In Dublin this year, the centenary of the Easter Rising of 1916 is being celebrated. Exhibitions about the heroes, city tours showing the locations, a monthly magazine on the theme… It can be difficult for a Swedish visitor to fully understand the significance of this milestone year for the Irish.

In one place in the city, history is celebrated every year, every day. Guinness Storehouse is a tribute to the drink. History marketing on par with Coca Cola World in Atlanta, Mercedes Benz in Stuttgart, or why not the upcoming IKEA museum in Älmhult.

It starts with a fast-forwarded description of the production and continues with a historical bottle parade, advertising history (favorite: the singing oyster) and here and there tastings and courses in how to correctly pour a Guinness – it should take exactly 119.5 seconds…

What captures visitors the most is – perhaps unexpectedly – a craft, namely the cooper’s. The speed and precision in producing the beer barrels fascinates everyone. The old tools, the barrels, pictures and film – here visitors crowd around a craft that has long since become history.

Guinness Storehouse is of course profitable – and constitutes a lucrative part of the company’s PR activities. The business is crowned by the shop which displays hundreds of products from t-shirts to Christmas ornaments.

The archive naturally occupies a central place in all this history marketing. With the archivist Eibhlin Cogan, the company has full control over recipes, labels, advertising and everything else that documents the company’s history. Product developers and marketers always take a trip to Eibhlin to be inspired by history – it's worth it!

// Also read about Dublin Rising - a virtual tour through the Easter Rising 1916 //