The Guinness Party of Canada
The Guinness Party of Canada was designed to unite the brand’s marketing efforts to create an effective Online CRM (Customer Relationship Management) database of Guinness adorers; and to dramatically increase Canadian brand awareness, acceptance, and sales beyond the traditional three week lead-up to St. Patrick’s Day.
Canada’s leading Public Relations Agency, Strategic Objectives developed an innovative, national, virtual-meets-real world, two year program that combined digital, Social PR, experiential, promo, and traditional TV and Radio advertising. It delivered a large and active community of brand adorers, and record-breaking sales. It won IPRA (International Public Relations Association) Golden World Awards for Most Creative and Best Marketing Programs in the World. Most importantly, Guinness Canada was awarded The Diageo Golden Harp for greatest sales increase in the world!
The challenge
Make Guinness a Canadian Favourite Year Round
The solution
Make St. Patrick’s Day a National Holiday
Our research identified an opportunity to leverage Newfoundland’s existing St. Patrick’s Day holiday. We founded the Guinness Party of Canada, calling to “Make St. Patrick’s Day a National Holiday. Newfoundland gets it, so should the rest of us!”
We launched a website where Canadians could join the party, fill out a survey, and log their support. Upon completion, they received a free official Guinness Party of Canada Membership Card. The grassroots movement gained massive media coverage, with over 90,000 Canadians joining within three months, boosting Guinness sales well before St. Patrick’s Day and creating a national database of supporters.
To bring our virtual party to life, we deployed picketing pints across Canada, furthering momentum. Pat O’Brien, a Liberal MP, hosted a Guinness Party on Parliament Hill, leading to the introduction of a Private Member’s Bill to make St. Patrick’s Day a National Holiday, marking a historical moment.
In Year Two, we launched a nation-wide search for Canada’s first-ever Minister of Good Times, building on the momentum from Year One and driving even higher beer sales. Hundreds of Canadians entered the contest, with three finalists presenting their platform at a Montreal media event on St. Patrick’s Day 2004. The winner received bragging rights and a trip to Montreal. Over 135,000 Canadians became card-carrying members, supporting our call to make St. Patrick’s Day a National Holiday.
In just two years, long before Facebook, the Guinness Party of Canada built massive brand awareness, loyalty, and achieved a 12% year-over-year sales increase, far exceeding industry benchmarks. This success earned Guinness Canada Diageo’s Golden Harp Award for the greatest Guinness sales increase globally, and the campaign was named a Diageo Global Best Practice, later adapted in markets worldwide, including the United States.
The results
Cheers and Sláinte!
- 135K+ GPOC Members
- 46% Sales Increase Between April and June
Results
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