QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“Ireland has one of the world’s heaviest rainfalls. If you see an Irishman with a tan, it’s rust.”
Dave Allen

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Whenever I visit my brother in Ireland (Belfast), one of my favorite things to do is head into a couple of the Irish “tourist shop traps” to see the latest “Irish merchandise."

From fluffy sheep ballpoint pens to books on Irish Castles and hand-knitted sweaters that have stayed the same since the 1800s, visiting these stores is an experience.

If you haven’t yet visited Ireland, it's a place I'd recommend adding to your travel bucket list.

And if you have been, you'll know that you have only really been to Ireland if you bring home something that’s Guinness related.

Fortunately, in these tourist stores, that's easy, given at least half the stores' merchandise is filled with creative ways to remind the world that even after 264 years, Ireland still makes the world’s best stout.

Guinness fudge, anyone?

Or how about a Guinness onesie for a newborn baby (they start them young.)

There are also Guinness art supplies, boxer shorts, and golf clubs.

Today Guinness is brewed in 50 countries, sold in over 120 countries, and churns out 220 million gallons yearly.

That's no small accomplishment for a vintage beer brand that today competes toe-to-toe with the explosive growth of the craft beer industry.

Perhaps you can relate with something similar happening in your industry?

How Guinness has transformed its marketing is a great lesson for any business faced with aggressive competition in fast-changing times.

1) Stop Thinking Big

With Microbreweries making the beer-drinking experience intensely local, Guinness had to start thinking "small."

One way they did this was to spotlight a small experimental brewery that had operated within Guinness’s facility in Dublin for more than a century but few people had ever been allowed to visit. They opened their gates so anyone could come in and taste whatever had been made that week, and the company inturn could use it as an ongoing research facility and leverage the experience across social media as part of it's global marketing.

The move had an unexpected effect on the culture at Guinness by making a big company feel "small" again - a brewer could talk to a marketer or a sales guy over a pint which helped the company create that sense of experimentation, collaboration, and openness that’s one of the hallmarks of the craft beer industry, but was even better since the changes were being made by an industry giant.
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​The Takeaway - Any company can be nimble and innovative to compete as either a David or as a Goliath in an industry. It's now the quality of your marketing strategy (and no longer the size of your business) that determines success.

2) Don’t Make Beer for Women

It’s no secret that men make up the vast majority of beer drinkers, and to appeal to the fairer sex, many breweries thought the way to best attract them would be to target women in their ads or create a special product line just for them (coffee stout in a pretty glass bottle anyone?)

Fortunately, Guinness was not so naive and concluded that women (especially Irish women) wouldn't drink what they're told to anyway, and secondly, the only way to get women to resonate with Guinness was to pivot the company’s brand to telling genuine and heartfelt stories men and women could relate to.

For example, while most beer companies still use traditional beer ads about a “girl-chasing, party-loving man-child, Guinness pivoted their ads to story-telling with purpose.

Did you ever see the Guinness Wheelchair Ad?

The commercial starts out with two teams playing wheelchair basketball against each other. At first you think it’s a commercial for the Paralympics or some other foundation until you see all the players stand up from their wheelchairs except for one. The ad then shows it was a group of friends playing in wheelchairs to involve their one friend who has paraplegia. The scene ends with the friends drinking Guinness together at a bar after the game. This ad projects the image that one of the demographic drinkers of Guinness are athletic men who are defined by their kindness and loyalty.

And how do you think women reacted to this ad? That’s right, it has become one of Guinness’ most successful ads of all time.

You see Guinness could have launched a vast number of smaller sub-brands and microbreweries to try and compete with the tidal wave of new competitors. That would have been risky, but logical. It's how most big companies react to new kinds of competition.

But Guinness didn't. Instead of trying to fight fire with fire, it did the unexpected and in the process forged the new gold standard for its industry.

Learn from Guinness and achieve a brand transformation in your own company by using these two great strategies.

I hope you have a great St Patrick's Day!

Julie Guest
Marketing Consultant & Chief Strategist
​Bolder&Louder - Extraordinary Advertising​
​Premier Physician Marketing​

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"May you have the hindsight to know where you've been, the foresight to know where you are going, and the insight to know when you have gone too far."

Irish Proverb

Author Tip #1 The wording of your book title is CRITICAL to attracting your dream prospects. A good title arouses curiosity, answers a burning question or challenges a wrongly held assumption. A poor title, on the other hand sounds vague, is all about the author instead of the reader or is confusing.

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The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People​
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​Poor Title:
How My Habits Helped Me Achieve Maximum Productivity
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If you're interested in authoring a Lunch Break Book with us, we have a crazy St Patrick's Day special running until March 17th. Apply for either a Leader Lunch Break Book or a Pioneer Lunch Break Book and we will gift you $14,866 worth of marketing services and tools to market your book!

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Season 3 of The Client Stampede Podcast is launching soon.
Meantime there are 125+ episodes to help you get more clients. Each episode is usually short sometimes funny and always packed with tools, tips and strategies to keep your business ahead of your competitors.

Subscribe on iTunes.
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CLASSIC EPISODE #70

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LISTEN NOW

Listen to more Client Stampede podcast episodes on iTunes.

Here are the eight most popular episodes trending:

8. Episode #1​6 Brilliant Beer Company Marketing

7. Episode #106 The Real Reason Prospects Push Back On Price

6. Episode #23 The Disaster Audi Buying Experience

5. Episode #100 How to Become an Expert to Your Dream Clients and Author a Good Book in 60-Minutes

4. Episode #93 A Funny Branding Story

3. Episode #94 Branding Demystified

2. Episode #95 How To Build A Power Brand

1. Episode ​#21 Don't Make Shaquille O'Neal's Multi-Million Dollar Mistake

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No Phones At The Table...

We love an ad that encourages people to interact with other people. We have all been guilty of being with our friends or family and not really being present.

Studies show that checking cell phones has become like yawning, once one person in your group does it, you may feel more comfortable doing it yourself. In addition, there have been studies that show your phone is killing creativity.

Guinness is encouraging us all to spend some time away from the phones, Interact with those around us, and maybe spark an idea or two. Most of the best ideas start as musings on a bar napkin, yes?

Whatever you do, have a safe and fun St. Patrick's Day!

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