By Lawrence Gallagher, Assistant Account Executive
In an age where most people’s attention spans don’t extend beyond a 20-second TikTok video, there is something to be said for how Guinness, with its 119.5 second pouring process, has managed to endear itself to millennials. However, its resurgence may have less to do with the taste of the black stuff and more to do with a combination of purposeful branding and the growth of an enthusiastic social media community.
Guinness has a long track record of hugely successful campaigns, such as the ‘Made of More’ campaign, to its iconic ‘good things come to those who wait’ tagline and its famous toucan. These campaigns have given the brand a unique cultural cache, enabling it to carve out a powerful identify in a hugely competitive and crowded market. But the drinks market moves quickly – just ask anyone who was trying to sell gin in the early 2000s. As tastes evolve, Guinness faced a challenge to build real brand affection with millennials, a generation who didn’t grow up with Guinness in the same way their parents may have done.
The brand acknowledged it had to shift the image of Guinness as an ‘old man pint’, to a cool and trendy drink for the younger generation. It recognised an increasingly sober-curious generation of drinkers and released a 0.0% range, which is actually drinkable and has become the most popular non-alcoholic beer in the UK.
On the back of this success, it released the Guinness Nitro Surge, which was the first time that enthusiasts could pour their own ‘perfect pint of Guinness’ in the comfort of their homes. The Nitro Surge gave people the chance to take part in the ‘experience’ and the mystery of pouring a proper pint of Guinness, which stirred up debate and conversation everywhere. These two releases by Guinness in the past couple of years have created the foundations for the success they have had among millennials.
The fascination of a perfectly poured pint of Guinness has taken over social media at times, with people doing the ‘tilt test’, the ‘schtick’ test, and challenging each other to ‘split the G’. And it’s not just the perfect pints that hog the attention – Instagram account “Shit London Guinness” shares the worst pints produced by the capital’s pubs for its fans’ derision. All of this has made Guinness a hot topic on social media, which has led to a community of influencers and fans steadily building up around their love of drinking a proper pint of Guinness.
One example is Darragh Curran, who calls himself the ‘Guinness Guru’. The idea is simple, he goes to different pubs and rates their Guinness, but it’s gained him a following of over 400,000 on TikTok. Darragh is one of many influencers who appears to have both capitalised on, and driven, Millennials’ fascination with Guinness.
But why is this happening now? I think it is far too easy to say it is simply ‘right place right time’. As a brand, Guinness couldn’t be further from its main competitors, BrewDog and Beavertown, which are almost as ubiquitous as Guinness, but have nowhere near the same authenticity.
In an age where rival brands have leapt onto the millennial trend for drinks with silly names – Beavertown’s new 0% IPA named ‘Lazer Crunch’ being a prime example – Guinness has never hinted at releasing a Mango and Passionfruit flavour for example. They have stuck to what they know best, and perhaps it is this authenticity which has made it is so popular among millennials.
Guinness’s comeback could suggest the beginning of a pendulum shift among millennials, away from the frankly infantilising Dead Pony Clubs and Gamma Rays back to the reassuringly grown-up Guinness. For a generation obsessed with “adulting”, Guinness is a brand which commands respect, a brand with an amazing heritage which remains relevant and doesn’t pander to its customers.
