Dermot Kennedy on the guinness Storehouse for Live & Rising
Dermot Kennedy on the guinness Storehouse for Live & Rising
the task
To launch Guinness’s new Live & Rising platform, a national celebration of Irish music, talent and culture. FUEL was briefed to create a cultural moment that would stop the scroll, drive talkability and put the campaign on the map. The ambition? Deliver an iconic performance by Dermot Kennedy, captured and shared in a way that would grab headlines, trend online, and spark public interest in Live & Rising as a movement, not just a campaign. The idea had to feel premium, ambitious, and uniquely Guinness, while offering earned media value and setting the tone for the full series rollout. It also had to drive visibility for the Guinness Storehouse as a creative venue in the city. Our challenge was to elevate a traditional brand launch into a defining cultural moment - one that combined music, storytelling, and cinematic scale to help relaunch Guinness’s connection with Irish music, and do it with undeniable style.
the experience
FUEL designed and delivered a two-day live shoot experience with Dermot Kennedy, culminating in the first-ever performance on top of the Guinness Storehouse’s Gravity Bar. With a bespoke branded stage, sweeping skyline views of Dublin, and two drone units capturing the entire moment, the content became instantly iconic. We shot, directed and edited all content in-house, working closely with Universal Music and Guinness to shape the visual tone of the Live & Rising platform. Day one featured Dermot performing “Kiss Me” at sunset with the Dublin skyline behind him. The following night, he played surprise gigs in three of Dublin’s most beloved pubs: Devitt’s, The Long Hall, and The Stag’s Head, which FUEL filmed in documentary style for a second content drop. We also produced a launch event in the Gravity Bar, attended by press, influencers and VIP guests. With a tight turnaround, a complex location, and world-class creative standards, the shoot blended physical production with brand storytelling at its very best.
the outcome
Dermot became the first artist to ever perform on top of the Guinness Storehouse - a milestone moment that made immediate headlines, landing coverage in the Irish Independent within the hour. The content trended on Twitter for two days and became the foundation for Guinness’s Live & Rising campaign. Social media lit up with footage from both the rooftop performance and the intimate pub gigs, with fans sharing content across TikTok, Instagram and Twitter, driving buzz and full-house turnouts for the pub tour. The campaign demonstrated the power of blending live music and branded content with cultural relevance and physical ambition. Client feedback was exceptional, with Universal Music and Diageo praising FUEL’s creative execution and direction. For Guinness, it was a dream launch - a story worth telling, an image worth sharing, and a campaign that instantly struck a chord with Irish audiences. For FUEL, it was a proud moment of delivering not just a gig, but a cultural landmark on the Dublin skyline.
