We’re launching something different this month: “Head to Head”, a video series on our YouTube channel where Mike (SPARK’s Business Development Director) and I dig into sales promotion campaigns from the archives.
The good, the bad… and the downright genius.
For our first episode, we unearthed a promotion that encompasses “the good” in sales promotions. A campaign so perfectly aligned with its brand that it ran for six consecutive years and literally changed people’s lives. It’s exactly the kind of case study that reminds you why this industry can be genuinely exciting when brands get brave.
Let me tell you about the time Guinness gave away a pub…
Back in the 1990s, Guinness ran a promotion in the United States that offered consumers the chance to win an actual Irish pub. Not a replica. Not a themed bar experience. A real, working pub in Ireland.
The entry mechanic made you work for it. Entrants had to write a 50-word essay explaining why they deserved to win. No tick boxes. No instant wins. Just pen, paper, and a compelling argument posted to a promotional address (no social media back then!). The top ten finalists were flown to Ireland for a final selection process that included pulling the perfect pint of Guinness, playing darts, and presenting their case to a panel of Irish publicans.
The response was staggering. Guinness expected modest interest. What they got were mailbags that, as Mike put it during our discussion, “just didn’t stop.” The promotion ran six times. And here’s what makes it truly remarkable: two of those six winners actually took the keys and moved to Ireland to run their new pubs.
One winner made the reverse journey from America back to Ireland, running their pub successfully for years. The promotion didn’t just drive entries. It changed someone’s life.
When Mike and I analysed this campaign, we kept returning to the same insight: this promotion worked because it was so deeply resonant with the Guinness brand that it felt almost inevitable in hindsight.
Consider the consumer insight. As Mike observed, there’s a generalisation that rings true: “lots and lots of Americans, perhaps every American, thinks they’ve got some form of Irish roots.” That romantic connection to Ireland is real and powerful. Guinness didn’t invent it. They simply tapped into something that already existed in their audience’s imagination.
Then there’s the prize itself. Offering someone their own pub in Ireland isn’t just a prize; it’s a lifestyle proposition. It’s romance, adventure, and belonging wrapped into a single offer. Mike described it as “wonderful” and I think that’s exactly the right word.
This wasn’t a promotion about drinking more beer. It was about offering something genuinely transformative that consumers would talk about for decades.
The campaign also navigated a common challenge for alcohol brands: promoting the product without encouraging heavy drinking. By focusing on the pub as a community space, a place where people gather and connect, Guinness positioned the promotion around lifestyle rather than consumption. As Mike noted, “It’s not about one person drinking a lot. It’s about a lot of people drinking and having a good time.”
One aspect that deserves more attention is how Guinness amplified the campaign. When they flew finalists to Ireland for the final judging process, they brought journalists along for the ride. The result was extensive press coverage that extended the campaign’s reach far beyond its paid media.
This was essentially the 1990s version of social media strategy. Create an experience so compelling that media want to cover it. Give them access. Let the story tell itself. The earned media from those press trips likely delivered more brand value than any amount of traditional advertising could have achieved.
It’s a reminder that the best promotions don’t exist in isolation. They bring together multiple elements of the marketing mix, starting from a PR angle but weaving in above-the-line communication and pure sales promotion to create something with genuine longevity.
