Martini goes back to its Italian roots with new ad campaign
Mamma Mia! Martini Vermouth is being taken back to its Italian roots as part of a major repositioning of the brand.
Owner Bacardi-Martini is returning the brand to TV screens for the first time in two years in an attempt to re-awaken consumer interest in a brand and a vermouth market that has suffered at the hands of wine and premium packaged spirits (PPS) in recent years.
It is hoped that the new £1.5m advertising campaign, entitled Kick, will coax 25-year-old-plus females back to a brand that has so far failed to recreate its 1970s heyday when it boasted a substantial following.
The campaign follows an extensive consumer sampling campaign that ran throughout the summer incorporating more than 600,000 drinkers.
"We want to re-vitalise Martini rather than completely re-invent it," said marketing manager Caroline Herbert.
"The on-trade vermouth market is absolutely static but there are signs that things are turning around. Our aim is to hang onto the people who are already drinking Martini and bring back the people who have drunk it in the past by trying to contemporise the good things about the brand and move away from an image that is quite often perceived as unfashionable."
The brand is looking to shed its age-old association with lemonade by means of a deliberate scheme to pair the three variants, Rosso, Bianco and Extra Dry, with cranberry juice, orange juice and tonic respectively.
The Martini Rosso and cranberry combination is featured heavily in the new advertising campaign.
In addition, Martini (15 per cent ABV) has abandoned its sweeping "anytime, anywhere, anyplace" in favour of a pushing the brand as a drink to kick-start an evening.
Ms Herbert said: "It's an extremely versatile drink and the three styles can be combined with a number of mixers. We're going head to head with wine and wine spritzers and for those looking to control alcohol consumption, it will also be positioned as a good low alcohol alternative to the frequent default choice of a soft drink."
The new advert, due to break on November 1 in all regions apart from London, is set in Rome and plays strongly on the brand's Italian heritage.
"With Italy so fashionable at the moment, we decided to highlight the fact that Martini comes from Italy and re-establish it as a very important part of the brand," added Ms Herbert.
Martini Spirito, a PPS offshoot of the Martini brand, is currently being trialled in the off-trade but Bacardi-Martini has no plans to introduce it into pubs and bars.
