Green Day

As the adage states, you don’t need to be Irish to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. That message has been accepted wholeheartedly by alcohol brands, many of which leverage the annual March 17 holiday to send a festive marketing message to would-be revelers.

According to the New York City-based Consulate of Ireland, there are at least 44.3 million Irish-Americans living in the U.S. (with the highest concentrations found in the greater Boston area and, surprisingly, Oklahoma). But there are plenty of O’Bernsteins, O’Rossis, and O’Hauptmanns enjoying the annual party atmosphere as well.

“If you’re in the beer business, you have to be involved with St. Patrick’s Day. It’s the Super Bowl of beer holidays,” says Dan Hilbert, senior brand manager with Norwalk, CT-based Labatt USA. “People are out of nesting, have cabin fever, and for the first time are celebrating the coming of spring.”

Over the last four years, Labatt’s Rolling Rock brand has run an on-premise campaign giving away “drinking gloves” at bars and special events. The gloves feature the “Rolling Rock pledge” found on the label in a mirror image that can be matched up to the bottle if held correctly. “It’s silly, but very famous and people love it,” says Hilbert.

This year, Rolling Rock field staffers will also pass out temporary Shamrock tattoos and green glow sticks that revelers can place in their mouths to make the “wearin’ o’ the green” a physical thing. A variety of P-O-P including posters and case cards support. DVC Group, Morristown, NJ, handles.

“This is a holiday when consumers want to be social,” says Hilbert. “And our bottle is green — it’s assumed Rolling Rock has to be part of St. Patrick’s Day.”

Suds McKenzie

Stamford, CT-based Guinness Irish Stout, which touts itself as the official beer of Ireland, strives to make its marketing heads above the competition. Over the years, Guinness’s efforts have become eagerly anticipated within the supermarket community, where grocers use the stout’s initiative to cross-promote corned beef and cabbage, ice, green dye, and other party-enhancing SKUs. “It’s a time when we can own retail floor space and be an anchor for all St. Patrick’s Day items,” says Guinness promotions group manager Frank Polley. “Retailers look for our promotions and leverage other products from our displays.”

Having run an extremely successful Irish pub giveaway in recent years, Guinness this month takes a different tack with Unlock the Gates of Guinness, an on-premise and in-store initiative dangling trips to Dublin. Seventy winners will fly to the capital of Ireland for activities highlighted by a full tour of the Guinness brewery. Winners will meet brewmaster Norman Cansell, view areas never before seen by consumer eyes, and have their names engraved on their own kegs. The trip will end with — what else — a keg party. “We wanted to [execute a] promotion that hit the heart of the loyal consumer,” says Polley. “We’re giving consumers insight and a chance to see something no one else gets to see.”

Guinness agency of record, Darien, CT-based Colangelo Synergy Marketing, came up with the Unlock idea after presenting die-hard Guinness drinkers with 12 different concepts. The behind-the-scenes brewery tour was nearly a unanimous choice, Polley says.

P-O-P displays shaped like gates and other collateral direct consumers to guinness.com, where they can play an interactive game asking questions about the brand. Correct answers earn virtual “keys.” Randomly distributed keys unlock the Guinness gates at the end of the game, scoring the player one of the trips.

Houlihan’s Restaurants, Kansas City, MO, is tying into the Guinness effort as part of its own five-week pre-holiday campaign. Houlihan’s Countdown to St. Patrick’s Day, handled in-house, launched Feb. 15 at all 100-plus restaurants, where large countdown clocks remind patrons of the impending holiday. Table tents and menu inserts offer a chance to win a trip for two to Dublin. The effort is designed to extend the standard St. Patrick’s Day traffic bump by “driving sales over a period of time,” says Clayton Dover, Houlihan’s director of marketing.

On the actual day, individual restaurants will host giveaways and contests with prizes such as T-shirts, temporary tattoos, and Guinness, Harp, and Bass drink specials heralded by banners and other signage in bar areas. Radio spots support in some markets. Servers don T-shirts, green hats from Baileys Irish Cream, and other festive clothing.

Guinness, which is picking up the tab for the P-O-P, encouraged management to be creative. “Our staff gets excited, too. The store managers take the ball and run,” says Dover.

Party On

Meanwhile, Milwaukee-based Miller Brewing Co. will host a Show Your Irish campaign in bars for its Lite and Genuine Draft brands. Handled in-house, the effort will pass out wristbands with hidden messages (activated when the two ends are attached). One in five carry a winning “This is Your Lucky Day” notice awarding necklaces, blinking buttons, rugby shirts, and green top hats. The brand is also running an off-premise component featuring P-O-P displays.

“If you’re in the beer business, you have to be involved with St. Patrick’s Day. It’s the Super Bowl of beer holidays,”
— Dan Hilbert, Labatt USA.

Tullamore Dew Irish Whiskey ran a year-long promotion in 2000 that culminated with one winner scoring a St. Patrick’s Day trip to the Emerald Isle. Last June, parent Allied Domecq, Westport, CT, signed on as official sponsor of the USA Rugby Team, then set up a promotional match in New Hampshire between the squad and the Irish Permanent team. Last fall, Tullamore ran an on- and off-premise sweepstakes called Tough Stuff dangling rugby balls and jerseys. The program ended in late January, with the winner announced last month.

“[The marketing] played on the toughness of the country of Ireland and the smoothness of the whiskey,” says Paul Charbonneau, principal of handling shop Hargreaves Charbonneau, Windsor, Ontario. “The Irish people are tough by nature, and rugby is the most recognizable sport from Ireland.”

And what better time to recognize those facts than on St. Patrick’s Day?