Read the full analysis on Shanken News Daily.
Speaking at the 50th Annual Impact Marketing Seminar in New York, Bacardi CMO Ned Duggan urged the industry to give consumers compelling reasons to choose a drink at all, earning both brand preference and a role for the category in the occasion. He cited Campari’s Aperol for building the Spritz occasion in the U.S., and said Bacardi’s St. Germain has benefited via the Hugo Spritz: per Shanken, the brand rose nearly 40% in NIQ channels year to date after jumping 43% to 256,000 cases last year. Duggan urged marketers to think less like advertisers and more like entertainers.
Occasion-led serves like the Aperol and Hugo Spritz can lift multiple brands at once, and on-premise and retail teams can build menus and displays around a signature serve rather than a single bottle.