#45 Creating Experiential Moments and Partnerships
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All of our storytelling originates with deep, authentic roots. And so that is how we build all of our storytelling. Campari Spritz, a Milanese story. That's what our team did with HBO when we heard that they were going to be filming White Lotus 2. You're going to be filming in Italy. This is the drink that you might want to see in a few different places. A Campari Negroni, please. It's a story that unfolds.

and a movie to be made. Campari, we are cinema. So we've just been trying to put the brand in the center of culture, as you said, in the right moment for consumers' lifestyles and the moment that an occasion that makes sense for them. I love how experiential you are making this. We really want to connect with consumers in a moment that we add value to their experience. ♪

Hello everyone and welcome to Experts of Experience. I'm your host, Lauren Wood. Today I'm thrilled to have Andrea Sanghera, the head of marketing at Campari America, who has been leading the charge in redefining the brand's storytelling and consumer engagement in the American market. And I'm so excited to have her with us today.

If you didn't know, Campari owns a number of well-known brands such as Campari, of course, Aperol, Sky Vodka, Espelon Tequila, Grand Marnier and Wild Turkey, just to name a few. So Andrea has a wide, broad vision on many of America's most beloved brands.

for those of us who drink. And we're going to dive into all of it today. Andrea, how are you? Wonderful. Thank you so much for having me, Lauren. And thank you for loving some of the brands that we have. We really appreciate that. You know, I'm one of the maybe few Americans, as I started to dive into what you've been up to at Campari, and especially in the bitters category, Campari and Aperol, which have been two of my favorite brands

beverages for a long time, but I've heard that it's really been on the rise more recently. And I'd love to understand a little bit about what have you been doing to bring these beloved European brands to the US? What have been some of the tactics you've implemented and some of your biggest learnings in doing so? So happy to hear you've been enjoying those products for some time.

It's really incredible to see so many new consumers discovering and enjoying Campari and Aperol. You may have heard about what is known as the world's most popular drink called the Negroni. So Campari is the heart of a Negroni. And as we see more and more consumers discovering them, we see search results for Negroni increasing pretty consistently, different types of Negroni variations popping up.

Campari is core to that. So a Negroni for your listeners that might not know is equal measures of Campari, gin and sweet vermouth.

And now you might have heard of a drink called the Boulevardier, which is in fact a whiskey Negroni. So we swap out the gin and we put in equal parts of whiskey, Campari and sweet vermouth. Whiskey having been on the rise in a really big category here in the U.S. No surprise to see bartenders and consumers experimenting with what Campari can taste like with whiskey.

You then have something called the Rosita Negroni, which is tequila. So tequila, Kemahari, sweet vermouth, also very popular. And then about a year and a half ago, there were some social memes out there.

From House of Dragons, where two of the stars from that talked about what their favorite drink was. And one of them said the Negroni and then clarified that it was a Negroni Spagliato, which very few consumers in the world know about outside of, you know, maybe more Italians. And that is actually a Negroni made with Prosecco.

So we saw a big rise in consumers trying this new drink as that became viral in pop culture. So it's just really exciting to see the brand popping up in culture through a variety of different ways. We also invest a lot in working with the trade and bartenders. So it tends to be one of their beloved products that they will often talk to consumers and customers about. You know, it makes me so happy because I...

little anecdote from me. I spent the years of 18 and 19 living in Italy. So I'm Canadian. So I was technically allowed to drink at that time in my home country. But I learned about the Negroni. I learned about the Negroni Spagliato and I

loved this drink. And when I came back to Canada and eventually America, where I now live, I have trained so many bartenders how to make this drink because I loved it so much and people didn't really know what it is. And now we see like Negroni bars, you know, we see people like really embracing these drinks. And I think it's so interesting to see that it's really becoming a part of pop culture. And I know that is also the case with the Aperol Spritz.

as well, isn't it? I know I've seen things like it was on White Lotus and maybe you can speak to a little bit of how this has really been becoming a part of our current cultural zeitgeist.

It's so happy for me to hear you talk about the brand as a part of the cultural zeitgeist, because that's what's in the marketing plan. Like that's what's on a bunch of PowerPoint slides. And it's what we try and our marketing team and our trade marketing team and our sales teams and ambassadors were really hard to make happen. So, so thank you for recognizing that. Yes, we have ruthless focus on this brand. So when we talk about Aperol, we are always talking about the Aperol spritz. So recognizing that this was something that in Europe and Italy was,

unbelievably popular. Obviously, Italy's number one drink. If you go to Europe at any time during warm weather, you will see Aperol Spritzes all over France and Germany and the UK. And here it hadn't caught on initially, but as the team decided to focus on

Making trade aware of how to make this drink, starting to communicate it to consumers, we realized it was taking off very, very quickly. The team did an incredible job a number of years ago at starting to put this brand into culture and into consumers' hands and really building awareness of this drink, which, as you know, has taken the industry by storm. And now you see a variety of different spritzes popping up at Aperol, the original Aperol.

A couple of things that we do. We really want to connect with consumers in a moment that we add value to their experience. If you think about that moment, that's right for an Aperol Spritz. It's when you're with your friends or your family and you want to just relax, enjoy the moment, really this joyful occasion together. And that's when we see consumers

Popping out the Aperol, the Prosecco, the soda, doing the 3-2-1 pour. So I'll do a little education session. I'm sure you are well aware of it. Ice, nice big wine glass, ice, three parts Prosecco, two parts Aperol, one part soda.

Garnish with an orange wedge. Make for your friends. And it's just consumers feel it adds joy to their moment with consumers. So we decided to show up at more moments where we thought consumers were looking for that. So you will find us at Coachella. We just recently had our second year there where we invested quite a bit to bring that to consumers. In that moment, we also launched our first ever Terrazza Aperol pop-up.

where we paired Aperol with, Italians are going to get upset with me if I butcher the pronunciation of this word, but Cinchetti. So the concept of aperitivo, which is enjoying an Aperol spritz,

or a Campari Spritz during golden hour, during happy hour with a small bite to eat. So we brought that experience to the middle of Indio, California, in the middle of the desert. They made these most beautiful, really authentic Chinchetti Aperitivo food offerings together with Aperol Spritz. And you could enter this beautiful grand archway and it felt like you were in Italian Square taking a moment out to relax and enjoy amidst the chaos.

And that is the essence of an aperitivo moment, that as you think about bidders and the moment that those brands are relevant for, it's that occasion, it's that moment. I think the fact that it's so iconic has really helped us as well. It's a very unique color with a very specific ritual and serve.

And we work really hard with production houses and entertainment houses to ensure if they want to feature it, that they know exactly how to do that. So that's what our team did with HBO. When we heard that they were going to be filming White Lotus 2 in Italy, we just reached out and said,

you're going to be filming in Italy. This is the drink that you might want to see in a few different places. And this is how to make it. And what a gem that was for us. We saw that people were doing their own Aperol Spritz parties at home. They called Aperol Spritz like the fifth main character. And,

And so what we do on the team is we want to fan those flames. When we see things coming in and we see so much authentic love for this brand from a lot of talent, a lot of celebrities, a lot of consumers, we try to bring that to as many people as we can. So we started to do and host some of our own watch parties, leveraging influencers and encouraging others to do the same thing.

So we've just been trying to put the brand in the center of culture, as you said, in the right moment for consumers' lifestyles and the moment that an occasion that makes sense for them. The other thing that's new for that brand is US Open. We sponsored that for the first time last year. And we do a variety of other music festivals, but we've just been trying to take it to bigger and bigger cultural moments that, you know, that daytime, early evening occasion. You really just want to relax and enjoy with friends.

Yeah, Aperol Spritz is perfect for that. So we try to be there. So it is a choice for you. I love how experiential you are making this because really when it comes to these drinks, one, you need to like taste it to really know what it is and how it can be served. I mean, average Americans probably seeing something like Aperol or Campari, these bitter liqueurs, not knowing exactly what do you do with this. And they're used for these very specific drinks.

And so allowing people to really experience it, not only just in having the drink, but in the environment that the drink was originated in makes so much sense. And I'm curious to know what you've learned from,

about the American consumer in doing this, because it's like such a special moment. And I'm wondering if people get it because not everyone's been to Europe, not everyone's been to Italy and had that aperitivo moment. And so do you have any learnings to share with us and kind of what it's been like to bring that to the American masses?

Absolutely. I mean, I would say you don't have to understand it or have experienced it in Italy to appreciate and love it for a moment that's right for American consumers by any means. We do see that people that have discovered it in Italy or have had very special moments there, they are advocates and ambassadors and they understand exactly what we're trying to do. But what we've learned with consumers that aren't familiar with that is

We're still bringing you a moment and an occasion and a drink that is sessionable and refreshing and really fun to make and has a really fun ritual that people enjoy. But it's also simple enough for them to make it and enjoy it with their friends. And as soon as they've experienced that drink, one, they have to try it. You're absolutely right, because it's not a...

It's not something that you know what it's going to taste like until you taste it. So we really do make sure we want people to try the drink, but then we want them to try it in exactly the moment we want them to experience it and enjoy it for the rest of their lives, which is just that, that moment where you're taking a moment out to relax.

My learnings are every person wants to feel that. We obviously have a target consumer group. We're obviously trying to make sure consumers discover it early in their legal drinking age adventures so that they can find the right moments for them. But

We have only ever had positive responses to savoring the drink in that occasion. Now, I will say, I mean, it is a bitter. Aperol is also a bitter. And some people might not love it. But what we're finding is the majority of people that try it, and especially that try it in the experiential footprints that we curate so that they have a really positive experience, really, really, really, really enjoy it. Mm-hmm.

So you mentioned that the way to make the drink is really key and that literally impacts the color of it, right? It impacts not only the color, but then also the taste. And if this is someone's first time trying it, you want it to be done right. And how have you approached that? Because there's, of course, the spaces that you control, such as some of these sponsorship areas.

Yeah. But what about just your average bar? How are you ensuring that bartenders are doing it right? It's a really big part of our marketing plan and activation plan. So we have these phenomenal brand ambassadors across the country. We have amazing salespeople and distributor teams. And the one key element to success is ensuring that the drink is made correctly. So we actually have a variety of tools and training programs that that are launched to ensure everybody who works in

internally is very clear on how to make the drink. And then everybody then is an ambassador when they go out to a bar or they go to a friend's house and somebody else is trying to make it in terms of how to make it. So a big part of Aperol Spritz success is ensuring we are always, always, you can't stop this. You have to constantly be talking to the bars and to the bartenders, but how to make a great Aperol Spritz. What happens is most people default to putting in the Aperol first.

And that's when you start to get, you get like a sunset looking apparel where it hasn't mixed together. And when you make it correctly, you notice that it intrinsically just mixes perfectly together.

So it's a big part of our efforts and human resources in terms of constantly talking to bars and restaurants. And I think what hit it over the head for me was when I first joined the company and was able to go over to Italy and I was speaking with their marketing director. She said that that remains a key part of what they do in Italy as well. You just you can never stop educating and talking to people about how to make the perfect Aperol Spritz. And just three to one is what you can remember. Three to one.

Three, two, one. I love that. That is actually really helpful for me because I have definitely messed it up in the past. So three, two, one. There you go. You heard it here. Perfect. So you had mentioned that exposing people to these beverages early in their legal drinking age, which I am completely one of those people and I will be hooked forever because it's, I mean, a Negroni is just the best. But how are you approaching this?

Gen Z. You know, this is clearly the group that everyone in the marketing space is really now turning towards. We need to understand the Gen Zs. They're different than the millennial group. And I'm curious to know, what are some of the different things that you've been seeing in the Gen Z population and how have you been really interacting?

working to connect with them and appeal to that demographic? Yeah. So the first thing I'll say is we think about the LDA plus Gen Z. So that's the older half of that consumer when we think about Gen Z at Campari America, of course. I mean, I think there's a lot of conversation about how conscious they are as consumers, how they value authenticity and experiences over status in many cases and material possessions. So

Our strategy of showing up in person so that they can experience our brand in person is one that we're very focused on for that recruitment consumer because that is someone who's just entering legal drinking age.

So we really focus on where are they and where can we add value and enhance the experiences that they are seeking? Because we know they're high, high experience seekers. And not to reuse the same example, but I think Coachella and music festivals are a great one. We know that they're out there. We know that they want to have fun and relax and

that Aperol Spritz occasion is perfect in that moment. So we choose and we invest heavily to show up in those right moments so that they can experience us in that optimal occasion in a way that works for them. So I think ensuring we tell some of the stories of our brands. We have a lot of

of legacy brands that are quite old. Aperol is over 100 years old, Campari the same. So I think we're always thinking about the right way to tell that story so that they're aware this isn't some new fad that's been created to capture your attention. No, no, this has been around for over a century. And we're sharing with you a way that many have enjoyed it over the last 100 years. And we think you could be one of those people who could continue to enjoy it over

you know, over your journey. So I think we're very thoughtful to just be really authentic to who we are showing up in those right moments, you know, not trying too hard as we do that and really trying to offer value and knowledge, you know, during that experience exchange, you know, with that Gen Z consumer. Yeah. I really appreciate that because I think

like the, not to say that the American drinking way isn't always elevated, but I think the European approach to beverages and especially alcoholic beverages is just this beautiful, like it,

It's it just feels so nice. I'd like like culturally elevated. Like I remember when I was younger and walking the streets of Milan and having like a nice aperitivo. It wasn't the way that people were drinking in Canada or the US when I was growing up, which was like just drink all like.

excessive amounts of like really, you know, not great alcohols. And that's something I really appreciate about what you're doing. And also just the brands that you're selling is they are inherently elevated and adult, um,

And I think that people can enjoy something without it being, you know, abusive or too much. Like at least when I was growing up was more common here in America. No, I understand what you're saying. I mean, it's it's the epitome of moderation. Right. I mean, a part of our moment of it's like social.

enjoy, take a breath, relax, have a conversation. It's not about anything other than drinking in moderation to enjoy that time with your friends. And it really leans into the trends of today, right? Consumers are looking for something more sessionable

There's something we talk about called tempo drinking, which is the antithesis of what you were just mentioning in terms of your experience. You know, it's just taking your time, enjoying the moment, allowing a drink to be an accompany to that moment and that experience. But it's not the center of that by any means. You know, so it is a really nice movement. And it's great to see more consumers in North America, the U.S. and Canada enjoying it that way.

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So storytelling is such a crucial aspect. And I know you even just mentioned, these are legacy brands that have stories to tell. And I'd love to understand how do you really approach developing and executing and sharing a storytelling strategy that really honors the rich history of the brands that are a part of Campari? I think that's really key for us is

All of our storytelling originates with deep, authentic roots, you know, in history that are real and true. And we build from there, right? We identify really, we really start to think about

What is that brand's essence, its identity, its reason for being, its purpose, and its origin story? And then we think about consumer lifestyles, consumer needs and wants. What is a consumer's relationship with our brand? And I love a Venn diagram. My team are always making fun of me. I love to overlay the two. I love to find that sweet spot in the middle like a good marketer.

Because I think that's where the value is. The value and the beauty and the magic in storytelling is when you're able to merge those two things together and find how can you do justice to a brand that adds value to a consumer.

And so that is how we build all of our storytelling. Let me see if I can give you an example. Yeah, please. So one example is Wild Turkey. We haven't talked too much about that brand yet. A beautiful, iconic bourbon house. Many people don't know it has the longest tenured father-son master distilling duo in Jimmy Russell, who is well over 80 years old and has been distilling Wild Turkey for 70 years now, which is unbelievably impressive.

His son, Eddie Russell, who also joined the family distilling legacy.

legacy. And then recently we have Bruce, who is Eddie's son, who recently just joined. So Wild Turkey is known for being unapologetically bold, right? Staying true to the roots and the recipe that Jimmy's been using for well over 70 years. And so what we do is we want to build on those foundations while still staying relevant and having things to share and tell consumers. So last year in 2023, we launched the first ever product called Wild Turkey Generations. And

And it was the introduction of Bruce, so Eddie's son, the third generation of master distillers into the Wild Turkey family. And recognizing we were doing things a little bit differently to create this variant, it had part of each of them and their points of view on whiskey. So Jimmy Russell, classic. He just loves Wild Turkey 101 bourbon. And he thinks that is the only way whiskey should be made. It's really quite beautiful to hear and see and be around. Right.

So for him, he put in a nine year old whiskey that really is similar to that, very similar to that Wild Turkey 101 bourbon palette. And then Eddie, Eddie enjoys, you know, he enjoys a little bit more flavor from a vanilla honey perspective that you usually get from older whiskeys. So he put in some 14 year old and some 15 year old whiskeys.

And then Bruce now coming in is a little bit more like his grandfather. He's actually a combination of his grandfather and his father. He likes them bold, but he also likes to be really innovative and find a classic twist. So he put in some 12-year-old whiskeys to create this really unique product that was really celebrated across the industry. So I will tell you the launch event to celebrate the launch of this once-in-a-lifetime unique product that sold out in a matter of minutes when it was made available.

It actually, it involves master distilling friends from within the industry. So we had the master distiller from Jim Beam, Jack Daniels, like the Kentucky Distilling Association, all there to celebrate Jimmy, Eddie and Bruce.

And this really beautiful creation that is sort of the ultimate expression of what Wild Turkey is all about and how we talk about it with consumers. So I just went through a lot of detail from a whiskey perspective, but that's exactly how we tell the story to consumers, that it allows all three of them to put themselves into it in a way that creates exceptional quality, which is what Wild Turkey is all about, with a twist on modern relevancy through, you know, through Eddie and Bruce and what they add to the mix.

And the many generations, which is so beautiful. The one other thing I'll just add is the Kentucky Distilling Association at this launch for this event renamed its headquarters the Russell House in honor of Jimmy Russell and all he has done for the Kentucky Distilling Association.

So when we talk about storytelling, this is in whiskeys where consumers are looking for knowledge. They're looking for things to understand and appreciate about the different products within the category. And we just, the stories on Wild Turkey that come from authentically who is a part of the brand, who makes the brand, the products that we create,

They're so beautiful. And we just really focus on ensuring we tell them as succinctly and clearly as possible in the right places so that it's captured and heard by people that want to learn these things. I mean, it really gives us something. Hearing these stories, I've never heard this story before, but immediately I'm like, oh, I have more knowledge.

connection to wild Turkey. Now I can understand where it comes from. What are, what are its origins? The love and care that is going into this product is just so much more visceral for me. And it's, I think it's just something so important that every marketer, every customer experience leader should be thinking about is how do we really explain to the consumer in an inspiring way that this is what it is that you are creating.

consuming and taking part in by purchasing it. No, that's really well said. I mean, great marketing for me is emotional and it hooks you in with something really true about society or people or what's going on in the world. And I think that's what the wild turkey story does.

On the flip side of that, you know, we are always thinking about how do we track this? How do we measure what is the data saying? How can we make decisions that are data driven? And when we talk about the emotional connection, it is very difficult for us to put a number on it, right? How many people had an emotional connection to this brand? It's not really something we can do. So I'm curious to know, how do you go about tracking the...

opinion of your brands so that you can make decisions in your marketing? Yes. So we have something we called our brand health tracker and it does just that. So in addition to obviously looking at sales data, sales growth, all of our digital engagement metrics, which are a dream because it's so you can really understand attribution at a level that's much harder on things that are less digitally or data driven.

But when it comes to the health of our brands, we do do custom surveys and we've been doing them for years, a couple of times a year that help us understand what they think of our brands. So awareness, are they trying them? Are they consuming them regularly? And then do they see it as high quality products?

Is it a brand for them? Affinity for me is a really big indicator of emotional connection. If they think it's a brand for them, then it means we've done something that has connected with them that they see the brand as relevant in their lives. And then we get to a variety of like more detailed image metrics that are that change between the different brands based on what they're about and, you know, how we're trying to connect with consumers.

So we can see, you know, through that research that we get biannually, that we then track over the different waves, how we're doing from that perspective. But we use that. We use a lot of like real time data. We use social listening quite a bit. I think some of the things I was talking to you about that we tried to fan the flame on with both Aperol and Campari came from social listening.

So it's a variety of sources we try to triangulate. There's another one I really love and it's much more qualitative, which is when I meet someone for the first time and they hear what I do for a living and they sporadically just tell me about an experience they've had with one of our brands. And for me, that says, OK, so we're doing something right.

And that's also so inspiring to hear those real life stories. And I'm sure it gives you and your team insights into like, oh, here's another way that we could maybe present this brand. Do you do a lot of like customer interviews to get more qualitative data or is it more just going out into the world and-

talking to folks? No, we do a lot of, of different custom research based on what we're trying to figure out, especially as you think about, uh, changes in the industry and the different categories. So we've done, we do quite a bit of that. Um,

You know, we've done some great work around the agave journey with our Mexican Spirits portfolio, the whiskey journey, because Walt Turkey is just one of the brands we have there, our rum journey. So we do quite a bit. We do quite a bit of that. Amazing. So when you think about brands that have been built on legacy and history, Grand Marnier, another product that comes from 1880 in France, how do you make that relevant to a consumer today? I think this is...

This one, this is actually a really fun one. So Grand Marnier is built on this legacy of one plus one equals three. So what do I mean by that? It's just this unexpected encounter of cognac because the majority of Grand Marnier is cognac with orange liqueur. And back in 1880, nobody was doing anything like that.

that. And you put those two things together, you get an exceptional unique experience, which is, you know, Grand Marnier Cordon Rouge. And then since then there's been innovation around, you know, the amount of cognac and orange liqueur that gets you Grand Marnier Louis Alexander and some really, really beautiful high-end marks. But we think about that as a collaboration, right? You think about it like, okay, cognac's collaborated with orange liqueur to create something better than, you know, just the sum of its parts.

So when we think about in modern culture, who are some of the most brilliant collaborators of our time? And we see a lot of that happening in music. So we actually partnered up with Grammy award-winning artist and renowned collaborator 2 Chainz in this past year for him to tell the story of this collaboration between cognac and orange liqueur. An authentic brand fan. I'm always a big fan of that. He was someone who authentically was already drinking a Grand Marnier and was ecstatic at the thought of partnering with us.

and sharing with the world how he makes his margaritas grand. So the key, most popular drink with Grand Marnier is called the Grand Margarita.

And you make your classic margarita, but you elevate it by adding Grand Marnier to it. So it's a really simple, straightforward message that we partnered with him to tell. But we're trying to tell this, you know, the story of such a legacy and uniqueness in really different, unique, modern ways to connect with today's consumer. I love that example. And just thinking about, you know, how many authentic brands,

Especially in the case of what you're doing at Campari, there's so many celebrities, well-known people, influencers, I'm sure, who love your products and who can authentically speak to your products. And I think that really ties together what we were saying about the...

consumers' desire for authenticity. I think this applies, of course, to the Gen Z demographic as we align on what is different about this segment versus the millennial segment or the older segments. But more than anything, I think people want authenticity today just as a general need. We are living in a world where social media has

made us quite a bit less authentic. And when we can see that someone is an actual user of this product and who is speaking to it based on their own experience, it goes so far. And I think that that's something that

everyone listening to this podcast can take away to think about how do we build authenticity into our customer communications, whether it is B2C or even B2B. I really think that authenticity is something that's so incredibly valuable. And so I love to hear that that's something that you've been baking into your marketing and work across different channels. Yeah, absolutely. And to your point, it's B2B and B2C.

We do a lot of engagement with the trade. I talked about bartenders a lot, store owners, distributors who work across a variety of different products. When they see that it's true and it's a clear, simple story, it's that much more likely that they're going to share that then with, you know, their network and influencers. Do you have any...

exciting campaigns or exciting initiatives that are coming up that you could share with us? Give us a little preview of what's going on with Campari or is it all secret and it's okay if it is? Well, I'm going to speak to when that is coming up. It isn't brand new. So we have the, we're talking here, it's August. The U.S. Open is happening at the end of this month. So I'm excited for Aperol to show up again there at the U.S. Open. There might be some, we might be doing something a little bit differently. You might see us, you

you know, launch something. I can't really speak to what that would be at this time, but I would just say as if you are a tennis fan, if, you know, the U S open is something you watch or follow or, or like to be a part of either at home or on site, highly encourage you to enjoy, you know, your games with, with an April spritz and, and maybe something else that you might hear about in upcoming weeks that I unfortunately can't get into just yet. Yeah.

What a tease. What a tease. Well, we'll, we'll be on the lookout for sure. And you know, you just sparked another thought in my mind, which is something we speak about a lot on this podcast, which is personalization. And I'm curious to know if that's an element of how you market and, and how you do so, because, you know, consumers today are like, if, for example, if I'm a tennis fan, I want you to speak to me as a tennis fan, maybe compared to a golf fan. Um,

Is that something that you take into consideration in your communications? And can you tell us a little bit about how you approach that? So absolutely. The last couple of years, we started to build a first party database of consumers who are choosing and want to actively engage with us. And as we've done that, we've started to segment communications to them based on how they came to us.

So if they came to us through the US Open, an example you were just giving, we will be having a bespoke communication that will be going to those consumers knowing they are highly engaged. We will likely also test it with others that didn't come into us that way. But do you love Aperol as an example?

But in terms of, you know, your comment around data and leveraging data, that is all learning for us, right? Well, we will likely probably send it out to everybody. We'll understand, you know, what were the hotspots of that email communication that people really liked and what did they choose to engage with and who were they to help us continue to learn and grow about how we will then communicate out with that.

with that group again. We see a lot of that in the whiskey launches that we have. We do a lot of limited time offers. So Generations was an example of a LTO or a limited time offer. Each year we launch on Wild Turkey something called Master's Keep.

which is a unique, again, limited time offer each year, different product based on what Jimmy Yeti and now Bruce, you know, want to put out into the world as the ultimate expression of wild turkey for that year. And we recently just launched Masters Keep Triumph. And when we engaged our database, I just, I can't tell you, like, it's so exciting to see such highly engaged consumers that have chosen to opt up with us, opt in with us. And the majority of the sales online when we launched it came from them.

The product sold out in 10 minutes. It was gone 10 minutes after it'd been online. You're doing something right. But there's a lot of power in understanding who your consumers are and how we harness that information that we're privileged as brands that they've entrusted with us. How do we make sure we're giving them something of value back? Because in today's day and age, privacy is

is a really important topic. And I think consumers have an expectation when they share their information with you. And so we do our best to live up to that expectation and how we engage them. There's a delicate dance in the testing, I would assume, in making sure that you are showing that you're using their data responsibly while also...

building your own learning about what are people responding to and what types of things do they like. And so it's a delicate dance there for sure. Any tips for our listeners on how to approach that? Just try to gather data in as many places as you can, as rudimentary as it may seem. We put QR codes up at every event in different places. We've experimented with a lot of different ways of gathering consumer data. So my advice is

is just start. It can seem overwhelming and daunting initially, but just start because you start learning immediately in terms of what you're offering them with your product or your experience that is worthy of you collecting that data. And then once you get that data, I think there's a responsibility to ensure you don't, you leverage it in a responsible way. So be really, make sure you acknowledge, I would say the welcome email is really important. Make sure you acknowledge that you've received it. You don't want people to think they've given it to you and it's gone into

this black abyss of nothingness and then they get some random offer from you. Acknowledge that they've given you the data and be really thoughtful about planning that journey, which is what we do across the different brands that we are proactively gathering first part of data on. We really are thoughtful about the journey for that consumer. And as we learn how they engage with the communications,

identifying what other journeys we might need to create that we're learning about as they're engaging with us. So just start and learn and commit to learning. Great. I love it. Alrighty. Well, I have two last questions for you. We ask all of our guests these questions. Okay. The first is what is one piece of advice that every customer experience leader should hear?

Never stop finding the balance between art and science in designing your experience and understanding its impact.

We talked about that today. So I think it's just about both of those things are really important and finding the right marriage of those two things and what you're doing and how you're doing it and how you learn from it, I think is what every customer experience leader should be thinking about. That's really where that storytelling comes in, right? And it's being able to like share that experience with people fully.

Fully. Well, also, like you said, the science part, looking at the numbers, looking at the data, gathering data, getting information so that you can really tailor what it is, that artistic piece to the right place while still honoring the artistic nature of it. I love that.

So then my last question for you is I'd love to hear about a recent experience that you had with a brand. What was it and why did it stand out to you? It was a piece of communications. So that was the experience as opposed to a more traditional experiential. But we are here in the midst of the Olympics and it was an Olympics communication and it was from Powerade.

And, you know, we talked about hitting poor truce. And I think it was them talking about having mental fortitude during the Olympics. And it was Simone Biles, who I think many are familiar with her story about how she actively stepped back, wanted to take care of herself before she was able to sort of come back and compete.

And I think that prime communication, it just hit me in a really powerful way. I love that it was honest and truthful about the reality of being a top performing athlete and the heavy mental demand in addition to the heavy physical demand that is typically a lot more obvious for us to see and just how important they both are and taking a moment to honor both of those and

It came from Powerade. And normally I don't notice communications from Powerade. I'll be really honest. Yeah. But this one stood out. This one stood out because it was it tapped into a truth that permeated, I think, a large consumer group, which I think those things are always really powerful. And the Olympics is obviously so relevant right now because we are all watching. So great work, Powerade.

Well, Andrea, thank you so much for coming on the show. I really appreciated you sharing all of these insights and stories about how you were bringing the Campari portfolio to the U.S. and telling the stories of these incredible brands. So thank you so much. We really appreciate you coming on the show.

Really appreciate you having me. And I really want to say it's a huge team of people working across these brands that make these stories come to life and make these experiences come to life. So I just want to thank them for all the amazing hard work that they do every day to allow me to be able to share the stories of what they're working on. Awesome. Thank you so much. I hope you have a wonderful day. Thank you, Lauren. You as well. You are a business leader with vision.

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