Marketing and Guinness Essays

Marketing and Guinness Essays Marketing and Guinness Essay Marketing and Guinness Essay Marketing Strategy for Guinness Introduction Guinness is a renowned stout (beer) company in Ireland, and throughout the world. It is particularly famous for its unique taste and its quality. The beer is an icon for Ireland, with is epic advertisements and classic colour of black and white. Arthur Guinness established the stout in 1759, at St. James’ Gate in Dublin. The company has survived years of competition through its creative advertising and high quality product. Mission Statement The Guinness brand is part of the large Diageo group, its mission statement quotes that they wish ‘To become one of the world’s most trusted and respected companies’. We feel that this is been achieved with the Guinness brand as it is much respected worldwide. They are always striving to grow, and be known for their outstanding stout. Guinness has succeeded in growing into the world’s number one stout brewer. In 2000 its overseas sales overtook Irish and British sales, for the first time and these numbers have continued to grow ever since. Situational Analysis Company Analysis Goals Diageo as a company are constantly striving to reach new goals, to improve the Guinness brand and quality of the product. In recent times the global economic environment has taken a downturn, which has meant that the company has had to do their best to stay competitive and hold their place in the global market. In recent years the sales of the iconic Irish drink have been falling on a domestic level so Diageo decided that it would have to look further a field to developing markets for new sales. Diageo got in touch with the famous advertisers Saatchi Saatchi and started about entering the African market and creating what the advertising company call a â€Å"love mark†, described as a brand that enjoys loyalty beyond reason from consumers. One of the company’s aims is to gain a foothold in this market to increase sales, and profits, and develop their worldwide recognition of the brand. Focus Diageos main focus for Guinness has and will be to maintain a product of up most quality, with a loyal customer following. They focus on advertising to promote the stout. Culture Even though the stout is synonymous with Ireland, the drink is accepted worldwide. Guinness sells the stout to 150 countries across the world, with its top markets in Ireland, Great Britain, United States, Nigeria and Cameroon. Guinness is famous for its Irish provenance and epic colour; it is the most famous black stout and is brewed in over 50 countries. Guinness sell a numerous range of stouts, with Guinness Draught and Guinness Foreign Extra Stout been the most popular worldwide. Guinness takes into account the culture of different countries, and understands that different tastes appeal to different regions of the world. Guinness Draught is predominantly sold in Europe, Japan, Australia and North America. This Guinness is available as Guinness Original, Extra cold, Extra smooth, and their most recent – Guinness Red. Guinness Foreign Extra stout is most popular in Caribbean, Africa and Asia, due to its slightly stronger taste. Guinness are ingenious with their advertising strategies, this is evident through the celebration of Arthur Guinness day, it was the 250th global celebration last year, however due to the massive success of the day, it is now a yearly occasion. The day was celebrated in over 150 countries throughout the world. S. W. O. T. Analysis Strengths Guinness is a worldwide renowned brand, under the Diageo PLC. Guinness’ strengths lie in the uniqueness of the brand and its cleverly created advertising campaigns, such as the â€Å"good things come to those who wait† campaign or â€Å"its alive inside†. Diageo understand their markets and the wants of the their target consumers. One of Guinness’ key strengths lies their near monopoly in the stout market, they are the only brand to sell a stout globally. Guinness is a remarkably strong brand that is recognized globally. This means that consumer recognition of the product is instant, when a consumer sees the epic white and black, they automatically think of Guinness. The â€Å"Harp of Brian Boru† is synonymous with Ireland and Guinness itself. Weaknesses One of the main weaknesses for Guinness is the fact that stout has such a unique taste which younger consumers find too strong, this means that they are unable to reach a vast number of consumers. Another problem which Guinness face is the â€Å"old man† image. If Guinness wants to reach a younger spectrum of the market they must shift this portrayal of the drink. The majority of Guinness consumers fall under the plus 35 age bracket, with the most loyal drinkers been 40 plus. Opportunities There are numerous opportunities, which Guinness can act upon, from expanding the global brand to reaching new markets. Guinness have altered the stout for different markets around the globe, to suit the respective markets needs, however, we feel that there is huge scope to try target consumers under 35. By doing so they would have a broader range of consumers in the market. Guinness would need to make a slightly lighter tasting stout to appeal to the younger drinkers, whose taste buds are less developed. The option to ad a new product â€Å"Guinness Light†, to reach this younger end of the market would boost sales in an economically difficult time. Guinness light would not only have a lighter taste but also would have fewer calories, to appeal to the health conscious generation of today. Threats The main threats that the Guinness brand has to face today are economic. During the global recession the brand must strive to be stronger and uphold its quality. Consumers are spending less on goods, which they want, as apposed to what they need. People are less likely to go out to pubs with friends, to save money most consumers would choose to stay at home, however this is where Guinness sold in cans is a success. There is also the threat of competitors, seen as Guinness has endured years of success with the unique stout, other companies may see this as an opportunity to try gain some of this success. Consumer Analysis Statistics show that 80% of Guinness drinkers fall within the 30-60 age group. Guinness has always performed well among the older market segment. Generally stout drinkers have more mature taste buds and are accustomed to the strong taste of the beverage. Guinness is the quintessential Irish beer, and an acquired taste. The consumer value of the beverage is to enjoy it after a day of work, in the pub, with friends, or at least this is the typical consumer profile of a Guinness drinker. Competitor Analysis Currently Guinness is the key brand in the stout market, which means that competitors find it hard to position their brand. In Ireland Murphy’s would be Guinness’ biggest competitor, they are a less popular stout as it does not have the same quality taste as Guinness, however the drink is cheaper than Guinness which may be an advantage to them during the recession. A pint of Murphy’s costs between â‚ ¬4 and â‚ ¬5, where as a pint of Guinness ranges from â‚ ¬4 to â‚ ¬6. Murphy’s is a cheap stout, it appeals to the younger sector of the market as they are budget conscious, and they would not be looking for quality. It is not as well known or recognized as Guinness as its brand isn’t as well established. Besides stouts, companies selling beer would be huge competitors to Guinness, especially world-renowned brands such as Heineken. As they sell their drink roughly around the same price as Guinness, and target similar if not the same market, not only this but Heineken are also famous for there unique and epic advertisements. Cider represents a growing threat in the alcoholic market, it is a lighter drink compared to a stout. The younger end of the market prefers cider; these consumers’ tastes are less acquired compared to the older end. Bulmers has grown its share in the market over the last 10 years, from 2. % to 10% ( bulmers. ie/marketing-case-study/default. asp). It is one of the most popular ciders in the Irish market. In today’s highly competitive market Guinness must strive to increase brand awareness, loyalty to the brand and reach a younger market if it wants to stay as widely recognized, popular and an iconic brand and stout in the Irish market and around the wo rld. Guinness’ competitive advantage over the other stouts, ciders and beers in the market is its unique taste, the fact that it is synonymous with Ireland. Climate Macro-Environmental Analysis Economic Environment Currently we are experiencing a global economic downturn, which makes it difficult for companies to survive. Guinness has a strong and well-established brand which will stand to them during these tough times. Consumers are less willing to spend money in restaurants and pubs, they are more likely to stay in or have friends over. Guinness needs to re-strategise in order to stay competitive, and keep their large foothold in the stout market. A larger emphasis on the stout been sold in cans may be needed in order to keep their sales up. Social and Cultural Environment Guinness as a brand tries to advertise to people of all different cultures, by doing this they can target a large consumer base, as it is a product that is consumed in the three groupings of global economic expansion. Seeing as two of the top five consumers of Guinness in the world are part of the peripheral zone, they have achieved in infiltrating these zones. Their aim is to reach out and capture a person’s attention and imagination with their advertising. By using advertising which identifies with particular cultures in which they are trying to infiltrate, they capture a wider consumer base. Guinness is a universal brand which is enjoyed by some 1. 8 billion consumers yearly. To achieve such staggering numbers, it is a reflection of how successful the brand is. By using different types of promotions and techniques to advertise, Guinness reach out to many types of people and different cultures throughout the world. For example in New Zealand and Australia Guinness hold competitions called Pint Master, in which you rate your pint and your bartender as to how well the pint was poured you then scratch a card and then reveal in you have won a Nintendo Wii. This type of promotion is popular as it encourages people to buy a pint of Guinness as they could possibly win a prize. It also generates word of mouth and gets people interested in the stout, reinforcing the idea of Guinness. In the United States, Guinness has created an App for I-phones and I-pads. This app shows consumers which pubs throughout America sell Guinness, it can find over 20,000 in the U. S. alone. Throughout Guinness’ different advertising campaigns they attempt to incorporate cultural values without isolating other cultures. Sport is both a social activity and part of culture, Guinness associate themselves with sports that are popular to respective countries around the world. In America they targeted the super bowel audience with the ingenious American football advertisement, they have also used this method of advertising for Hurling in Ireland and America targeting both Irish and the Irish Diaspora in America. In Africa Guinness sponsors several leagues and promote the stout through memorable advertisements, which romanticize the sport. Guinness is a multinational company, which positively uses globalisation to connect with cultures without imposing upon them. This has made Guinness a reputable company with a good ethical reputation. Collaborations Guinness is one of the biggest sponsors in Ireland. The company sponsors a wide range of events. The Guinness Cork Jazz Festival is famous all over the world. Guinness also sponsors the Rugby World Cup, Irish Rugby and the Galway Races. Guinness was the creator of the original music festival; a two-day music festival called Witness which features the biggest music acts in the world. It subsequently has changed sponsorship to Heineken. Sponsoring huge events like these is all part of the intricate advertising strategy; consumers will also associate the beverage with enjoying good times with friends. Guinness began sponsoring the All Ireland Hurling championship in 1995. It was the first ever sponsor of the event and the first five years of the sponsorship alone brought hurling to the attention of new audiences and greatly enhanced the image of the sport. Guinness is also the official beer of the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU), and sponsor of the Guinness series in rugby. The Guinness book of World Records is a book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world. It all began in Wexford, Ireland, in 1951 with Sir Hugh Beaver the managing director of the Guinness Brewery. The first edition of the book was published in 1955. It is now renowned throughout the world and although Guinness and indirectly Diageo owned the rights to the book, in 2001 Gullane Entertainment purchased it. The book, however still holds the Guinness name. The most recent venture of Guinness is its collaboration with Google Earth and iTunes for the new iPhone application. Using the GPS on the phone, the Guinness Pub Finder app allows you to find a nearby pub serving Guinness. The database is selective to the USA with a database of more than 20,000 bars across the country. This shows us how Guinness is evolving with new and improved methods to accessing it’s a younger and more technologically advanced generation. Positioning Positioning is part of any companies marketing strategy; their objective is to influence consumer’s perception of a brand or product. Guinness’ aim is to occupy a distinct and clear part of consumers’ minds. Guinness successfully positions their brand as one of â€Å"top quality† with a â€Å"unique taste† and one that is synonymous with Ireland. When a consumer thinks of Guinness they automatically, think black and white, and think of Ireland. Its through the brands innovative advertising that the stout has been positioned clearly in the minds of consumers today, which is a hard task to achieve in such a competitive and ever expanding market. Their campaign â€Å"good things come to those who wait†, creates the idea that the 119. seconds it takes to pour the stout, is worth the wait for a drink that is uniquely brewed, with quality taste every time. Marketing Mix Product Guinness is a dark stout made of roasted, malted barley, hops, yeast and water. Its distinct ‘black’ appearance beer is not actually black but rather dark ruby red because of the way the ingredients are prepared. The white head is creamy due to bubbles of nitrogen and carbon dioxide gas as the beer is poured. This is what makes the product so unique, it is important that it is poured and served in a particular way. The two-part pour method means the perfect pint can be prepared in 119. 5 seconds precisely. The complete Guinness product line includes: Guinness Draught; creamy pint, available in keg, bottle and can (typically sold in Europe, the US, Canada and Australia) Guinness Draught Extra Cold available in keg. Other than being served a few degrees cooler, it is the same as Guinness Draught. Guinness Foreign Extra Stout stronger in taste and more bitter than Guinness Draught (it is especially popular in Asia, Africa and the Caribbean They are all brewed with the classic and unique Guinness techniques. However, it uses local ingredients so, in Nigeria for example, Guinness is made using sorghum, which grows better than barley. A stronger Guinness called Foreign Extra Stout is also brewed in Africa and other places. Price Guinness prices are competitive relative to other stouts and beers within the market. Government measures in Ireland control the cost of alcohol in the country, with retailers passing the savings on to consumers. Since 1976, there hasnt been a very big variation in the number of pints that the manufacturing worker could buy with a gross wage. Place Guinness is primarily a product that can only be drunk in bars. Many Irish drinkers associate ‘the black stuff’ with the common pint. Now readily available in cans and bottles, it is more widespread towards off licenses and supermarkets. Over the past years, Guinness has been performing relatively well in foreign markets. In the United States, sales are picking up. Australia and Africa are also giving the brand a good reception. Promotion Guinness’ advertisements and promotional strategy relies on rich Irish heritage. The Irish perception of Guinness however, finds that most people think of Guinness as the most advertised brand and not a rich, Irish brand. The adverts are famous throughout the world; they are universal and appeal to all, far and wide. Guinness has produced amazingly creative and imaginative television adverts and slogans. It is the reason the brand is so famous and well known today. New Strategy and Repositioning of the product Selected Marketing Strategy (Guinness Lite) In order to reach a greater market, Guinness needs to re-position itself as the beer of choice for younger potential consumers. The idea is to tweak the current product to make it more appealing to younger drinkers with a less accustomed pallet. Guinness Lite could be a part of the new product line, this would mean a lighter stout and a lower alcoholic strength. In order to capture a younger generation, one that is attracted primarily to lagers and beers the company should look for ways of engineering their product to suit that market preference. In order to maintain the older market, the company should still retain its older Guinness brand. In other words, there will be two offerings; the classic Guinness brand and the new one. Since the company will be introducing a different brand, they need to change their packaging. Diageo should re-package the new Guinness Lite in a can. The can should have different colours from the old Guinness so that young people can see that they are buying a different product from their parents, while still maintaining the harp and classic Guinness logo, to keep the overall look and feel of the iconic brand. The third and last aspect about Guinness’ positioning will be its Irish heritage. The beer will be tailored for the Young Irish population. In order to attract the younger consumer, Guinness Lite’s pricing should be tailored to suit that category. Since most youth are not yet as financially stable as their older counterparts, it will be necessary to place the product’s price at a consumer-friendly level. They should maintain their prices at that level in order to stay competitive. The most important element of the new marketing strategy, which will also form part of the promotional strategy, is appealing to the younger audience. We know that over 80% of Guinness drinkers fall within the 30-60 age group. A mere 15% of Guinness consumers lie between the 20-29 age bracket. This may be because many youngsters are looking for something that will differentiate them from their parents. Guinness in the eye of younger drinkers is generally considered as a drink that is predominantly popular with older generations. Advertising on a personal level, towards a younger customer base its important. New ad campaigns with young actors and a fresh image will bode well for the new product. Guinness Lite should be a common product in supermarkets and other retail outlets. Taking a shift from the pub going market segment, as we need to make the product easily available to the home drinker. As it has been stated earlier, drinking habits in Ireland have changed and it would therefore be necessary for the company to consider retail chains and supermarkets as their primary distribution channels. In the past Guinness focused on pubs and bars, as their major retail distribution channel but this need not be the case for Guinness Lite. In order to revitalise the Guinness brand, the company should re-position themselves as the brand of choice for young consumers. This needs to capture their needs and preferences. They need to change the product content and its packaging. Pricing, distribution and promotion need to capture this element. However, since the focus is in Ireland, then the company’s promotional strategy should reflect its rich Irish heritage. These two issues are the core concepts that can get Guinness back on track. Conclusion As a whole Guinness is an iconic reputable company, with global recognition. It has endured massive profits over the last decade. It is constantly striving to reach new markets and new potential consumers; Diageo has achieved this through innovative advertising and creative promotional campaigns. We believe the brand will continue to expand and grow. Guinness as a brand and product shows no sing of slowing down in the future. It will continue to be a pioneering brand for years to come.