BRANDED CONTENT

AMARO MONTENEGRO U.S. MARKET Launch
CREATIVE DIRECTOR

To reposition Italian digestif Amaro Montenegro for the U.S. market, we were up against one damning piece of data: Americans didn’t drink aperitifs. But, it was the height of cocktail culture in NYC and we found out that some of the city’s trendsetting bartenders — the wrists at Death & Co, Employees Only, Milk & Honey, Dead Rabbit and more — were already Monte fans and including it in their drinks: both at the bar and in their off-time. Building our launch campaign concept, Every day since 1885, we recommended an influencer content & events campaign that would allow cocktail-obsessed drinkers to mix — and drink — like the best, every day.

Through a variety of topics and formats, we whet the whistle of multiple audiences: partner agency Sterling Brands had identified three likely target audiences including ‘female foodies’ and ‘cocktail connoisseurs’ but we were also talking to the trade: other bartenders who riff on the trends to create their own unique spin, and who get quite competitive. Literally, there are cocktail competitions, who knew?

We filmed in a warm, documentary style that created intimacy with each influential bartender. This was 2015, which is why I’d call this more ‘branded content’ than ‘social media’ as we know it today. Then, premium vibes were preferable to the lo-fi, diy style we’ve come to associate with more recent social influencer campaigns.

We enlisted this trendsetting team to create recipes for release via Amaro Montenegro’s socials (different approach than these modern times where we would have them post directly).

PR picked up where social left off, amplifying the campaign in key pubs for all three of our audiences.

A series of shorts had the bartenders dispensing behind-the-bar wisdom on cocktail-hour topics: etiquette, style, conversation, even facial hair.

Ultimately, their job was to talk about a spirit few Americans knew, and most bartenders did: amaro. And it worked.

The Bartenders’ content and related outreach generated 12M PR impressions and generated the highest Facebook engagement score of any direct competitor. The campaign claimed 97% positive brand association among those encountering the branded events and content. And case sales increased 900% in the first eight months of the campaign.

Creative Director: Lee Piper
Art director / Photographer / Videographer & Editor / Motion Designer: Matt Tynan
Art Direction & Identity Design: Rotem Raffe, Dan Tynan
Agency: Fathom | DDB