Brian Duffy, Guinness global brand director

With today marking the celebrations of the 250th anniversary of the Guinness stout brand, just-drinks is in Dublin to speak to Guinness' global brand director, Brian Duffy.

just-drinks: Today's the 250th anniversary for Guinness, and there's quite a lot of partying lined up for tonight here in Dublin. What does the anniversary mean to you?

Brian Duffy: We've kind of launched a supertanker here and it's on the slipway. We can do very little to change its direction at this point in time. We can polish it as it goes past. But this is a fantastic opportunity for the brand and a real celebratory moment for everybody that's worked in the business in the past. So, it's just a magic moment for us. For me, as an Irishman, who's been with Guinness for 28 years, it just feels great.

j-d: One of the major events of recent years for the brand was when the company decided to return production of Guinness for the UK to Ireland. Do you consider the move to have been a success?

BD: Our market share in GB on-trade has shown about 30 consecutive months of growth. I think that the campaign we mounted at the time - consisting of the Guinness toucans flying from Ireland - really resonated with the British consumer. So I think it's a decision that has been vindicated.

j-d: A regular question put to Diageo in recent years has been about the future of Guinness. While the question is asked less nowadays, how close did Diageo get to selling the brand?

BD: I don't think that was ever on our agenda at all. I can understand speculation. I think there's a kind of misconception around what Diageo is. Diageo is too often seen just as a spirits company - we have some of the leading spirits brands in the world, so maybe that's understandable. But beer represents 20% of our NSV, so it's not an accessory. Within that, Guinness is well over half. Our strategy is total beverage alcohol, and we see great synergy in consumer understanding. Guinness is one of our four global priority brands, along with Johnnie Walker, Smirnoff and Baileys.

j-d: Turning to Africa, how is the brand performing there?

BD: We had 18% growth in Africa last year, with Nigeria showing very significant growth. We're also in Cameroon, Ghana and east Africa. We've a great business there, it's growing, but there's still a pile of potential there. We're in a continent that we understand pretty well, so we feel that Africa is a real opportunity for the brand and for the company. We're present in quite a few markets where I think we have the opportunity to springboard to a much bigger position. We're approaching launch, so I'll talk to you about that in the next few months.

It's interesting, when I travel there, I will often meet consumers who wonder why this Irish guy is talking about Guinness, because they think it's an indigenous Nigerian product. And that's fine, by us.

j-d: What about in the US - are you happy with Guinness' presence there?

BD: Actually, no. We have a decent business in the US, but we've got work to do there. Our positioning is quite a traditional one in the US - Irish, St Patrick's day, Guinness. The brand's a little pigeon-holed in terms of the occasion and the location of consumption. I'd like to break out of that. It's 10% of our global volumes, but it's the biggest beer market in the world and I'd like to be doing much better there.

j-d: Guinness' advertising in the UK doesn't prey on provenance. Is that a conscious approach to consumers?

BD: I think the authenticity of our provenance is important, but I don't think it's a necessary element of how we communicate with consumers. I think they want to experience the imagery of the beer. That's really the purpose of it. I suppose Africa's an example of that - we talk about the beer and what it means to consumers.

j-d: The 250 advert has introduced humour into Guinness advertising. Why did you go for the laugh?

BD: The great danger with 250 as a celebration is: "Yeah, okay, so you've been around a long time. So what?" We were very keen not to put ourselves up on a pedestal and decided to take the opportunity to poke a little bit of fun at ourselves.

j-d: You've had a Guinness variant, Guinness Red, on trial in the UK since 2007. How is that trial going, and what future plans do you have for the brand?

BD: It's done okay. We're very keen not to launch it in a big bang. We've learnt quite a lot about it. We've got a wonderful core Guinness brand. Guinness Red is similar, but hopefully sufficiently different to appeal to other consumers. Whether it's far enough away to draw in the scale of consumers we might want is the unanswered question. We're quite happy with it, but I don't think it'll be a massive breakthrough brand for Guinness, but it's been interesting and worthwhile.

j-d: Guinness is quite active in sports advertising. How concerned are you about the possible banning of sports advertising by alcoholic drinks companies?

BD: We have very strict standards ourselves. Here in Ireland, for example, we have a voluntary marketing code that the industry subscribes to around watersheds, audience participation and so on, and those we adhere to. I guess they're always up for grabs to be re-evaluated. But we believe that we work very hard to ensure that people consume our products sensibly. We're going to continue to work with Government and our own industry to make sure that we are appropriate in our advertising approach. That will reflect on sports advertising as well.

j-d: Finally, the belief is that Guinness is an acquired taste. How do you get consumers to acquire that taste?

BD: All of the things we try for the first time, we don't immediately fall in love with them. It took me several meeting with my wife before I was sure! It takes time. The brand does certainly demand a little bit more perseverance but it repays over time. When you get there, you never leave it.