How good marketing made Guinness become the most popular beer in Britain.
Key Details
- Guinness has been around since 1759 but has recently become the most popular beer in Britain thanks to a good marketing strategy.
- The beer now accounts for one in every nine pints poured in the U.K., according to Marketing Week.
- The brand has also received a 19% boost in sales over the last 12 months—without releasing a new product or tweaking the existing one.
- The jump in popularity and sales can be attributed to how the beer brand marketed itself during the European lockdown.
Why it’s news
Many beer brands have a surge in popularity after releasing a new beer, but Guinness had a popularity surge making it the most popular beer in Britain without changing anything.
Guinness, known for being an Irish-loved beer, recently became the most popular pint in Britain, and the company is attributing its success to a good marketing plan.
Marketing can only help a brand so much. If a brand is going to survive, it has to have good bones, which in Guinness’s case, it does. The beer has been a beloved pint for years, but thanks to marketing, it has again surged in popularity.
Guinness used to lockdown in the U.K. to its advantage by continuing to market the product while many other brands put a pause on marketing. Since many bars were closed during the lockdown, people longed for a drink, and the company used that to its advantage.
Many brands dialed back on marketing, but Guinness went full force so that when the lockdown ended, people thought of the beer and went to the local bar to buy one. The company focused on “winning the first pint” when pubs reopened.
Guinness tapped into the lockdown and focused their marketing efforts around lockdown scenarios building the desire for Guinness and ultimately winning the first pint back when pubs and bars reopened.
The company’s marketing was effective as people began drinking Guinness more regularly, and now the beer is officially the most popular beer in Britain, accounting for one in every nine pints pulled in the U.K.