Antirom updates Guinness website

London new media design group Antirom has relaunched Guinness’ website with input from WPP-owned advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather.

The site, which went live at the end of 1995, is now more integrated into the client’s overall marketing strategy.

“We felt the existing site was no longer cutting edge and decided it was time for a revamp. It’s ended up effectively being a replacement,” says Draught Guinness brand manager Mandy Sowter.

As Design Week went to press, the site had been posted on the Internet and publication of the address was imminent.

The new site plays on Guinness’ current advertising theme that not everything in black and white makes sense.

“It is more entertainment-based than before and more obviously linked to our above-the-line activities. Because the life of a website is shorter than for other media we will be constantly reviewing it from now on,” adds Sowter.

The new website is set out as a pub with a four-setting atmosphere adjuster, spanning from a country pub to a disco pub. “The music and surroundings change according to what setting the atmosphere is on,” says Antirom designer Joe Stephenson.

The site includes a games section, a chill-out room and a chat room housing Len the barman.

Antirom has also worked on the European Levi’s website launched last week, and is currently creating a CD-ROM for Levi’s White Tab non-denim range. This is scheduled to launch next spring.