Marketing is Everything in Alcohol: Aperol as A Case Study

                The source article for this post is a bit dated, but I was pretty blown away when I read it last summer and thought it was worth resurfacing to try to better illustrate the point above: marketing is everything when it comes to alcohol!

                When I think of the last few summers before 2018, there is one alcoholic drink that is clearly associated with the warm weather in my mind: Rose.  But when I think about the summer of 2018, there is another drink that rises above for me and claims the spot of Drink of the Summer: the Aperol Spritz.  Last July, almost out of nowhere, it felt like the Aperol Spritz was the most ubiquitous drink on the market and could be found next to every pool, as an aperitif at every restaurant, and as a staple cocktail in every bar in the country.   The Aperol Spritz was everywhere and its appearance was no mere coincidence, but rather the result of a highly clever and effective marketing campaign by Campari, the makers of Aperol, that increased the sales of the beverage by 50% for the season!

                The marketing team at Campari clearly knew the demographic they were targeting and started their campaign on the coasts.  Dedicated Aperol Spritz booths were set up at major NYC events like Governors Ball and the Jazz Age Lawn Party while cute, Instagramable Aperol pop-up bars began opening in LA.  From there the company went after the Hamptons, setting up a mobile scooter turned bar that gave away free spritzes and even wrapping the Hampton Jitney in a full-sized orange Aperol add.  The marketing team doubled down on the drink’s distinct orange color for visual appeal and its Italian origin for signals about quality.  From there, the virality of the campaign took-off with the help of influencers and everyday drinkers.

                Aperol has been around since 1919 and has been a staple of many bartenders for decades, but one successful marketing campaign was able to totally rebrand the drink in the eye of American consumers and drive one of the latest alcohol crazes.  Here, nothing changed but the emergence of good marketing!

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/17/style/aperol-spritz-drink-summer.html