Guinness 'Lights up the Local' in campaign by AMV BBDO

To celebrate the return of Christmas fun and the people at the heart of pub culture, Guinness is lighting up local pubs up and down the country with a dazzling Christmas light display, celebrating each pub’s role in bringing local communities together in a campaign created by Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO.

Twenty-two pubs nationwide have been selected as part of the display including The Lock Tavern in Camden, The Queen’s Vaults in Cardiff and The Pickled Sprout in Harrogate.

The activation will also see ‘The Guinness Pub Choir’, who are starring in the brand’s Christmas ad, performing a specially composed performance of the Elvis Presley classic ‘Always on my Mind’.

The choir will feature 30 publicans and bar staff and the track will be available to stream on Spotify. The choir recording replaces the original soundtrack in the ‘Welcome Back’ spot, which is running on TV and radio to support the initiative.

Nicholas Hulley and Nadja Lossgott, executive creative directors at AMV BBDO, said: “Everyone has missed getting together in the pub to have a pint of Guinness with their mates at Christmas. So, we wanted to make well-loved locals across the whole country festive homing beacons to give people a special place to enjoy those reunions”.

Neil Shah, head of Guinness GB, added: “The past 18 months has been incredibly tough for the hospitality industry, so we want to do all that we can to make sure Guinness supports locals. Our ‘Light Up the Local’ Christmas campaign is about celebrating pubs as the beating heart of our communities where people can come together with their mates over a pint of Guinness in the run up to Christmas. We will be underpinning this with our Guinness Raising the Bar programme, which has already helped a huge number of establishments during the pandemic - we will continue to support the industry through the fund and other means.”

Credits:

Client: Diageo

Brand: GUINNESS

Campaign title: Light Up Your Local

Client name: Ros Healy, Anna MacDonald, Neil Shah, Linda Bradley and Helen Carswell

Creative Agency: AMV BBDO

CCO: Alex Grieve

ECDs: Nadja Lossgott and Nicholas Hulley

Creative Director: Nadja Lossgott and Nicholas Hulley

Creative Team: Andy Varsey and Dan Warner (lights up activation); Josie Finlay and Charles Olafare (choir)

Agency planner: Matt Hardisty

Agency account team: Michael Pring, Nick Andrew, Alexandra Sandford Smith and Aneesha Ghatthaora

Agency producer (activation): Tom Saunders

Production Company: Verve

Media agency: PHD

Social media agency: Born Social

PR Agency: Hope & Glory