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A few years ago, Guinness had an image problem. The 267-year-old Irish stout was pigeonholed as a drink for old men with beards in traditional pubs in cold weather. Then Gráinne Wafer took over as the Diageo executive in charge of the brand in 2019.
Wafer, who grew up next to the original brewery, leaned into the very thing that made Guinness different, according to a profile in Bloomberg. The famously slow, nearly two-minute pour became a selling point, captured in the slogan “Good things come to those who wait.” She repositioned the brand around younger drinkers, warmer months, and music festivals, and pushed a nonalcoholic version, Guinness 0.0, that is now the No. 1 nonalcoholic beer in the UK.
It worked. While the broader alcohol industry slumps — with the share of Americans who drink falling 13 points since 2022 — Guinness has posted a double-digit compound annual growth rate since Wafer took over in 2019. It is now the best-selling draft beer in New York and Boston, the No. 1 nonalcoholic beer in the UK, and one of Diageo’s strongest performers. As Wafer puts it, Guinness is “a 267-year-old overnight success.”