UK: Diageo is targeting at-home drinkers with Guinness Draught Surger

Diageo announced on February 27 it will launch Guinness Draught Surger for retail sale in the UK this week, according to Drinks Business. The new canned version of the popular stout comes with a device that enables consumers to pour a perfectly separated pint at home. By bringing an element of authenticity to at-home drinking occasions, Diageo will be able to tap into the growing off trade, and prepare its Guinness brand for the UK-wide smoking ban.

AdvertisementGuinness Draught Surger is made to the original Guinness Draught recipe but with a different gas mix. The drink comes with an electrical 'surger' device that, through an ultrasound signal, separates the black body of the pint from the creamy head, doing a similar job to the widget but outside of the can.

The launch comes at a time when beer manufacturers are seeing a shift away from on-trade towards off-trade drinking. For fiscal 2005, Diageo reported that Guinness's market share in the beer category in the UK declined slightly by 0.1% due in part to the 5% decline in the on-trade market, which was partially offset by a 2% volume growth in the off trade.

The beer market in the UK is seeing a dynamic shift away from traditional pub consumption towards home drinking experiences, partially due to the banning of smoking in public places. In 2006, Scottish and Newcastle, owner of Foster's, Kronenbourg and John Smith's said the impact of banning smoking in pubs in Ireland in 2004 was a switch out of licensed venues into the off trade as more people opted to smoke and drink at home.

By releasing this new product, Diageo is aiming to recreate the 'pub experience' in consumers' own homes, as the idea of pubs in which people can smoke will be a thing of the past in the UK as early as 2007. Datamonitor research shows that consumers purchasing drinks for at-home occasions want to mimic the on-trade experience as much as possible, particularly in terms of presentation and quality. The new Surger gadget delivers exactly this, as well as having a 'shareability' factor to enhance consumers' at home drinking experience through the novelty of using the ultrasound device.

Guinness Draught Surger is likely to help Diageo to capitalize on the growing movement towards the off trade. The product has already been released with success in Japan and Singapore, and will be the focus of a GBP2.5 million marketing campaign in the UK. Given the brand's history of innovative advertising, Guinness is unlikely to settle for anything other than success.

E-malt.com, the global information source for the brewing and malting industry professionals. The bi-weekly E-malt.com Newsletters feature latest industry news, statistics in graphs and tables, world barley and malt prices, and other relevant information. Click here to get full access to E-malt.com. If you are a Castle Malting client, you can get free access to E-malt.com website and publications. Contact us for more information at marketing@castlemalting.com .