New Guinness ads to brighten up brand
24 November 09

Diageo hopes a €5.5m ad campaign for Guinness will breathe new life into the "pigeonholed" brand. The latest activity kicked off last Wednesday with a TV advert that shows men building a new world, with clouds, oceans and forests being constructed out of barren land. It finishes with the strapline 'Bring it to Life', a line that symbolises the new direction Diageo want to take the brand, said Guinness marketing manager Paul Cornell.

The previous marketing strategy for Guinness which hinged on the strapline 'Good Things Come to Those Who Wait' and featured commercials making great use of the domino-effect failed to engage lighter drinkers, said Cornell.

"Good Things has done a good job and helped make Guinness aspirational. However, it also pigeonholed the brand to set occasions, like quiet low-tempo Sunday afternoons. The new direction sees Guinness as more mid-tempo Thursday and Friday nights," he added. "It is not the taste that has been putting people off drinking Guinness but the perception that it is a heavy and serious drink. We needed to do something epic on a huge scale. World has got the hallmarks and style of old Guinness ads but with more energy." The ad was shot in New Zealand and Canada and will run until the end of December. It marks the brand's biggest spend since its 2007 Tipping Point campaign, which cost €10m.