How Guinness Book of World Records Makes Other Brands More Newsworthy

Celebrating accomplishments is a well-known public relations tactic to make announcements more newsworthy. But rarely do these tactics involve shattering world records. Cue Guinness World Records.

The company famous for keeping up with the world’s strongest person and the longest fingernails expanded its offering to include helping other brands generate newsworthy buzz around product launches, internal culture initiatives and other marketing efforts.

Delivering newsworthy records

Despite selling more than 134 million copies of its bestselling book since 1955, declining sales forced the company to rethink its business model. So, it looked beyond the book and found a niche content marketing service. It started helping brands infuse world records into their marketing.

Dreamworks Animation wanted to promote the MegaMind 3 premier. So it turned to Guinness to help organize the largest gathering of superheroes in history. When Kellogg’s wanted to host a singular team building event, Guinness came up with the largest run of cereal box dominoes ever.

Guinness’ involvement elevated these events to a world-class status backed by the brand with a reputation for record-breaking antics.

Lessons for brands

For brands looking to attract new customers, Guinness’ own new look offers powerful lessons. Plenty of companies have successfully moved into new markets, introduced new products or found ways to attract new customers. A brand like Amazon is constantly disrupting new industries. Organizations that do this well rely on their reputation and brand promise to propel them into new markets.

For brands looking to promote an announcement or event, Guinness’ case studies offer a wealth of ideas on ways to make even the most boring company update newsworthy.