Handling the Guinness shortage of 2024

Best crisis management

It’s a ‘nice’ problem to have, but when demand for Guinness started to outstrip supply in the run up to Christmas 2024, Diageo’s communications teams – supply, brand, GB and global – leapt into action.

Demand for the black stuff had been rising, particularly among younger consumers and women, driven by social media trends, such as ‘splitting the G’ or the TikTok tilt test, influencer buzz and its association with sporting events, such as rugby.

Indeed, sales were almost 20 per cent higher than the previous year in the four weeks running up to November and one in every ten pints pulled in London is a Guinness.

Guinness 0.0, which is brewed normally but then has all the alcohol removed, also experienced rising demand, claiming the title of Britain’s bestselling non-alcoholic beer.

But capacity at Diageo’s St James’ Gate brewery in Dublin, which supplies the UK, remained unchanged. (A second brewery is currently being built in County Kildare.)

The communications strategy was simple: rather than hide the reason, the team leaned into transparency and brand positivity, stressing that the shortages – some pubs even introduced ration cards – were due to ‘exceptional demand’.

Customers, pubs and trade partners were notified that orders would be allocated on a weekly basis in December to balance demand across retailers, and to ensure minimal disruption. Diageo committed to a phased re-introduction in January, to ensure robust supply ahead of major events, such as the Six Nations Rugby.

The team also stressed that production was at maximum capacity – ‘we are producing more Guinness today than ever before’ – to emphasise proactive supply management.

It quickly shut down fake news, and instead showcased Guinness’s new found popularity with celebrities such as Kim Kardashian and Olivia Rodrigo, who wore a t-shirt saying 'Guinness is good 4 u' at a Dublin concert, to underline that that the shortages were a by-product of a cultural resurgence.

Overseas communications teams were also involved, assuaging concerns that this would become a global issue, while also pointing out that demand was rising in other markets, such as the US.

The London-based team received more than 100 enquiries, as well as daily calls from the media, leading to hundreds of items of coverage. Many stressed that despite empty kegs, customer loyalty remained unchanged.

The judges described the crisis management as ‘excellent’, saying that it was an exemplar of the way in which companies should handle a reputational issue.