When I visited my nearest hipster pub in east London this week, there was no sign of the great Guinness shortage. Despite stories of pubs having to ration the newly fashionable Irish stout, the barman filled a glass with the correct double pour, leaving a white head and bubbles suffusing the cold, dark liquid. My Goodness, My Guinness, as the advertising posters by John Gilroy in the 1930s proclaimed.
The marketing gods have smiled on this odd-drink-out among Diageo’s brands as the UK drinks company continues to suffer a hangover from the Covid cocktail craze. Forget Johnnie Walker scotch and Smirnoff vodka, Guinness is where it’s at. Guinness is not a new product, although the zero-alcohol version launched in 2020 is also doing well. The stout invented by Arthur Guinness and brewed at St James’s Gate in Dublin since the late 18th century, is the epitome of long-term success. From older regulars, it has spread to young men and women: sales have risen by about 20 per cent this year in Great Britain. Diageo’s spirits are at a low ebb, meanwhile. The company has shuffled its brand portfolio towards hard liquors such as the Casamigos tequila brand co-founded by George Clooney, which it bought for up to $1bn in 2017. This seemed like a good idea at the time, but Casamigos sales dropped by 20 per cent in the year to August, leading its share price down. The resurgence of Guinness is remarkable, given that craft and imported beers have eroded sales of other familiar brands. Anheuser-Busch InBev’s botched attempt to widen the appeal of Bud Light shows how tricky that can be. I thought that the political backlash to its marketing use of the transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney would wear off, but I was wrong. Guinness’s success has a lesson for many companies: beware underestimating steady performers in favour of newer product