Having been overshadowed by competitors, Guinness Draught restored its impact at bar with a disruptive new fount. The eye-catching design was so sought after by bar owners that within 20 months, 22,860 British outlets had installed the new founts, dramatically exceeding the 30-month target of 13,000.
With bar tops increasingly crowded, iconic stout Guinness Draught needed a new countermount fount design to avoid being relegated to a shared T-bar. The design would have to persuade bar owners that installing the unit would significantly increase sales, as well as attract drinkers at the crucial moment of choice, right at bar.
With the design solution also needing to fit existing structural mechanisms and cost no more to manufacture than previously, Diageo collaborated with three agencies to meet these objectives. Design Bridge, Dolmen, and Bompas and Parr worked across different stages of the project, from the initial concept and design development, to industrial and technical design for manufacture, jointly creating the ‘Hero Harp’.
The fount’s distinctive harp shape is unmistakably Guinness, with its elevation, quality cues and illumination delivering maximum visibility, even within a narrow footprint.
10% cheaper to manufacture than its predecessor and catching the eye of drinkers at the crucial point of purchase, the fount vastly exceeded return on investment targets following its launch in 2018. Australian outlets with the fount saw Guinness sales rise sharply in the 12 months after its launch and 4,860 British outlets projected to move the brand to a shared T-bar, instead installed the Hero Harp.
Originally created for the British and Irish markets, the Hero Harp was so well received by other markets that within 20 months, 45,928 had been ordered globally.