Guinness ads give a boost to bottles
Guinness GB has announced new advertising and promotional activity in support of its Guinness Draught in a Bottle brand.
As part of a £5million marketing campaign to assure customers that Guinness Draught in a Bottle tastes the same as a hand pulled pint of the black stuff, Guinness has trained a sampling team in the art of magic.
Through sleight of hand, trickery and illusion, the conjurers will bamboozle customers at key outlets in more than 15 major cities during November and April 2001.
Customers will be shown magical tricks incorporating the Guinness Draught in a Bottle and offered free vouchers that they can exchange at the bar.
Jane Sutcliffe, brand manager for Guinness Draught in a Bottle, said: "It's not Paul Daniels' kind of magic. Our sampling team has been specially trained and have even signed up to the magic circle.
"The message we're trying to get across is that it's not a new brand or new taste, it's a new format. Although for many Guinness drinkers it's a big jump from a pint to a bottle, we're saying that it's just another way of drinking Guinness draught," added Sutcliffe.
In addition to the magical tour, £1million has been invested in print advertisements scheduled to appear in both regional and national press as well as a number of men's lifestyle magazines from November through to June.
The brand will also be supported by on-trade postcard activity, a poster campaign in washrooms and a music marketing initiative that involves brand sponsorship of on-trade music selection.
"With a total spend of half a million pounds on media buying alone, we've purposefully focused on those media opportunities best placed to target Guinness Draught in a Bottle's core audience of 21 to 29 year-old males," said Sutcliffe.
"Consequently, by the time all activity comes to a close at the end of May 2001, 61 per cent of this target audience will have seen or been involved in at least one element of this campaign."
In order to replicate the hand pulled taste, Guinness has installed the first ever "rocket widget" in a bottle.
Recent research by Glasspac. com, the information bureau for the glass packaging industry, revealed that 51 per cent of women and 46 per cent of men drink out of bottles in pubs and clubs, while 86 per cent of 18 to 24 year-olds say it is their preferred choice of drinking.
