Consumer companies should beware neglecting historic brands in favour of celebrity start-ups
Guinness ’s success has a lesson for many companies: beware underestimating steady performers in favour of newer products. Photograph: Frank Millerthe barman filled a glass with the correct double pour, leaving a white head and bubbles suffusing the cold, dark liquid.
Irish Times Sportswoman of the Year Awards: ‘The greatest collection of women in Irish sport in one place ever assembled’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.
For a mass beer brand, Guinness is quite bespoke: it may not be a craft beer but there is craft to its delivery. It arrives at pubs in casks and must be stored and poured precisely to achieve the right combination of body, head and lacing on the glass. Woe betide sloppy pourers, for their failures are recorded derisively on Instagram and X accounts such as
Emotion and identity are weightier than portfolio strategy and it pays to keep faith in brands with long histories and consistent values, even if one sometimes has to be patient. Ivan Menezes, the former Diageo chief executive who led the push into premium spirits, often wore a Guinness harp pin. His heart was telling him something.
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