What do you do when all the good world records have been set? Hire Guinness to help you invent some new ones.
Guinness World Records is no longer just a book company. It’s a branded experience.
Phil Edwards was a senior producer for the Vox video team.
On January 28, 2015, workers at United Biscuits stacked a bunch of books in a line to achieve a new world record: “Most books toppled in a domino fashion.” They ended up toppling 5,318 books (for the sticklers out there, 182 of the initial 5,500 books were disqualified, but there were still enough to break the record).
It was impressive, but it’s also a metaphor for Guinness’s changing business model. As the books fall, something else has to take their place. Today, Guinness World Records doesn’t make all of its money off selling record books. Instead, a big chunk of its business comes from helping companies invent and break new records — to get publicity.
Guinness has a new business model
The world's shortest man with a stack of Guinness World Record books. (Andrew Cowie/AFP/Getty Images)
To be clear, Guinness still sells plenty of record books — reportedly 1 million copies every year. But with the book industry in a state of turmoil, the company is increasingly trying to diversify.
So, since being acquired in 2008 by the same company that owns Ripley’s Believe It or Not! museums, Guinness has vigorously experimented. In addition to building museums that follow the Ripley model, it’s expanded into areas like “consulting services,” which in 2013 made up 20 percent of the company’s revenue.
What does Guinness consulting look like? Basically, Guinness sends its judges (dressed in their official uniform, of course) to judge “records” set by various companies (like United Biscuits). These records, in turn, receive some media attention, a service that Guinness has valued at $330,000.
It’s easy to find similar “records” being set by CBS, Planetside 2, Nissan, and others. For those keeping track of media trends, Guinness is essentially a native advertising firm now, seamlessly mingling content with marketing. And it’s pretty good at it.
Guinness isn’t the only company inventing records
Part of that business model change may be because Guinness doesn’t have records to itself anymore. Today, internet companies like RecordSetter directly compete with Guinness by expanding the “record” formula and making it even more absurd. If you want to snuggle in a hammock with bunnies or hold 9 barstools in the air, you can set a record.
That competition shouldn’t be a surprise. Many of Guinness’s records — like “world’s longest fingernails” — were tailor-made for today’s internet culture, and other companies are gleefully pursuing the concept. YouTube channels like Dude Perfect — where friends make a bunch of trick shots — may not have Guinness’s legacy or official “record” patina, but they do have almost 4 million more YouTube subscribers than Guinness.
That’s the reason Guinness is working so hard to be more than a book company. It has a lot of competition to get eyeballs, not just book buyers. And it knows that a judge is waiting nearby with a notebook in hand — because, eventually, that last book will fall.
