Stout Support For Iconic Brands

Guinness is really 'good for you' - or at least it is for marketing purposes.

The Chartered Institute of Marketing's (CIM) Brand New 2010 Conference and Awards has confirmed that 'investing in a brand does work'.

In a survey carried out among business people and conference delegates Guinness 'stout' had been overwhelming voted the most iconic Irish brand (north or south).

Almost 80% of respondents picked the alcoholic beverage as the best-known Irish brand on the week of its 251st celebration of the founder, Arthur Guinness.

In addition over 90% of respondents believe that marketing is more important for small businesses during an economic downturn while 81% thought a quality product closely following by a good marketing strategy (78.6%) were the key elements of a good, successful brand.

The findings of the survey are among the topics discussed at the conference and awards supported by Invest Northern Ireland and Kantar Media.

The event will take place today - 23rd September - at the Ramada Hotel, Belfast hosted by the BBC's Mark Simpson.

Michael Maguire, Regional Director for CIM Ireland said: "The results of the survey are fascinating and offer a really good base for discussion.

"The fact that Guinness has been overwhelmingly voted the most iconic brand reflects the effort, creativity and revenue invested in the brand over decades of marketing, as well of course as the quality of the product.

"The survey may also be throwing up some challenging issues around our branding on the international stage as only Tayto and Ryanair got more than a small percentage of the vote," he revealed.

"The fact that over 90% of people also view marketing as more important during an economic downturn is far removed from the knee jerk reaction of many companies at the start of this current recession.

"Too many companies made the fatal mistake of trying to reduce costs by cutting their marketing spend or personnel. I do wonder how many of those companies have weathered the current recession."

Dr Vicky Kell, Invest Northern Ireland Trade Director commented: "A solid marketing and brand strategy is a key element to driving business growth and I would encourage companies wishing to learn more about these principles, to attend the conference where they can discover how implementing these practices could benefit their company."

(BMcC/GK)