The Guts and Glory Behind Guinness’s Global Premier League Campaign

“We are a brand which, in our DNA, is about the power and goodness of communion – and there is nothing which symbolises the power and goodness of communion than sport, in general. And these two sports, rugby and football are huge embodiments of that communion,” says Somnath Dasgupta, Guinness’s global marketing director for sports partnerships.

On August 16th, Somnath and the team at Guinness and their partners at AMV BBDO launched a global campaign that’s set to put them at the heart of the beautiful game. A new global partnership with the English Premier League will accelerate the brand’s long-time love affair with football. Kicking off with executions for the UK and Ireland and Africa, we’ll soon see work launching for the South Korean and pan-Asian markets too https://www.lbbonline.com/news/guinness-makes-its-premier-league-debut-with-global-campaign-celebrating-our-love-for-the-beautiful-game.

It’s a big statement for Guinness. For many in the UK and Ireland – as well as nations like South Africa, Australia and New Zealand – the association between Guinness and sport is largely lodged in the world of rugby union, thanks to a relationship that dates back over 60 years. Since 2007, Guinness has sponsored the Six Nations tournament. 

But when it comes to the other beautiful game, football (or soccer, if you must), Guinness is a legitimate die hard supporter. There’s evidence in its archives of it sponsoring local teams in Dublin. Back in 1983, it was  an early sponsor of Queen’s Park Rangers .

“We have always been in football but our presence in football has been a little bit fragmented. We’ve done different things in different parts of the world,” explains Somnath, who points to Guinness’ presence across Africa, where they’ve been broadcast partners for the Premier League on TV for 10 years and have a history of major activations around football. That’s why part of this global campaign is a re-release of the iconic ‘Brothers’ campaign, for the African market.

Another region in Guinness's sights is Asia, in particular South Korea. Prior to his Dublin-based role heading up sports marketing for Guinness, Somnath was Diageo’s South Korea country lead in Seoul and he notes that Guinness has been partnering with the South Korean national team and a number of Korean players have made it to English Premier League teams, as well as other major teams across Europe.

And so, this global Premier League deal serves as a perfect opportunity to stitch together all of Guinness’s footballing activity, build in some scale and to create a year-round sporting calendar for the brand, crossing both rugby and football.

Of course, while the partnership is a springboard to bring more cohesion to Guinness’s soccer strategy, the team has also been careful to make sure that they reflect the nuances of local footballing cultures.

“I think one of the things which we have pride in is our ability to flex between global and local. That, we believe, is a big part of our super power. We are a global brand but we have a local heartbeat. Traditionally the way we’ve approached our marketing is very community-up,” says Somnath. Over the years, working with their partner agency AMV BBDO, they’ve worked hard to unlock deep insights from specific communities. “So football was no different.”

Somnath teases that we’ll see a great example of this in the upcoming South Korean arm of the campaign, which revolves around the insight of being a Premier League fan in a part of the world where the time difference presents a huge challenge when it comes to avoiding spoilers. “The thing about spoilers, if you think about it, is that it is rooted in the reality of that market but it is a very universal insight. That’s what we firmly believe – even though we are telling a story from the point of view of a certain community, there is something about the insight that goes beyond just that community. 

That sense of community can certainly be found in the partnership’s UK and Ireland campaign, a cosy story that features a small Scottish island called Eriskay, where 10 percent of the population plays for the local football team. Somnath says that story resonated because of the power of the story and the natural beauty of the Hebridean island. In another nod to local nuances, the Eriskay ad is promoting Guinness 0.0% specifically, the zero-alcohol option that has been growing in popularity in UK and Ireland but has not yet rolled out to all markets.

What’s been really impressive about this partnership and campaign, lending it some of that endearing Ted Lasso underdog appeal, is that the whole thing was pulled together in just four months. They had the conversation with the Premier League in April, signing the deal which kicked off a countdown clock of 103 days. It was tight, hectic but, reflects Somnath, strangely creatively liberating.

“That has been the beauty of this process, right? It has really moved at pace and, in a way, we have kind of unlocked ways of working internally,” he says. With such a short window, they had to assemble a passionate team and disassemble some of the usual internal processes to reach decisions quickly. “So we had one team - that was the unlock, that we all got together, and there was so much passion with one internal team and one agency team that worked together to create the assets in a very, very short period of time.”

Somnath says that the crucible of the past four months has been unlike anything else when it came to generating and progressing ideas – he says that it’s produced an extraordinary pool of ideas that’s ‘almost like a parking list’ just waiting for the right time to come to life.

“I think there is a new corporate mantra on agility and speed.., because it just cuts through a lot of the noise which usually can happen,” he continues. “It really unlocks quality work, because you focus on what’s important and you lose what’s not.”

For Somnath, this whole project is also a testament to bold decision making and trusting your gut. When time is tight, marketers simply don’t have the luxury of researching a concept or piece of content to death. They have to trust themselves and their team to make the right decision. “It’s about bravery and commitment, that’s where it starts, because we made a massive investment and a massive choice, which was signed off by the global CEO. It all happened within a couple of weeks,” says Somnath. “That was the big learning, the bravery and commitment that it takes to make some of these happen.”

Between the intense collaboration and teamwork, the heartfelt boldness and swift, agile moves, Guinness showcased the very guts and glory that will hopefully be on display on the pitch throughout this new season of football.