There is no disputing that Guinness is a brand that has always had ambition. Way back in 1759, Arthur Guinness did not just think big he played big. After all who else do you know who is savvy enough to have signed a 9,000 year lease for their business premises?
That's exactly what Arthur did and the location is what is now known as the home of Guinness - St James' Gate brewery. That location is also the home of the number one visitor attraction in Ireland - the Guinness Storehouse.
It is also the location of what is probably going to be one of Dublin's most talked about live gigs of 2009 as Hop Store 13 will be a live music studio for Arthur's Day where more than 2,000 guests from around the world will enjoy performances from global artists to celebrate the 25Oth anniversary of Arthur signing the lease on St James' Gate. You might have seen the new advert that is running at the moment on TV raising a pint of Guinness to Arthur.
In addition, in Dublin thousands of people will be coming together to experience the live music events in over 30 venues across Dublin from intimate gigs in 28 Dublin pubs to 4 other music venues and yesterday I was invited to attend a launch event where the bands that will be appearing.
I took the opportunity to talk to Grainne Wafer Head of Marketing for Guinness in Ireland and you can watch that video below. in the conversation we cover:
- the background to the Arthurs Day celebrations
- the complexity of managing a global live event and how the Guinness marketing team are managing the project
- how the Guinness marketing team will be measuring the effectiveness of the programme and what their key performance indicators will be
- the Arthur Guinness Fund which is running this year where consumers of Guinness in pubs and venues across Ireland can contribute to raising €2.5 million for community based projects
- and the experiences of Guinness in using social media as part of their marketing and communications programme.
One of the bands that will be appearing is 'Noah and the Whale' and they along side 'The Chapters' gave a live performance at the launch event - you can see a short clip here:
You can also see a promotional video for the bands appearing in events on Arthurs Day here:
You can find my photo's of yesterdays event HERE and HERE.
I for one will be looking forward to raising a glass to celebrate Arthur Guinness' vision and I hope you will be able to join in the global celebrations too - do let me know if you plan to attend one of the events taking place across the globe.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT ARTHURS DAY AND THE ARTHURS GUINNESS FUND
At 17:59 in Ireland and around the world, consumers will be joined by artists and celebrities including Sir Bob Geldof, Guy Ritchie, Carson Daly, Jerry Hall and Sophie Dahl as they take part in this once in a lifetime moment and raise a Guinness to Arthur and toast the Arthur Guinness Fund.
Confirmed artists for Dublin Arthurs day celebrations include Tom Jones, David Gray, Estelle , Dirty Epics, * Noah and The Whale, and The Wombats.
Arthur Guinness and his family were responsible for some of the most well known acts of philanthropy in Ireland and to honour and continue this legacy we are establishing the Arthur Guinness Fund. The aim of the Fund is to enable and empower individuals with skills and opportunities to deliver a measured benefit to their communities. Guinness & Co. will donate €6 million to the Arthur Guinness Fund which will be active from September 2009. The Arthur Guinness Fund is an internal fund created by Guinness & Co. and will be used to create opportunities for communities in several countries around the World including providing skills for life and supporting social entrepreneurs.
Tickets for Arthurs Day events will go on sale via Ticketmaster at 9am on 23rd July 2009. Tickets for the four studio venues and the 28 Dublin pubs will only cost €17.59 and €9 respectively. Proceeds from all ticket sales will be donated to the Arthur Guinness Fund.
For more information about Arthurs Day and the Guinness 250 year celebrations visit www.guinness.com.
The Guinness brand is owned and managed by Diagoe plc
Disclosure: I was invited to Guinness Arthurs Day launch event and was not asked or requested to write this review. And as mentioned in the video, I used to work for Diageo plc and Guinness - in fact my last office location before setting up my own business was St James' Gate.
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