Topic > Evaluate the use and selection of…

Guinness, one of the largest stout brands in Ireland and around the world, is a brand that embodies not only a strong Irish heritage but also a long history of over 250 years of managing its own brand. (Guinness.com, 2013) Best known globally for the Guinness World Record of the 20th century (Guinness.com, 2013), it has not stopped moving forward and has maintained its leadership in the most competitive era. The successes of its marketing tools are shown in every aspect of its strategies integrated into the promotional mix, such as advertising, public relations, sales promotion and so on (Palmar, 2012:420-461)). The sponsorship of the English Rugby Premiership, the successful use of new technologies such as Facebook, You Tube and other social media (Guinness.com, 2013) and themed activities linked to St Patrick's Day (Matt, 2011) are some of the examples. One of the typical and most successful examples is the Guinness Storehouse of 2000 (Guinness-storehouse.com, 2013), which is a major tourist destination in Dublin, Ireland. This essay will discuss how Guinness conducts marketing activities on Storehouse and why Storehouse's series of activities have managed to build the Guinness brand in a synergistic and effective way. Since the Guinness Storehouse is such an ingenious and successful case, in this essay it will not only be analyzed as a public relations case, but also as a separate experiential marketing strategy. Experiential marketing, according to Schmitt and other researchers, is a kind of direct interaction between a brand and the individual customer. (Schmitt, 1999). In the case of Storehouse, consumers will be more likely to internalize the marketing message and core value (Urde, 2003:1017-1040) of Guinness: inner strength, power and goodness. Storehouse is not Guinness' first visitor centre. He did it