For a heritage spirits marketer, the biggest risk is not a new competitor. It is losing the emotional rituals that made consumers reach for the bottle in the first place. In a recent conversation on Adweek’s Speed of Culture podcast, Allison Varone, head of marketing at Campari America, walked through how the company keeps Aperol, Campari and its wider aperitivo portfolio embedded in modern social life without erasing decades of brand history.
Emotional connection outlives product features
Varone’s argument is that brands transcend their category when consumers attach them to experiences rather than attributes. She has carried that view across publishing, luxury and fashion at Martha Stewart Living and LVMH, and now into spirits. The job is not just to sell a liquid; it is to become part of the memories people carry.
For marketers, that shifts the brief. Instead of starting with what the product does, start with the occasion it belongs to and the feeling it supports.
Spritz culture and the mindful drinking shift
Campari America sees the growth of spritz culture as a modern ritual built around color, lightness and sociability. It travels from aperitivo moments to music festivals and neighborhood bars, giving legacy labels a culturally live format.
At the same time, consumers are becoming more intentional about alcohol. Varone frames mindful drinking as a shift in participation, not a rejection of socialising. Products such as Crodino let people move between alcoholic and non-alcoholic serves while keeping the same color, refreshment and social cues.
Building a brand world around experience
At festivals including Coachella and Lollapalooza, Campari America looks beyond visibility. It creates environments built around Aperol’s color, joyfulness and conviviality so the brand becomes part of the experience itself. The same thinking extends to smaller formats such as the Aperol Day Club, where a cultural platform can extend into everyday life around a major event.
- Start with the consumer feeling, not the venue or product feature.
- Invest in the people who serve the drink, not just the people who see the ad.
- Pair cultural curiosity with commercial fluency.
Bartenders are part of the brand
Advertising is only one part of the mix. Through Campari Academy and ongoing bartender training, the company invests in the people who actually make the serve. Consistent preparation matters because consumers associate the final cocktail with the brand, regardless of who poured it. Protecting that experience is a long-term equity play.
Not every cultural moment belongs to every brand
Before entering a festival, partnership or cultural conversation, Varone starts with the consumer. What do people want to feel in that moment? Does the brand naturally support that feeling? Does any talent involved genuinely connect with the product? Only when the answers align does an activation make sense. The result is cultural participation that feels natural rather than forced.
Curiosity needs a commercial backbone
Marketers should study new technologies and brands outside their own category, including AI, because external perspectives unlock different creative ideas. But Varone pairs that curiosity with business fluency: knowing where the product is sold, how it is sold, and what the customer and commercial environment look like. Relevance requires both imagination and proximity to the business.
Source: Adweek
