8/14/2019 PROMOTION & DESIGN

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Guinness StorehouseExhibition Design

Designers: London Based Imagination. Architects: Dublin-based Robinson Keefe Devane (RKD).

PROMOTION / DESIGN

Imagination was responsible for the projects conceptual master plan, identity, advertising, Web design (a fun site),

merchandising, literature, and events programs (including the venues gala four-day opening in November 2000).

Guinnesss Life sequence announces a new approach to brand immersion.The days of the product dictating to the

consumer are over; increasingly the process is geared towards a more open and flexible delivery strategy that allows

for custom built interaction.

Elsewhere at Guinness Storehouse, Imagination explores a fluidity of brand experience, juxtaposing complex

projections and simulated environments with very simple stories or familiar images.

The new medium of brand experience is people, not broadcasting. The visitors make what they want of the exhibition,

choosing their own route throughout. The Guinness Storehouse is a remarkable example of how a brand can connect

with a community. Its a principal local employer and its product is Irelands most famous export.

Imaginations goal: To deliver an inspiring destination the brand needed to genuinely reflect its roots and the authentic

values of the Guinness brand. From creating a sense of drama to developing film and interactive media, Imagination

devised an inspiring brand environment. With many years experience working on other successful branded visitor

attractions, such as Cadbury World, Imagination was an obvious choice of agency for the redesign.

How do you refresh a 243-year-old brand? By brewing a modern experience that combines the power of history with

the allure of contemporary design.

It was important to set the stage for the future: to use an ultramodern facility to breathe life into an aging brand, to

reconnect an old company with young customers, and to use the past to prepare employees for what comes next. To

rediscover Guinness's history, Guinness worked closely with the designers to ensure that the facility's focus on the

future also revelled in the past.

"Guinness as a brand is all about community. It's about bringing people together and sharing stories," says Ralph Ardill,

director of marketing and strategic planning at Imagination Ltd., the edgy London design firm that helped create the

structure. "And Guinness stout is a great social catalyst." In designing Storehouse, Imagination tried to re-create the

magic of a pub full of strangers getting to know one another. "It isn't a corporate cathedral for worshiping Guinness,"Ardill says. "It's a place for interaction among tourists who are travelling around Ireland, for the people who live there,

and for new Guinness employees who are undergoing training."

Guinness needed to attract a new consumer base. The company had a few major things going for it, not the least of

which was a 9,000-year lease (signed in 1759) on its Dublin property.

The Guinness Storehouse is designed to accommodate up to a million visitors a year, divided into three key audiences.

(1) The largest audience by far is that of tourists, whose main interest is in the fixed experience the exhibitions and

bars. (2) Its non-public spaces have also become home for staff training, board meetings, conferences, and press

events by the company. (3) The third audience, young Dubliners, come to the Guinness Storehouse for one-time events

such as concerts, parties, and exhibitions.

With offices in London, New York, Detroit, Tokyo and Hong Kong, Imagination is a fully integrated communications,

design and production agency. The firm offers a multi-disciplinary team of architects, film producers, graphic designers,

writers, multimedia and lighting experts. For over two decades, the team has created innovative environments and

experiences that communicate the essence of many of the worlds leading brands, including Ford Motor Company, BT,

Ericsson, Samsung, and the Tate Modern Museum.

Dublin-based Robinson Keefe Devane/RKD Architects is a major practice in Ireland providing architectural, interior

design, and project management services. The practice has 85 years experience in the design of many building types,

and has won numerous competitions and awards.