UK: Diageo targets off-trade with 'Guinness Time' push

Diageo is set to target the off-trade in the UK with its latest campaign for the Guinness beer brand.

The company's UK unit said late last week that it will invest GBP5m (US$8.9m) in '17:59. It's Guinness Time', a campaign which plays on the year Arthur Guinness took over the St James's Gate brewery in Dublin, where Guinness is brewed.

The campaign will include an on-pack promotion which will run for six weeks across ten-, 12-, 15- and 18-packs of Guinness Draught in a Can and the Guinness Original 12-pack. As part of the promotion, Guinness will partner with DVD postal rental company Lovefilm.com. When consumers sign up to a month's subscription with Lovefilm.com, they will then receive a free Guinness Choice DVD box set, including titles such as The Godfather and the Bourne Trilogy.

The push will also be supported by in-store sampling and visibility, TV and print advertising and PR.

In July, Diageo announced a 12-month sponsorship of network film on Channel 4, featuring idents of Guinness and Baileys.

"The Channel 4 sponsorship has established the association between Guinness and the at-home, evening drinking occasion," said Richard Barlow, senior brand manager at Diageo GB. "By running the 17:59 campaign, we are able to drive this association further.

"We believe that focusing on this evening drinking occasion, is the ideal way of engaging new consumers into the Guinness brand."

The new Guinness campaign also includes a TV advert, which will run from September for six weeks.