By Andrew Starke
Diageo Australia has invested over $300,000 in Guinness brand activity around St Patrick’s Day, which is celebrated around the world today (Mar 17).
Guinness is synonymous with St Patrick’s Day because it celebrates the life of Ireland’s patron saint and the lead up to the celebration is a key sales period for Guinness with 20 percent MAT volume sold in February and March.
Diageo expects increased Guinness brand visibility and promotional activity in off and on-premise to drive consumer awareness and increase sales.
In the top 556 on-premise outlets for Guinness nationally, retailers have been provided with 171,000 scratch cards over the St Patrick’s Day period.
Consumers who choose to drink a pint of Guinness over the St Patrick Day celebration period will be given a scratch card for their chance to win a Guinness St Patrick’s Day Pint Hat.
A maximum of one scratch card will be allocated per consumer per day from 1 February to 30 April 2010 and a total of 34,240 Guinness St Patrick’s Day Pint Hats, valued at $12.95 each, will be up for grabs.
The top 1100 off-premise retailers have been provided with limited edition Guinness St Patrick’s Day 2010 glasses (valued at $8 each), to give to shoppers who purchase 4-packs of Guinness in the February to April period.
The promotion will be supported by high visibility in-store POS material aimed at driving brand awareness and encouraging purchase.
Guinness has also created a Facebook application that allows consumers to plan their St Patrick’s Day with their Facebook mates.
Diageo Australia’s marketing manager for Guinness, Sam Reid, said: “St Patrick’s Day is the most significant day of the year for Ireland’s favourite craft beer. It is also an opportunity for key retail customers to enjoy incremental sales from the Guinness brand.
“Trade can expect to see increased brand visibility and activity leading up to the day which should continue until the end of April.”