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Hey Marketing Bestie,

Us marketers sure can learn a lot from our Marketing fore-fathers and fore-mothers.

Consider this a parade for the greatest marketing campaigns in memory.

Welcome to Marketing Classics 411, a new kind of ancient history.

In place of hieroglyphs, expect to decipher the campaigns of yesteryear.

Professor Millennial teaches every Tuesday (remotely), via electronic mail.

Class is now in session.

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How The Aperol Spritz Became The Cocktail Of The Summer

Class, raise your hand if you ordered an Aperol Spritz last summer. Or this weekend. 

Now raise your hand if you'd even heard of an Aperol Spritz before 2018. 

Funny how that works... 🍹

Today's lesson is about the slowest, orangest viral moment in modern Marketing.

It’s about how a 107-year-old Italian brand went from a regional apéritif to a global sensation, after DECADES of very strategic serving and sipping.

Sometimes, something that comes out of “nowhere” has actually been bubbling under the surface for a long time.

This is the story of… the Aperol Spritz.

Aperol was invented in 1919 by 2 brothers named Luigi and Silvio Barbieri.

They were from Padua, in the Veneto region of northern Italy.

The Barbieris blended gentian root, rhubarb, and cinchona bark with orange oil, sugar, alcohol, and plenty of food coloring.

They called it Aperol, after apéro, a French slang term for “apéritif.”

Early Aperol-tising. Choose your character.

The spritz part came later.

Austrian soldiers had been diluting Italian wine with club soda as far back as the 1800s. They called their creation spritzen, German for “splash.”

In the 1950s, some (genius) bartender combined Aperol with white wine + soda water, and served it during aperitivo hour.

The recipe was slightly altered in the ‘70s: newly-trendy prosecco replaced the white wine.

For all this time, the Aperol Spritz was a local favorite. Something you’d really only find in northeastern Italy. 

Until the Campari Group acquired Aperol in 2003.

THE PERFECT SERVE

Campari and Aperol are the Ben Affleck and Matt Damon of Italian apéritifs.

Ben Affleck’s Campari, obviously.

Campari’s more bitter, 20-28% ABV, and deep red.

Aperol’s sweeter, 11% ABV, and bright orange. 

With the acquisition, the Campari Group could dominate the aperitivo market with 2 legacy brands. ❤️🧡

Aperol had the advantage of appealing to a broader audience of casual drinkers and health-conscious consumers who wanted a lighter libation. 

Instead of concocting a variety of new Aperol cocktails to take to market, the Campari Group bet it all on the Aperol Spritz.

The drink already had a lot going for it. 

It was a local favorite, easy for non-bartenders to make and drink, and it had the brand right in the name!

Also a bous: consumers could enjoy a few Aperol Spritzes over an extended period without getting totally blitzed. Perfect for summer sipping.

The Campari Group perfected the recipe with an easy-to-remember 3:2:1 ratio:

🥂: 3 parts prosecco

🍊: 2 parts Aperol

💧: 1 part club soda

Now it was time to take the Aperol Spritz to the rest of the world.

Starting with the #1 industry gatekeeper: BARTENDERS. 

MAKING A SPRITZ

Instead of marketing to consumers, the Campari Group treated Aperol like a B2B product. 

They marketed Aperol to trendy bars and restaurants with free samples and spritz-making demos.

The Aperol Spritz had traditionally been served in a tumbler. 

Now the brand insisted on large, long-stemmed wine glasses that better showcased the drink’s color and orange slice garnish. 

Orange you craving an Aperol Spritz?

To help, they launched a massive swag campaign that got Aperol-branded patio umbrellas, glasses, coasters, and more into bars and restaurants.

(Look for Aperol swag next time you go out. It’s everywhere.)

Then, Campari Academy, a free education platform for bartenders and hospitality professionals, launched in 2010. 

Through in-person and online courses, these professionals could become certified Spritz Masters, and win branded merch.

Class is in session!

At this point, Aperol had spent a DECADE winning over hospitality gatekeepers. But it was still a sleeping giant.

In 2013, it was time to make a real splash.

PUT IT IN PRACTICE

The Aperol Spritz took 20 years (and a lot of B2B work) to go viral.

Apply its Marketing recipe to your own brand.

Here’s your homework:

1️⃣. Identify your brand’s #1 gatekeeper. 

Get specific. What single group most influences trial and purchase?

2️⃣. Brainstorm 2-3 ways to train gatekeepers on your brand. 

How does your gatekeeper stay informed about their industry? How can you help them? 

Where can you authenticallyeducate them, so they know why & how to use your product/service?

3️⃣. You’ve infiltrated the gatekeepers. Now, figure out 2-3 places they connect with your target audience. 

Position your brand in the middle of the action. The buzzier (bubblier?), the better.

SPRITZ OR IT DIDN'T HAPPEN

2003-2013 = Aperol’s education era.

2013-2018 = Aperol’s placement era. 

Now, the Aperol Spritz was the signature drink of the Venice Biennale AND the Venice Film Festival. 

Both big cultural events with a who’s who ofcelebrities and socialites in attendance.

The Aperol Spritz was now served all over Italy.

Milan, Florence, Rome, the Amalfi Coast…

But it STILL wasn’t an American staple.

In 2013, Campari America took over the distribution and marketing of Aperol in the U.S. And they had some 

This was the year “selfie” entered the mainstream (along with “twerk” and “binge-watch”).

Instagram had launched just 3 years earlier and was already the world’s  fastest-growing social platform.

Aperol wanted to be at the party. Even better, it wanted to start the party, with a new generation of tastemakers: Millennials, to be specific. 👼

In 2016, the brand launched a new campaign: “It starts with Aperol Spritz.”

Followed by the “What’s a Spritz?” campaign.

& Market like Aperol.

Outdoor ads appeared in transit hubs and at summer events. 

Aperol popped-up at Art Basel Miami Beach in 2017. 

It hosted Insta-worthy spritz booths at music events, like Governors Ball in NYC and Splash House in Palm Springs. 

Wait, did I write this ad?

They even wrapped the Hampton Jitney bus.

In 2019, Drinks International named the Aperol Spritz the 9th best-selling cocktail in the world. 

But the buzz (and fizz) were still building.

Then, it happened. In 2022, HBO’s The White Lotus took viewers to Sicily.

Starring the Aperol Spritz and… what’s her name.

Aperol Spritzes were enjoyed throughout the series. All totally organic product placement. 

This was what their Marketers had worked for: they’d become an authentic part of the culture.

Aperol reported a 50% (!!!) increase in U.S. sales. 

ANOTHER ROUND

These days, the Aperol Spritz has earned a basically permanent spot in the summer cocktail canon.

And it’s still out here serving. They now sponsor the U.S. Open and are the Official Spritz Partner of Coachella. 

Now, they’re trying to conquer Mother Nature herself. 

Because Summer’s only a few months of the year.

To stay top of mind, the Aperol Spritz is being marked as a cocktail for all seasons with après-tivo pop-ups in Aspen, Vail, and the Italian Alps.

Served ice cold!

Aperol was slow to adopt to the ready-to-serve cocktail trend, and launched Aperol Spritz To Go just last month. (If you’ve tried it, hmu. I’m curious.) 

The Campari Group’s Matt Damon of an apéritif is now the largest and top-selling brand in the portfolio, driving 44% of revenue. 

But now it has a new hill to climb: Americans and Western Europeans, the biggest group of Aperol buyers, are drinking less alcohol. 

Plus, tariffs have cost the Campari Group millions. They missed their revenue forecast in Q1 2026.

But…as long as there’s a stocked bar and something to celebrate, the Aperol Spritz will probably be there. 

Maybe even on tap. 

Behold: The Taperol Spritz!

MARKETING CHEAT SHEET (WHAT TO LEARN FROM THIS STORY):

1️⃣. Target (and train) gatekeepers 1st.

The Campari Group spent a decade making bartenders fluent in Aperol before focusing on consumer awareness. By the time consumers asked, "What's that orange drink?" bartenders had the Aperol Spritz recipe down. The right 1st audience isn't always your end customer. Often, it’s a gatekeeper.

2️⃣. 1 perfect serve beats a ton of options.

Most spirits brands push a variety of cocktail recipes with their signature ingredient. Aperol bet on 1, and made it simple, memorable, and downright refreshing. 

3️⃣. Position the brand near the camera.

Art Basel Miami. Sicilian villas. Rooftop bars. Coachella. The Aperol Spritz was embedded in cultural moments and party scenes that were full of tastemakers and heavily photographed. Aperol benefited by association: first by design, then organically.

🎓 EXTRA CREDIT

Speaking of brands that nailed the placement game...

Aperol spent years showing up at the U.S. Open & Art Basel. Now, they’re everyone’s favorite summer cocktail. Not an accident! 🍹 🍹

On June 25, I’m talking about how brands run sponsorships that WORK. It'll be me + the team that tracks every major deal in the industry + 2 brand leaders going on record about how they did it.

See you there.

IN A MEME

Ahh, the bell has rung. Please be sure to do the reading (Register for the sponsorships download, follow The Marketing Millennials on LinkedIn and me, Professor Millennial, on X).

Off you go, passing period is only 11 minutes and there’s already a line at the vending machine that sells Aperol Spritz-flavored gummy candy. (It’s a thing.) 

Until next time,

Professor Millennial