Diageo's Grainne Wafer On Her Career, Creativity, and Guinness

Diageo’s Grainne Wafer has always been driven by a love of writing and storytelling — a passion that once had her set on becoming a journalist. 29 years into her award‑winning career with the global drinks giant, she has held a range of senior roles and now serves as global category director for Beer, Vodka, Liqueurs, and Convenience.

Out of University College Dublin, she landed at a PR firm where Guinness Ireland was one of her clients leading to a partnership that has only broadened ever since. She took an opening in the brand public relations and sponsorship team internally, which was her gateway into the company’s marketing department.

“I walked through those infamous Guinness gates 29 years ago and haven't looked back,” she says.

A spirited creative career

During Wafer’s first years in Guinness Diageo, which was forming the year she joined, she would run some of the biggest sponsorships in Ireland at the time, such as the Galway Races, the Guinness Jazz Festival and for Budweiser which the business then managed for the country too with the long-running Budweiser Irish Derby.

“I just loved the creativity, and I think the impact you could have with those end-to-end, I was really happy doing that. I always assumed that I would go back into the world of public relations and agencies. I liked the different clients and categories that you get to work with in an agency. I hadn't thought I'd stay in Diageo as long as I have,” she reveals.

She was singled out from this work as a potential marketer and was asked to join the general team, which she wasn’t initially sure about in terms of having the right skillset. But she was persuaded nevertheless.

This move was the beginning of Wafer’s brand management career leading to work on transforming the off trade for Guinness in Ireland, which she as having been “a neglected part of the portfolio” at the start of this century. She believes that being new to the brand helped get her the remit, leading to the creation of a transformation for Guinness and its “at home” consumers.

From there she would lead Guinness through its 250th anniversary before running innovation and commercialisation across Europe, looking at bringing new products to market and working with customers on pricing and propositions.

After this, Wafer moved on to run the spirits portfolio in Ireland and then moved in global marketing for Guinness and as global brand director for Bailey’s before returning in that same role for Guinness.

Her current, much wider remit is across beer, liqueurs, vodka, convenience and ready to drink. Meanwhile, she is also a non executive with Guinness Nigeria too.

Even though this was never her intention, after almost three decades on the client-side of the business, Wafer says still doesn’t plan a return to agency life anytime soon.

Insights on marketing creativity from Grainne Wafer

Creative Salon: What has been the highlight, in terms of work that you've produced?

Grainne Wafer: I always think of creativity as strategic. The work I’m most proud of is where real creativity was applied to a strategic unlock or hook. There are many examples. The Guinness 250 celebrations in Ireland, for instance — our ambition was to make it feel as if Ireland had won the World Cup. That was the level of magic we wanted to create, and I think we did. It became part of the cultural DNA at a time of deep recession, when people needed joy and togetherness. It was a very special moment for the brand and for Ireland, and I’m immensely proud of it.

I’d also call out the Baileys turnaround. It came from understanding the product truth: Baileys isn’t really a liqueur — it behaves like part cake, part booze, pure pleasure. It’s an adult treat, competing more with ice cream or chocolate on the sofa than with other liqueurs. That strategic insight unlocked an entire treating strategy, shifting Baileys into the world of treats rather than spirits. It led to a phenomenal decade of growth and some highly effective, creatively ambitious work.

I’m also very proud of the work on Guinness where we recognised the changing consumer context and the shift to becoming a social‑first brand. Leaning into our creator community has been a phenomenal part of Guinness’s success — building the brand with consumers and communities. That strategic creative unlock led to incredible work like ‘Welcome Back’ and much more.

Even early examples, like rethinking Guinness for the at‑home occasion, came from strategic creative thinking that drove growth. I like to apply creativity throughout the marketing journey. I’m passionate about craft and attention to detail — ensuring every element adds to the idea rather than detracts. I hope we put some of the best‑crafted work into the world on brands like Guinness, Smirnoff, and Baileys.

The work you produced during the pandemic with Guinness seemed very personal to you at the time?

I think what Guinness represented — and still represents — is power, goodness, and communion. Those values deeply resonated with the world at that time, when what people were missing most was belonging. The brand I was lucky enough to steward embodied what the world needed: togetherness and connection. It felt like a poignant alignment between the work we were doing, the brand we were leading and what consumers and culture genuinely needed.

We were reacting to it not just as marketers but as humans. We were all disconnected, working remotely, trying to figure out how to bring our organisation and our extended Guinness team together in a way that felt cohesive, meaningful and inspiring for us as well. It was a very special period — and one I wouldn’t want to experience again in the form of a pandemic.

Of all the Diageo brands you've overseen, how have you maintained high standards of creative excellence and consistency?

Well, we have the Diageo way of brand building, which we’re very proud of. It’s the foundation of how we build brands consistently across the portfolio, and you can see those common threads everywhere. We also have simple, embedded ways of judging effective creative, and using those tools helps drive consistency.

We’ve done a lot of work in recent years to understand the power of our key brand assets and brand worlds — especially as marketing evolves and channels fragment. Consistency in how a brand shows up is one of the core building blocks of any marketing role. Guardianship of the brand world and its assets is a major way we ensure consistency, not just across the portfolio but across the 150 markets where our products are sold.

We also focus on understanding the DNA of our brands — the truths at their heart, how consumers view them over time and in the moment, and that balance of being both timeless and timely. We take huge inspiration from our archives: Smirnoff’s history of shaping cocktail culture and breaking new ground; Baileys behaving more like a treat than a liqueur; Guinness being guided by power, goodness and communion. Having that depth of knowledge, holding on to what matters over time, and shaping the brands in culture as it evolves — that’s what drives consistency and effectiveness.

How important are creators becoming to your marketing plans, for example appointing Troye Sivan as Smirnoff's chief vibes officer?

Troye has been a fantastic partner as our chief vibes officer. The role is all about creating work and cultural activations that bring people together — which is exactly what Smirnoff has always stood for with its original party spirit. Troye helps us take that energy out of the world of paid and into culture and experience.

The tone of the work we’ve done with him has that witty Smirnoff edge — the way legal drinking age to Gen Z consumers want brands to speak: humorous, irreverent, highly meme‑based. We brought that tone through the Smart Advice work as well. It’s all about engaging consumers in ways that feel meaningful and relevant to them.

Troye is also a huge name and influencer in his own right, so he brings scale and reach. We’ve activated with him in multiple markets, from Australia to the US and everywhere in between. Working with him has been fantastic.

How much freedom do you allow him and your creator partners?

When you have a really solid brand positioning — and we see this with Guinness — you can allow a lot of creative collaboration to take shape. When you’re clear on your brand, it’s exciting to bring together the spark a creator brings with the essence of what your brand stands for, and explore where that can go together.

We love working with Troye and his team on how ideas could take shape. He brings a very specific personal tone of voice, which is part of why we want to work with him — we love what he stands for. So yes, we absolutely collaborate and treat it as a shared partnership and approach.

But what if things aren't quite right? How do you have those conversations?

I think it’s about clear expectations going into any partnership. It’s the same as starting a partnership with an agency — if you’re clear on your parameters, your brand guidelines and you’re consistent with them, there’s mutual respect on both sides. Troye has his own approach and agenda, and we now work with so many collaborators across our brands that this has become a real strength for us.

It also comes down to honesty. You have to be quite humble when working with creators. They’re making work that millions of consumers engage with and follow, and we have a lot to learn from them. You need to know what you stand for and be confident in that, but also humble enough to recognise that the reason you’re working with these people is because they bring an extra layer of creative genius we can learn from.

What has creativity meant throughout your career?

I always start with the consumer. One of the greatest gifts you have as a marketer is curiosity — really looking at what’s happening in the world, in people’s lives and in culture, and what that means for brands, for the work we do, and for how consumers absorb the inspiration we put into the world. Everything from how I take in culture — I’ve been obsessed with the Bad Bunny Super Bowl halftime spot and what it says about engaging people — to how different organisations frame business challenges fascinates me. And consumers, of course, are central to that.

I start with curiosity. The power of storytelling is fundamental to creativity and marketing. All our best work begins with a simple truth and a beautiful story crafted to surprise, delight, entertain and bring magic — the kind of boldness marketers admire and aspire to.

My background is in public relations and earned media, not the paid marketing model, and that shapes how I think about how people absorb and react to our work. I think about how a story moves from what we create into what consumers take on and add to — whether through creators and social communities or through the cultural acts brands put into their lives. That lens, shaped by my training, influences how I approach marketing. And in today’s world, where earned, storytelling and culture‑shaping are increasingly central, I think it serves me well.

How do you get the best out of your agencies?

It comes back to trust and mutual respect. We work with agencies because they bring what we don’t have as a team: strategic clarity, sharpness, creative bravery, boldness, craft, and external inspiration from other categories. I’m always interested when they do better work for other clients — why is that? I hold a mirror up to us and ask why we’re not getting that level, and what we need to explore together.

I try to have long‑term relationships with agencies. Guinness is the best example — 26‑plus years with AMV BBDO and over 40 years with some local agencies. We work for the long term because we believe in building legacy brands that endure. At the same time, we have extremely high standards, so maintaining those relationships requires shared ambition and real honesty when we’re not where we need to be. I think our agencies would call me if they weren’t getting what they needed, and I’ll do the same. We have honest conversations about why and solve it together.

I love being part of the creative process. Being brought into the work is my favourite moment of the week. I like being involved early enough to help shape it and add my experience, not just rubber‑stamp it.

What would be your advice in terms of producing a successful creative brief?

Simplicity. A simple brief is the hardest thing to get to. A simple, truthful brief, a brief that is true about the genuine challenge your brand faces, not necessarily the opportunity you would like it to be accessing. It's important that we're able to verbalise that, but ultimately being very truthful about the reality, and then being very truthful about the brand and product truth that you can leverage to access that. And then a great consumer insight - we are best placed to bring that to the briefing, because we have access to all of our consumer data. And then, if agencies have a super insight, a great articulated problem to solve, and a simple articulation of the brand - that's a great brief. Then wrap around that some inspiration for the sort of work I want to see. I want work that moves me, inspires me. One of my favourite parts of a briefing conversation is that when we're actually sitting around going, "OK, what other work could inspire this brief? Where could we learn from what work Inspires us?", or "What's going on in culture right now that we think is really pertinent?" I enjoy that collaborative conversation in the briefing process as well.

One thing I really think about is whether we are giving enough time for this to be crafted in the right way because there is always that balance between moving fast and due diligence and craft and thinking about whether we jumped so fast into an execution that we've lost the thread of an idea. That’s the other thing that, certainly as a leader of a number of teams, I can sometimes help with by providing some space by asking, "What do we need to do? Could I give you an extra month on this?" rather than thinking about having to run furiously at everything at the same time. Prioritisation can be a big part of it as well.

What would you say has been your boldest creative play?

The biggest and boldest, and probably it sounds intuitive now, but when we reframed Bailey's as a treat brand in a spirits business, I think that was probably the boldest idea. Walking into my boss's internal team and saying, “OK, I want you to stop thinking of Bailey's as a liqueur and I want you to start thinking out of its treat. And I want you to think about us competing with chocolate and ice cream. That's where our heartland lies.” That's quite a radical, bold move.

Is it a campaign that you've seen elsewhere that you wish you'd made

There are many campaigns I wish I have made. The work I admire most is work where it's usually product work where I think they're just so bold in their articulation of their product benefits or superiority. I love Heinz as a body of work - it's excellent how they have executed that in a very bold, brave, confident way with great key business aims. I think that work is really strong.

I actually love the work that's live right now with Oreos and Cadbury's Creme Egg ‘The Nepo Cookie’ because, again, it such a smart, culturally relevant insertion into what ultimately is two icons coming together, which happens a lot. The cultural nuance that they have taken from the Beckham story that was unfolding at the time, it's just so sharp, and it's executed brilliantly with big, bold creative, but this cultural nuance is great. I really admired that type of work - the truth and the simplicity of it, and the boldness.