Murphy's - not stout but black beer

Campaign in 1998-9 by BBH for Murphy's stout (Whitbread). Objective: position differently from Guinness, in a market in long-term decline.
Agency: Bartle Bogle HegartyAuthor: Matthew Palmer

'Not Stout, but Black Beer'

THE STORY

This is the story of how, in the face of a long term category decline, Murphy's had to look beyond the narrow world of stout. It is also the story of how Planning drew some significant new insights from quantitative consumer data, and how these insights led to a fundamental revision of Murphy's core competition: Murphy's should not just compete with Guinness, but with lagers and ales as well, because Murphy's is not a stout, but a black beer.

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