2011 Bronze FMCG

Client DIAGEO/GUINNESS

What is wonderful about this work? We needed to remind Guinness fans to put their favourite tipple on the Christmas shopping list, leave them with a warm rosy glow and give them the opportunity to be the Christmas host with the most. We created a musical baton to play jingle bells on five pint glasses of Guinness. Fans were directed to an interactive YouTube video for practice. The result? 33,329 Facebook ‘Likes’, 276,959 interactions, 20,547 views on YouTube, a 26% email open rate and 13.75% click-through.

What details of the strategy make this a winning entry? Love it or hate it, Christmas generally means entertaining friends and family for at least a week. No wonder then, that it’s an important sales period for all drinks brands. And while the menfolk who make the majority of the Guinness database are usually in charge of buying the booze, in the frenzy to get something for everyone they often forget to stock up on their own favourite: cans of the lovely black stuff. With so many at-home drinking occasions, there’s also a great opportunity for fans to introduce their friends and family to the taste of this unique drink. Finally, Christmas is the perfect time of year to thank our most loyal fans. Not surprisingly, it’s an important date in the CRM calendar. So, we reminded our fans to buy Guinness with a gift that was relevant throughout the whole holiday period. Traditionally the campaign has been built around a physical widget, but the increase in the number of fans only contactable via email meant that the big idea must live both online and offline.

How did creativity bring the strategy to life? What better excuse to crack open a couple of cans of the black stuff than to create your very own xylophone made by filling pint glasses with varying levels of Guinness? No, we couldn’t think of one either. Especially if those nice people at Guinness have sent you a branded black and white baton, instructions on how to assemble it, and provide an interactive YouTube video on which to practise to your heart’s content. And that’s what we sent our most loyal fans last Christmas.

Results The campaign succeeded to the tune of 33,329 new ‘Likes’ on our Facebook page and an even more impressive 276,959 online interactions – making the idea of playing a seasonal jingle on your favourite pint a real festive hit. Results for the email also sing out, with a 26% open rate and a 13.75% click-through rate.

Team Alistair Hutchison, Richard Shepherd, Nora Zenasni, Preston Rutt, Gareth James, Neil Oakley, Mark Brunt.