Campari’s Hunt On Marketing Global Brands, JFW’s Tigner On Navigating Headwinds
October 28, 2025Simon Hunt, CEO of Italy-based Campari Group, addressed the recent 49th Annual Impact Marketing Seminar on the topic of “Marketing Global Brands for Maximum Growth.” Hunt was quick to point out the opportunities latent in the current drinks industry landscape. There are challenges in marketing to younger consumers, who go out less frequently, spend more time on screens, and have less disposable income than older generations. But Campari, he said, is well-positioned to capitalize on trends like more day-drinking occasions, preferences for lower-alcohol and no-alcohol offerings, and a turn toward aspirational but accessible brands.
Campari’s Aperol aperitif is central to the popularity of Spritz cocktails, which overindex during daytime occasions, and Hunt noted that the company has high hopes for its Crodino non-alc spritzer, which is currently focused in around 20 markets and has ample runway for expansion. The Italian flair and rich back stories behind Campari’s core brands remain attractive to global consumer audiences, he added. Aperol, as just one example, has roughly tripled in size in the U.S. market to above 600,000 cases in the past five years.
“We have a global leadership position within the Spritz category,” said Hunt. “We have Aperol, we have Campari, we have all the other heritage brands that fit different taste profiles. And they don’t just accompany in these moments, they absolutely lead them.”
Hunt acknowledged the rise of anti-alcohol voices opposing the business, alongside other headwinds like the simultaneous downturn of multiple key global markets. To meet those challenges, he recommended that marketers remain agile in responding both to market trends and the narrative around the industry. “We need to reset, refocus, and re-image,” he said, emphasizing the need for the drinks business to collectively remind consumers that its mission is to “create celebration and the joy of shared experience.”
Rick Tigner, president and CEO of Jackson Family Wines, took on the topic, “Navigating Generational Change in the U.S. Wine Market.” Tigner admitted the current headwinds to growth in the drinks category, but hearkened back to prior industry downturns, saying, “We’ve seen this before, and we’ll get through it.”
Taking a closer look at recent trends in the wine market, he asserted that we’re currently in the midst of a recalibration that—in comparison with prior periods of decline—represents “a relatively small dip, not a collapse.” In fact, he said, in value terms, the wine market has shown positive growth over the past seven years despite tougher trends in 2023 and 2024.
Tigner also sought to address what he sees as misconceptions about consumer behaviors across age demographics, pointing out that millennials now spend the most per bottle of wine, despite being somewhat delayed in entering the wine category compared with previous generations.
The key, he said, is to meet consumers where they are, as Jackson Family has with its partnerships with the NBA and WNBA leagues, whose audiences are distinctly young and diverse. The flagship 3-million-case Kendall-Jackson brand in recent days rolled out special NBA-themed bottles, including a 2024 Lake County Sauvignon Blanc ($15), 2024 Monterey County Chardonnay ($15), and 2023 Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon ($25).
Jackson Family, Tigner noted, is also welcoming younger consumers to wine with “social hours” featuring free wine at the Kendall-Jackson wine estate, as well as by emphasizing growing categories like aromatic whites, which pair well with the diverse cuisines favored by the younger set, and by championing screwcaps to make the category more accessible.—Daniel Marsteller
Tagged : Aperol, Campari, Impact Seminar, Jackson Family Wines, kendall-jackson
