the IPA website or from WARC. The IPA Effectiveness Awards 2024 are sponsored by WARC, System1, LinkedIn B2B Institute and Thinkbox.
View the winning papers
Special Prizes
- Grand Prix:
- McCain by adam&eveDDB: When the chips are down, margins matter. How a focus on long-term emotional brand building reduced price elasticity and increased profits for McCain
- Effectiveness Company of the Year:
- Global Effectiveness Network of the Year:
- The Broadbent Prize for Best Dedication to Effectiveness:
- Best B2B:
- Procell, Duracell by VML: Beware of your Battery charger
- Best Demonstration of Purpose (Not-For-Profit):
- KhairKhwah, Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (UK Government) by M&C Saatchi UK: How a 'well-wisher' transformed family planning in Pakistan
- Best Small Budget:
- Laithwaites, Direct Wines Limited by adam&eveDDB and Medialab Group: How we stopped at nothing to deliver a great payback for Laithwaites
- The President’s Prize for Next Generation Brand Building:
- Guinness, Diageo by AMV BBDO: Effectiveness in black and white: How Guinness supercharged growth in GB and Ireland
- The Channon Prize for Best New Learning:
- McCain by adam&eveDDB: When the chips are down, margins matter. How a focus on long-term emotional brand building reduced price elasticity and increased profits for McCain
Gold Awards
- Regional Market:
- Guinness, Diageo by AMV BBDO: Effectiveness in black and white: How Guinness supercharged growth in GB and Ireland
- Single Market:
- Laithwaites, Direct Wines Limited by adam&eveDDB and Medialab Group: How we stopped at nothing to deliver a great payback for Laithwaites
- McCain by adam&eveDDB, When the chips are down, margins matter. How a focus on long-term emotional brand-building reduced price elasticity and increased profits for McCain
- Specsavers by MG OMD and Specsavers Creative: I Don't Go
- Yorkshire Tea, Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate by Lucky Generals and Goodstuff Communications: Long-term brand building done proper
Silver Awards
Not-for-profit Market:
- Government Communication Service, UK Government by MG OMD: A new world standard in government media evaluation
- KhairKhwah, Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (UK Government) by M&C Saatchi UK: How a 'well-wisher' transformed family planning in Pakistan
- Single Market:
- Cadbury, Mondelēz by VCCP: Stop weeping on the sofa, start gifting with a poster: How Cadbury won Christmas
- Concierge Car Wash by AFFINITY: How handcrafted text messages turned a business around
- McDonald’s by Leo Burnett UK and OMD Group: McDonald's After Covid: Breaking Rules And Stealing Hearts
- Procell, Duracell by VML: Beware of your Battery charger
- Tesco Mobile by BBH and EssenceMediacom: Supermarket Mobile: How Tesco Mobile grew to a billion pound business by being helpful in a category that wasn’t
Bronze Awards
Global Market:
- H&M by Digitas and H&M: The Search for Growth: How H&M transformed their business by going digital native
- Regional Market:
- Parodontax, Haleon by Grey London: Solving a long-term health problem by getting better at the short term
- Not-for-profit:
- Boundless, CSMA by Anything is Possible: Time for Fun - How boundless imagination = transformative creativity
- Single Market:
- ANZ New Zealand by TBWA\NZ: ANZ Bank: From dreaming big to knowing HOW
- BBC by Havas Media UK: How a next-level paid media strategy helped rebuild love & relevance for the BBC
- David Lloyd Clubs by The Kite Factory and TBWA\MCR: David Lloyd Clubs: A tale of taking the high road - premiumisation in the midst of a category price war
- HSBC UK by VML: The value of a point of view
- LNER by MG OMD and M&C Saatchi: Progress after the pandemic
- Müller by VCCP: Out with the new, in with the old: how Müller turned the corner
- Nurofen, Reckitt by McCann London: "It's all in your head": How Nurofen tackled a hidden health crisis to regain category leadership
- Permian Strategic Partnership by Edelman: Vaccines for Anti-Vax Land
- TEMPTATIONS™, Mars Inc. by adam&eveDDB: How the TEMPTATIONS™ brand resisted the seven deadly sins of product launches
- The National Lottery by adam&eveDDB and iProspect: How The National Lottery used advertising to create its own luck, contributing an extra £689 million to Good Causes
- Three UK, CK Hutchison Holdings by Wonderhood Studios and Zenith UK: Helping Peter Pan come of age: Three and the effectiveness of grown-up marketing
- Vanguard, Vanguard Asset Management Limited by the7stars, AML Group, Analytic Partners and The Nursery: ‘Value to Investors’: how Vanguard’s brand advertising has helped transform the way Britain invests
- Xero by december19 and House 337: Xero - How a healthy brand created a healthy business