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Riding high after reporting strong 9.2% net sales growth in parent co's 1st fiscal qtr thru Sep, Diageo Beer Co USA's prexy Laura Merritt put a finer point to co's widespread success during Beer Insights Seminar this wk. Guinness brand, global Diageo's #4 brand overall, has wind in its sails. On premise is already "60% of the business for us," Laura shared, and "my kegs are up 25%" fiscal yr-to-date, she shared. It's already "one of the most productive handles you can have in the on prem," and co recently secured another 1200 handles to keep building its biz yr round and "bust Guinness out of St Patrick's Day." Core brand kegs ain't alone either. "We're seeing a lot of Guinness 0 in the on premise also," Laura shared. That brand's up 41% in total fiscal YTD. Back in home mkts, where Guinness is 1 of 3 beer served on premise in Ireland and 1 in 5 in UK, co's "expanding the umbrella," especially "with women and young folks," in part by putting non-alc Guinness 0 taps alongside the mother brand. Co's also still capacity constrained on Guinness 0, limiting growth in Europe, Laura reminded. That opens up "in a couple months." At same time, co is "working on some technology" for draft Guinness 0 that "will be the unlock for this market." When that happens, DBC will be "moving as rapidly as possible" to leverage that "growth engine," ideally putting a 0 tap handle "next to every Gunness tap handle in the country," she said.A "Lovely Day" to Welcome More Folks to Guinness DBC worked for yrs to make Guinness a "year-round beer," Laura explained, and it's happening with help of special summer and holiday cans, partnerships and renewed "Lovely Day" campaign. Since it's working, co's in "optimizing" mode, going further to ensure "more consumers continue to feel welcomed by Guinness," while "making our core consumer feel really seen and heard." Partner flavor with hi-end ice cream maker Van Leeuwen was fastest LTO to sell out at that co's shops, Laura shared, with pints "coming to a retailer near you in the spring."On larger scale, co "Americanized" the Lovely Day tagline that's "been with Guinness for decades" for a campaign that both demonstrates and builds the brand's "wildly diverse" drinker profile, Laura shared. It found "a story from every single state where a group of folks was already celebrating with Guinness," Laura explained, ticking off "roller skating dads from Milwaukee and a brass band from Louisiana and some ice fishermen from Wisconsin." Laura and team plan to keep digging into what's working."Strongest Spring Reset" in Decades; Smirnoff Ice "Welcoming Party," Nostalgic Innovation And it ain't just Guinness growing for the co lately. It's really "firing on all cylinders," Laura commented, noting its "strongest spring reset in a few decades." Biggest brand fam, Smirnoff Ice, put up the "strongest innovation in sales" in last 26 wks of data she follows, in form of Sunny Days flavor assortment. She sees the brand fam as the "welcoming party" to the just-turned-21 set. And the Sunny Day pack plays on nostalgia, which "is really hot right now." Co will follow that up with new Icy Island pack next yr.Building "Shortie" Muscles, Getting Cases on Floor in "FMCG Playbook" New 200 ml (6.76 fl oz) "shorties" of Smirnoff Ice that sport unique "flask-like shape" has "significant green shoots in a couple markets," Laura said. But "it didn't rocket to the moon the way Sunny Days did," since "this is a different format for us, so it's a different part of the store." That's a "muscle that the brand is building," talking to retailers about putting it "all the places we should be," since competitors in the space already show up in 4 or even 5 "parts of the store." That's part of DBC's focus on "execution" within co and with distrib partners, Laura said.Asked about co's beer distribs vs traditional wine & spirits, Laura emphasized her primary goal for co's "route to market" is to "make sure that we have cases on the floor." Sure, there's convergence, including among retail buyers, she reminded. But it's about "frequent store visits" and "driving displays," classic elements of the "FMCG playbook," again citing "fast-moving consumer goods." And that's world new Diageo ceo Sir Dave Lewis comes from, Laura pointed out, thru his past at Unilever and at UK retail giant Tesco.Pared-Back Lone River Working; Testing "New to World" Brands Among DBC's smaller brands, Lone River Ranch Water and its lemonade variants now available in select southern and western mkts, Laura said. Co "pared that brand back to some key markets" where it has "strong consumer affinity" and now it's "doing really well." When working with "small brands and small brand budgets, you don't try to peanut butter that beyond efficacy," she explained, aiming to be a "hometown hero" and expand further if it works. As such, it's taking similar approach with 3 "new to world brands in a couple test markets" (as INSIGHTS reported in Aug): rum-based Tiny Island in FL, mainly Miami; malt-based hard soda Stoop Dayz around Cincy; and agave spirit-based Casa Famosa hard agua frescas in Chicago and soon a couple Texas mkts.

Guinness Kegs Up 25% Fiscal YTD as Diageo Beer Co "Firing on All Cylinders," Prexy Laura Sez

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