First Drinks Brands has handed the UK media planning and buying for
the Italian aperitif, Campari, to John Ayling and Associates ahead of
the launch of a new advertising campaign to be unveiled in the
spring.
The win is the second assignment handed to John Ayling by First Drinks
Brands following the agency’s appointment to work on Amarula Cream
Liqueur three years ago. The Campari account was previously held by
Universal McCann. The creative task is handled by Grey Advertising.
Lisa Whalley, group brand manager for First Drinks Brands, said: ’We’ve
been impressed with what John Ayling achieved on Amarula Cream and so we
asked them to have a look at Campari.
’They showed a thorough understanding of the Campari brand and
demonstrated excellent strategic thinking that will help to achieve our
ambitions. We have set challenging objectives for Campari next
year.’
Campari, which is owned by Monaco-based Campari International but
marketed in the UK by First Drinks Brands, currently only sells around
35,000 cases a year.
It has struggled to stem a steady sales decline since the brand’s heyday
in the late 70s when it was immortalised in the minds of UK consumers by
advertising featuring Lorraine Chase and the famous line, ’Nah, Luton
Airport’.
The brand has subsequently attempted relaunches in 1990, 1993 and most
recently in 1998 when a pounds 3 million campaign attempted to
reposition the brand as upmarket drink targeted at men aged 25 to 45 who
would not be put off by the brand’s bitter taste.
The TV commercial featured a thief who got his comeuppance when he stole
an expensive jacket and then wore it to a club owned by his victim. The
endline was: ’Mix bitterness with pleasure.’
