St Patrick's greatest hits: the UK's favourite Irish brands

by Ed Kemp, marketingmagazine.co.uk 17-Mar-09, 08:50

LONDON - UK consumers have voted Guinness as their favourite Irish brand for the second year in succession, according to a poll published by YouGov.

The survey, commissioned by Eulogy, spanned 2,111 UK consumers and saw Guinness emerge with 18% of the vote - with Baileys (16%), Westlife (8%) and cider brand Magners (8%) following behind.

Bizarrely, budget airline Ryanair - which recently muted plans to charge its passengers to go to the toilet and is currently asking consumers to vote on other cost-cutting ideas - took 3% of the vote. Rival airline Aer Lingus amassed just 1% of votes cast. Aging rockers U2 saw its popularity drop from 10% in 2007 to 7% this year.

The most popular Irish brand among 18-24 year-olds was Bailey's (18%), with Magners (15%) in second place. Guinness was the most popular Irish brand for just 11% of consumers in this demographic.

Diageo GB is promoting Guinness in pubs through point-of-sale activity including Shamrock based hats, and glow sticks. Guinness is also running an on-pack promotion offering drinkers a limited edition 250th anniversary t-shirt with each pack purchase.