Campari celebrates 150th in Brazil

In 2010, the Campari brand was 150 years old. This was an ideal opportunity for the brand to celebrate its anniversary and get closer to its target audience of young sophisticated drinkers. Campari decided to adopt a digitally-led campaign to lend a modern edge to the classic name.

In many markets, the brand's advertising had traditionally followed a glamorous route, but agency research revealed that campaigns with a too much of a high-end look only succeeded in placing the brand in an unrealistic world, unattainable to the Brazilian consumer. Campari needed to find relevance with modern drinkers.

Unique drink, unique drinkers

The Brazilian audience recognised Campari mostly for its dramatic colour and unique taste. Social network research showed that the drink already had a number of vocal supporters who spread the word of Campari. If Campari was a unique drink and so were those who drank it.

Each Campari drinker has their own unique identity and story - either for the way they drink, live, or think. 150 years of the Campari history could be expressed through the stories of its unique Brazilian drinkers.

Through a special Campari site, fans could apply to participate in the '150 Diferentes' project and tell their own story. The best stories would be selected and the successful fans would be contacted. A customised Campari branded car toured key states, recording footage for the documentary.

As videos were produced, they were released on a branded YouTube channel. A Facebook page and official Campari Twitter account communicated news and updates to fans. The Facebook page acted as a forum for fans to comment upon the different video clips as they were posted.

Results

Positive response to the campaign resulted in the online strategy expanded to include a TV commercial.

79.6% of those surveyed visited the Campari Facebook page more than once.

The documentary content proved popular: the YouTube channel received more than 1 million views.

37.6% of the general public viewed more than five Campari videos launched by the action and 53.8% of the interviewed people showed some of the videos to friends.

The outcome on Campari's image revealed that 38.8% of the researched people say they are very identified with the project, and 45.9% believe that the brand was viewed as innovative.

This campaign was shortlisted at the Festival of Media Awards 2011 in the "Best Use of Content" category.