Guinness Celebrates World of Rugby in New Campaign

07 Sep 2015 --- With the eyes of the world turning to England for seven weeks of sporting history, Guinness has launched a brand new campaign, celebrating stories of strength of character and integrity from the world of rugby.

Rather than focus on physical attributes of what makes a rugby player, this campaign looks to inner qualities like courage, empathy and resilience.

Gareth Thomas: Never Alone tells the story of how the former Wales captain’s greatest fear wasn’t the opposition he faced on the pitch, but the fear of rejection from everything he had known, because of his sexuality. The film celebrates the courage of Gareth, and most importantly, the empathy shown by his teammates when he came out, showing that even when he felt he was on his own and at his lowest point, he was always part of a team.

Ashwin Willemse: The Right Path tells the story of a man who had a choice of two paths when growing up. One dictated to him by a notorious Cape Town gang, and one he would need to make for himself, to follow a path to the pinnacle of rugby. The film celebrates the choice that he made to defy his circumstances, and with the encouragement of those around him, he became who he really wanted to be, eventually winning 19 caps for his country and becoming a World Champion in 2007.

Along with the two adverts, Guinness is also releasing two short documentaries, which explore Gareth and Ashwin’s stories in more detail. These short films shine a light on the events covered in the adverts, providing additional insight from the subjects on the challenging circumstances they faced, and the incredible support they received from their teammates.

Nick Britton, marketing manager Guinness Western Europe said: “These films perfectly demonstrate the values of integrity and character that are both core to the sport of rugby. The courage that Gareth and Ashwin both showed, and the incredible empathy and support they received from their team, are remarkable stories that we are proud to celebrate.”

Gareth Thomas, former Wales captain, said: “I went into battle on the pitch every week, but the battle I was going through personally was ten times worse because I was keeping a secret from the team. That team becomes like your family – the closest thing to you, and to hide that secret from the team was horrible. The support that my teammates showed when I came out was truly remarkable – my sexuality didn’t matter to them at all. I am very proud about my rugby playing career, but I am more proud of the fact that my teammates supported me to play rugby being Gareth Thomas, being the person that I am, 100%.”

On Trade activity

Guinness aims to recruit 500,000 consumers over the next five months with the introduction of the Guinness Lineout, a new mechanic to drive rate of sale and help outlets maximise sales opportunities during the upcoming months of rugby.

The Guinness Lineout will provide a means for consumers to buy a round of Guinness easily for their friends, while maintaining quality and ensuring a great tasting serve. As well as this, Guinness will help licensees maximise sales opportunities with POS kits in over 10,000 outlets. For many of the larger pubs, the kits will include large visibility items, such as inflatable rugby posts and outdoor flags. Guinness will also work closely with 100 ‘shrine’ outlets – the best rugby pubs in the UK and their licensees – to provide them with bespoke visibility items and solutions to drive speed of serve and thus increase sales for Guinness and total beer.

Guinness will also continue its partnership with MatchPint to drive footfall during the rugby season. MatchPint, available online and as a mobile app, offers consumers a ‘buy one get one free’ deal on Guinness when they check in at outlets that are signed up to the MatchPint deal.

Off Trade activity

Guinness will drive association with rugby in the off trade with its biggest physical availability drive within stores, across wholesale, convenience and multiples. This will be led by the launch of new collectable limited edition glassware, with 300,000 glassware packs available to stores throughout the off trade.

There will be six glasses to collect, each with a unique name associated with the rugby occasion, to drive communion and talkability amongst Guinness consumers during casual get-togethers at home. The limited-edition glass promotion will sit within special 10 packs of Guinness and will be available from various accounts across the off trade.