- Alex Palmer

Guinness has launched a new ad campaign, dubbed “Fortune Favors the Bold,” which encompasses TV spots and social media components.

Television ads include 30-second and 45-second spots follow a fresh pint of Guinness that goes on a journey through city streets and offices. Developed by BBDO, the commercial shows the Guinness arriving just in time to a “bold” employee who is in salary negotiations with his new boss. The pint arrives in time and the ad closes with a celebratory toast between the team of employees. The spots will run on networks including ESPN, Comedy Central, Discovery Channel and FX, in November, December and March.

A third, 15-second social responsibility spot urges drinkers to be sure to have a designated driver. The same traveling Guinness pint is featured, this time heading to the bar, followed by a glass of water. The final shot of the ad is two glasses of Guinness and a glass of water with the tagline “Fortune Favors the Bold.” The company will also be focusing advertising efforts on Twitter and Facebook.

Guinness case sales were up 0.5 percent last year, according to Beer Marketer’s Insights. During the first nine months of this year, they are down 1 percent.

Still, the brand is holding strong compared to the rest of imported beer category, which is down 9 percent overall. “Guinness isn’t a big brand—it’s less than half a share of the U.S. beer business, but it’s the fifth largest import,” said Benj Steinman, editor of Beer Marketer’s Insights. “They want to demonstrate their commitment to their beers.”

The tough state of the economy is one of the motivations behind the bold new campaign, according to Patrick Hughes, brand director for Guinness. “As we look at the environment today, it’s a lot of challenging times out there, but there’s a bit of optimism and there’s a feeling that ‘we’re going to come through this’ and a recognition that they’re going to need to make some bold moves.”

The brand has $3 million invested in advertising through the rest of the year and will again kick up its media spending around St. Patrick’s Day next year. Guinness spent $9 million in 2008 on advertising and has spent $3 million for the first eight months of 2009, per Nielsen.

Hughes described the Guinness brand as “the epitome of boldness,” citing its last major ad push earlier this year. That global campaign celebrated the beer’s 250th anniversary and the chutzpah of Arthur Guinness, who signed a 9,000-year lease for the Guinness brewery in 1759. “With this new campaign, we look at it as starting up the next 250 years of this great brand’s life.”