Bailey's cool image may be unaffected by Icon centre failure

Bailey's Icon centre at Leopardstown Racecourse in Dublin closes this month due to dismal visitor numbers, caused mainly by the centre's out-of-town location and its inability to attract local custom.

It is a major financial blow for the brand, which invested £6.5 million (€8.25 million) in a project that lasted only 20 months. The 20,000 sq ft bar and interpretative centre was intended to appeal to tourists interested in the brand and, as such, be part of a tourist trail that would include the Guinness Storehouse and the Old Jameson Distillery.

Only 80,000 people visited the centre out of a hoped-for 200,000. A spokesperson for R & A Bailey & Co says: "This potential does not fit with the international marketing criteria that were set for Icon."

The projected figures had not been overly ambitious. In the same period, more than 300,000 people paid into Jameson's visitors' centre in Smithfield, while many more visited the restaurant and bar in the same complex. The first indication that Icon might not work came as early as October 1999 when the company contracted Dublin Bus to provide an hourly shuttle service to run from the city centre to Leopardstown. As the journey can take 45 minutes, two branded buses were needed, costing an estimated £200,000 per year. The conspicuously empty buses traversing the city were Icon's worst advertisement.

A more fundamental problem had to be the centre's interior design, a bizarre combination of tourist kitsch, Victorian snug and modern industrial chic. It might appeal to certain tourists but had no appeal for the local population in south Dublin, which packs the nightclub at the Racecourse and Filly's cafe bar, both adjacent to Icon.

In any case, the idea behind Icon's design was so conceptual that, up until opening day, members of the marketing team were said to have had little clear idea of how it would look.

One thing that became immediately obvious was that the design concept clashed with Bailey's positioning in the market. This contradiction was said to have been noticed at the time by members of Bailey's marketing department, who felt the suburban location and kitsch look would work against the sophisticated, urban image of the brand.

In the past five years Bailey's has promoted itself as a cool urban drink enjoyed by stylish twenty-somethings. This is most clearly seen in the brand's sponsorship of Friends on RTE and in its television advertising strategy. It is difficult to imagine any of the aspirational model-types in the current advertising in the Icon bar.

When Icon opened, Bailey's then marketing manager Ms Aldagh McDonogh said it would "bring the brand to life". Ironically, the paucity of visitors to Leopardstown might have worked in the brand's favour, saving Icon's failure from affecting the brand's carefully crafted image.

The closure follows the failure of Bailey's other attempt at brand extension, Bailey's whiskey.

All of this proves something that Guinness, which like R & A Bailey Co is part of the Diageo group, has found after several new product failures. No matter how strong a brand is, it does not mean it can necessarily support an extension - no matter how hyped.