Modernizing Guinness

Developing a new product strategy and creating designs that attract Gen Z audiences to Guinness

Who is Guinness?

Guinness is a brand of Irish dry stout that originated in Dublin, Ireland. It is one of the most successful alcohol brands worldwide, brewed in almost 50 countries, and available in over 120.

The flavor profile is known to be more intense than other beers because the creator himself, Arthur Guinness created the recipe in 1801 with a high alcohol and hops content so that it could preserve itself for the long journeys overseas.

The company has upheld its legacy flavor while also dedicating itself to innovation with brands like additional product lines like Guinness Zero ( zero alcohol) and Guinness Nitro (coffee flavored).

Role

Lead Interaction Designer (In a team of 9 including a Project Manager, Project Strategist, Brand Strategist, Content Strategist, Experience Strategist, Visual Designer, Data and Research, and Business Lead)

Tools

Figma, G-Suite, Keynote

Timeline

October 2022 - November 2022

Methods

Surveys, White Paper Research, Competitive Audit, Sketching, Hi-FI Wireframes, Prototyping

Platforms

Mobile and Desktop

DEFINE

Problem

Guinness is not connecting with the new market of young drinkers and needs to develop a new digital strategy

As a new generation is entering the drinking market in North America, young Gen Z drinkers drink less often where 16% drink several times per week versus 24-30% for millennials and above. The majority of Guinness drinkers are 25 and above. How can Guinness tap into a new market with different preferences and habits while maintaining its existing audience?

Opportunity

What if Guinness had a revamped digital strategy that was more innovative and modern aimed at driving sales towards the newly of age audience?

The company asked us to:

1. Inspire Guinness’ markets of varying 21+ maturity worldwide, with thought-provoking strategies, ideas around execution, transformative activations and digital-firsts

2. Develop best-in-class strategic thinking that will guide and inspire markets to deliver the best work

3. Create a strategy that lives at a global level but be adaptable within markets/regions, and also be brought to life through an integrated digital ecosystem

SOLUTION

Designing immersive experiences in a new digital ecosystem

Microsite with AR experiences

  • Creates a digital club of insiders away from existing perceptions of Guinness

  • Immerses users into rooms that highlight Guinness’ value of communion (important value to the target audience)

New home page with improved storytelling and shows community front and center

  • Showcases a rich and welcoming community for newcomers and existing customers that Guinness is more than just a beer but a way of life

  • New “Welcome to Our Collective” module that immerses users into the stories of the Guinness community

Refreshed product page that encourages exploration and experimentation

  • Improves readability and discoverability of content

  • New flavor pairings module creates a channel to educate new users on the Guinness flavor

RESEARCH: UNDERSTANDING OUR AUDIENCE

What are our users like?

The data and research team conducted research and obtained survey results on the our target audience, who are Gen Zs between the age of 21-25. We wanted to understand:

  • What are the motivations behind drinking their drinking habits?

  • What do users care about when drinking alcohol?

  • What are their impressions of Guinness and other alcohol?

These were three key takeaways about the values of our target audience:

Storytelling

“I consume more long-form content because it’s often in the form of stories that are engaging”

Community

“I value love, deep personal connections…”

Experience

“‘I haven’t been able to experience much of the excitement that comes with being in your early 20s”

On top of these identifying these values, we noted that the target audience has perspectives of Guinness that need to be changed and that we should consider in our designs:

Audience’s current view of Guinness

A Dark , intense stout drink made for older people that drink these at bars or sporting events

How we want the audience to view Guinness

A trendsetting dramatic flavor that symbolizes belonging and unity through elevated and interactive experiences outside of your typical drinking setting

COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS AND THE GAP

Competitors had more seamless user experiences with more visual storytelling

We did a competitive site audit of four direct competitors (Heinekin, Casamigos, Budweiser, and Bud Light) and two analogous competitors (Co by Colgate and Chanel).

Takeaways from competitors:

  • Visuals that show people’s experiences

  • Dynamic and varied modules on the home page that improve readability and discoverability

  • More storytelling of the brand

  • Product pages that have more visuals and concise descriptions

  • Concise copywriting on pages

SITE AUDIT OF GUINNESS’ WEBSITE

Guinness’ site noted opportunities for better storytelling

To further assist in how we would re-design the website, we performed a site audit. The team documented design successes and opportunities according to Nielsen’s heuristics and noted strengths and opportunities. From the site audit, we noted opportunities for better storytelling and readability.

NEW STRATEGY

Elevate Guinness brand with new site designs, product highlights, and new microsite

  1. Create a digital experience on the website that expands on Guinness’ legacy of communion and innovation. This brings storytelling and community to the digital experience as well as in real life.

  2. Add product bundles that inspire exploration of the Guinness product line and add excitement of new flavors to the drinking experience.

  3. Create a microsite with dynamic experiences by inviting users to an insider community of Guinness drinkers. Bringing the public sphere into the private sphere can satisfy a more digital user base and make users feel part of the community.

IDEATION AND DESIGN

Modules and Wireframes

We approached the design using a modular system design to provide a scalable yet structured experience that can flex to the needs of different pages. We started by creating zone diagrams where we identified the different areas of the webpage along with their respective purpose. From there, we moved on to sketching and creating a mid-fidelity wireframe to pass on to the visual designer.

1. Home Page Re-design:

2. Product Page Re-design

3. Microsite Design:

CONSTRAINTS

Updates to the strategy and time constraints changed the final design

Through collaborating with product and brand strategy, there were updates during the last few weeks of the project to add a new product bundle as part of the brand. At first, the initial strategy was to re-brand the website and introduce an interactive microsite that attracted audiences to Guinness. However, strategy determined a user need that could increase user engagement and sales. Introducing product bundles allowed for drinking experimentation, which was a behavior noted through research and survey results. Thus, with limited time, I and the design team had to determine the placement of these product bundles on the website and potentially on the microsite.

Through multiple iterations, we implemented this design onto the products page. It was intended that the product bundles be featured on the microsite, but due to time constraints, it was not completed. The microsite became an interactive story-mode game feature that would introduce the product bundles during the story (different from the mid-fidelity wireframe).

 

FINAL DESIGN

A look at the visual designs

1) New Home Page

Mobile:

Desktop:

2) New Product Page

Mobile:

Desktop:

3) New Microsite - Desktop

We only developed the desktop version due to time limitations and this usage being primarily on desktop

CONCLUSION AND NEXT STEPS

What would I do going forward?

  1. Clarify the link between strategy and design

    • Because this was a spec for a business proposal, we had to select a few pages of our deliverable to design to show how to improve the product strategy and increase conversion. During our design process, we ran into some confusion as to how to communicate to the client how brand strategy, product strategy, and design were interconnected. I think there could’ve been more effective designs, had we communicated better. For ex: adding product bundles to the microsite to highlight new product lines designed for the target audiences

2. Add other features that we didn’t have time to design

  • This was a group project that involved a lot of various departments and not a lot of time. Due to time constraints, we were only able to re-design two pages and create a few pages for the microsite. We could have allowed more time for an update to the information architecture and navigation of the main website that we wanted to do as part of an improved user experience.

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