• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Egg companies made $1.22 billion in profit off a $6 carton — now they’re buying their way out of a price-fixing case with 53 million donated eggs

2

Meet the Zillennials: The luckiest micro-generation in the workforce, born between 1993 and 1998

3

Economists have found an answer to slowing cognitive decline: Avoid retiring early, study finds

1

Egg companies made $1.22 billion in profit off a $6 carton — now they’re buying their way out of a price-fixing case with 53 million donated eggs

2

Meet the Zillennials: The luckiest micro-generation in the workforce, born between 1993 and 1998

3

Economists have found an answer to slowing cognitive decline: Avoid retiring early, study finds
RetailCommentary

Campari’s Marketing Blitz for Aperol Spritz Has Found Success With Millennials

By
Rachel King
Rachel King
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Rachel King
Rachel King
Down Arrow Button Icon
July 24, 2018, 1:05 PM ET
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

I nearly spit out my pitch black coffee last Friday morning when I read in one of my favorite newsletters (Girls’ Night In) that the Aperol Spritz is “the new drink of the summer.” Wait. The Aperol Spritz is not “new.” It’s an Italian classic. A staple of summer. My first thought was, “Where did they get this!?”

Apparently, the newsletter editors got it from the New York Times, which they linked to as well as a recipe from Bon Appetit, which describes the fizzy drink as “starting the whole spritz phenomenon in the United States.”

For those who are still not aware of the Aperol Spritz, it is a wine-based cocktail with origins in Northeast Italy. It is traditionally served as an aperitif (an early evening drink) and is comprised of prosecco, soda water, and Aperol, an Italian bitter rhubarb liqueur.

Now, those who read the NYT feature from earlier in July will immediately realize that the story is not trying to pass off or lean into the suggestion that the Aperol Spritz is suddenly a new hot (but, of course, cool) commodity. Rather, the newfound fervor for the Aperol Spritz—at least in the United States—has similar roots to that of the mass popularization of rosé a few years back, making the jump from Provençal varietal to a must-have for young startup founders partying in the Hamptons. It all comes down to marketing.

Campari, the parent company behind Aperol, basically confirmed as much to the Times, describing the wine-based cocktail is gaining ground with—who else—millennials in summer hotspots from Palm Springs to the aforementioned epicenter of the rosé craze in America on the shores of Long Island. (It doesn’t hurt that the blood orange beverage “Instagrams” well, either.)

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bjno4PbHF1P/?hl=en

But Campari already has more to show for it than more likes and hashtags on Instagram, proving that pulling from the rosé wine marketing handbook is working. On its first quarter earnings report earlier this year, the spirits conglomerate credited Aperol (along with its namesake liqueur) for making up for declines experienced by Skyy Vodka, among a few of its other brands.

Campari also clearly didn’t wait for summer to roll around either, planting seeds as far back as last fall with colorful pop-up stands at choice locations in well-photographed and moneyed locales like Art Basel in Miami Beach, waiting for the fruit to grow and be plucked this season. That resulted in double-digit growth for Aperol sales before summer even started.

So while the drink itself—dating back decades—is certainly not new, many buyers are clearly unaware and, frankly, don’t care. The light, carefree, colorful marketing campaign has successfully reached them, slowly lulling them with the low-alcoholic beverage that is both eye-appealing and refreshing in scorching heat. And with summer only midway through, shareholders will likely be very excited to see what Campari will deliver on its next report in August.

Probably much to those shareholders’ delights, there appears to be no cap on interest or shortage of headlines about the Aperol Spritz, which Lifehacker described for American readers as “a grown up orange soda.” On Monday, CNNMoney described the Aperol Spritz as a “hipster cocktail.” But the only people who might really be hipsters in this scenario aren’t just millennials lumped together, but cocktail lovers across generations who will inevitably say, “Wait, I’ve been drinking that for years before it was popular.”

About the Author
By Rachel King
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Retail

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Retail

ashok
Commentary250 Years of Innovation
The greatest startup in history: What we can learn from America’s founders at today’s AI frontier
By Ashok N. SrivastavaJuly 3, 2026
5 hours ago
Those bots sending discounts to your email is dynamic pricing in action. Get revenge on those bots by abandoning your cart
RetailConsumer Spending
Those bots sending discounts to your email is dynamic pricing in action. Get revenge on those bots by abandoning your cart
By Catherina GioinoJuly 3, 2026
10 hours ago
ts
Arts & EntertainmentNew York
NYPD confirms ‘an event that we are tracking at Madison Square Garden on Friday night,’ declines to comment on Taylor Swift wedding
By Jake Offenhartz, Kimberlee Kruesi and The Associated PressJuly 2, 2026
23 hours ago
usa
North AmericaWorld Cup
The World Cup is a smash but America still isn’t a soccer country, poll suggests
By Linley Sanders and The Associated PressJuly 2, 2026
23 hours ago
i
AsiaIndia
India and Japan just made “economic security” a shared mission
By Sheikh Saaliq and The Associated PressJuly 2, 2026
24 hours ago
j
EconomyJobs
Economy disappoints with half as many jobs created in June, and May and April gains revised downward
By Christopher Rugaber and The Associated PressJuly 2, 2026
1 day ago

Most Popular

Egg companies made $1.22 billion in profit off a $6 carton — now they’re buying their way out of a price-fixing case with 53 million donated eggs
Law
Egg companies made $1.22 billion in profit off a $6 carton — now they’re buying their way out of a price-fixing case with 53 million donated eggs
By Wyatte Grantham-Philips and The Associated PressJuly 2, 2026
23 hours ago
Meet the Zillennials: The luckiest micro-generation in the workforce, born between 1993 and 1998
AI
Meet the Zillennials: The luckiest micro-generation in the workforce, born between 1993 and 1998
By Nick LichtenbergJuly 3, 2026
10 hours ago
Economists have found an answer to slowing cognitive decline: Avoid retiring early, study finds
Economy
Economists have found an answer to slowing cognitive decline: Avoid retiring early, study finds
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 2, 2026
1 day ago
Mark Zuckerberg feeds his cows macadamia nuts and beer to create the 'highest-quality beef in the world' on his $300 million estate in Hawaii
Success
Mark Zuckerberg feeds his cows macadamia nuts and beer to create the 'highest-quality beef in the world' on his $300 million estate in Hawaii
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 2, 2026
1 day ago
As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch
Big Tech
As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezJuly 1, 2026
2 days ago
Current price of oil as of July 2, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of July 2, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJuly 2, 2026
1 day ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.