By Steve Stokes, Planning Partner at Dog Cat & Mouse.
Guinness is the undisputed king of brand rituals, and rituals may be the single biggest reason it’s gone from cult beer to the UK’s best-selling draught, now accounting for one in every nine pints pulled in British pubs.
Seven rituals linked to Guinness
Most brands have zero rituals attached to them. I’ve found seven linked to Guinness alone:
- The two-part pour and the wait.
- The shamrock drawn in the head.
- Splitting the G.
- The obligatory pint on any trip to Ireland.
- The essential St Patrick’s Day pint.
- The pint of choice at the rugby.
- Pilgrimage pubs, such as The Toucan or The Devonshire in Soho, which is now officially the world’s biggest Guinness account, averaging 17,000 pints a week.
The only brand we at Dog Cat & Mouse can think of that comes close on rituals is Starbucks. And look what rituals did for them.
Explore seven types of brand ritual and how other brands use them.