Brand Spotlight: Campari

Region: Milan, Italy

Highbrow. Bareback dresses and sharp suits, elbows leaned on bar tables and countertops. Sophistication in an evening cocktail, be it in a tall spritz or in a rocks glass. Characteristically Italian. Perhaps there’s no other liqueur in the world that owns as much artistic pzazz as Campari itself.

 I'm not making this up - check out Campari's short movie staring Ana de Armas sporting a red bareback dress cradling a negroni in a fancy evening party.

It's no surprise that we've came to associate the bright red liqueur to the fancy and artistic - in fact, for much of Campari's history, it's been somewhat engineered that way! Let's dive into Campari's illustrious history, one that goes beyond the bar.

1820s - 1860s: A Humble Drink In a Cafe

Campari has very humble roots, one that came from a man named Gaspare Campari. Born in Cassolnova, Italy as the tenth child, Gaspare moved to Milan to work after working for some time at a cafe in his hometown. At Milan, he continued making drinks at cafes as well as being a dishwasher for restaurants. Gaspare became increasingly interested in drinks and especially liqueurs, where he'll go to formulate his own liqueur.

Moving to Novara, a town about 50 kilometres west of Milan, Gaspare opened his own cafe and had a family of five children.

The Campari family, 1860s. Source: Campari

Sometime in 1860, Gaspare moved back to Milan, this time having the opportunity to purchase and run the Amicizia cafe, a cafe that faced the Duomo. It was around this time too that Gaspare has concocted the herbal bitter liqueur, which he began serving to customers.

Perhaps here's a good time to talk about the social phenomenon that is the cafe culture (or more aptly and correctly called, bar culture) that was taking place in Italy during the time. Coffee was introduced in Italy sometime in the 1700s via Ethiopia and the Ottoman Empire. While the drink was initially consumed by aristocracy, socialising in bars (not so much the fancy cocktail slinging establishments today, but places that served coffee, tea, pastries and alcoholic drinks) over coffee was becoming a ritual that even the ordinary folk was partaking in.

Source: caffeaiello.it

As the culture of having a morning coffee, grappa with pastry was becoming more widespread to the middle class, such bars became hotspots for politicians, artists, engineers and people from all forms of professions to share their intellectual musings.

An opportunity came once again for the enterprising cafe owner, when in 1867 an offer came to build a bar inside the Galleria Vittorio Emmanuel, a luxurious, gilded indoor shopping mall right next to the Duomo. Gaspare promptly sold the Amiciza and built up the bar, which was at the left entrance of the mall, where the bitter liqueur started to become a hit amongst the socialites of Milan.

An old photograph of the Galleria Vittorio Emmanuel

And in that year, his son, Davide Campari, was the first citizen to be born in the Galleria.

1880s - 1920s: Industry and Artistry, Rolled in One

In 1882, Davide and his brother Guido carried on their father's legacy by helming the brand. By now, Campari was starting to outgrow the Caffè Campari and needed its own dedicated factory, the first being right in Milan.

Source: Artsupp

Davide took many clever business decisions that catapulted the Campari's red banner out of Milan and into the world. Firstly, he built the brand around the red bitter liqueur, cutting out all but two of his father's creations. Davide also allowed other cafes and bars to sell and pour the coveted red liqueur as long as they had a bright red sign displayed somewhere within their premises.

Remember how we mentioned "all but two?" Campari's other long lost brother, the Campari Cordial that was at its core a raspberry distillate, ceased production early 1990s.

In 1904, Davide bought a factory building in Sesto S. Giovanni, nearby a posh estate he bought a few years prior. The move proved to be high strategic - as Sesto S. Giovanni was still developing, a railway station connected the area to many transport hubs, bringing the liqueur out further. The 25,000 metre square factory was able to keep up with demands within and outside of Italy, being highly mechanised for its time.

While production increased, Davide opened up another bar in 1915, the Bar Camparino Decorated with classic Art Nouveau furniture, design and style, the bar was also situated right opposite of Campari's spiritual home in Milan, the original Caffe Campari. You'll be surprised to know - this bar is still running and operational more than a century later! 

Art Nouveau is an art style characterised by elaborate furnishing that take inspiration from the decorative, asymmetrical features of nature.

1920s - 1970s: Cocktails, Art and Futurism

Perhaps here is where Davide's genius truly shines. Milan, during this time period, was already a hub for transport, commerce, art and luxury. The philosophy of Campari here is peculiar - there is no one "style" to Campari. The art (or brand) style of Campari evolves and shifts with what's popular and reflective of the creative minds of the time, as evident from the many illustrative posters.

An early Futurist poster by Fortunato Depero.

The first few big artists that Campari commissioned posters from were Leonetto Cappiello, Adolf Hohenstein (notice how some of these artists weren't Italian either!) and Marcello Nizzoli.

Perhaps the most iconic of these early Campari poster, the Spiritello, by Leonetto Cappiello (1921).

Another phenomenon was brewing within Campari's scene too. For those who aren't so much a purveyor of fine arts, most of the folk enjoying the red liqueur could attest to the tasty cocktails being made in bars and cafes all over. Two cocktails inscribed Campari into mixology legend - the Negroni (that everyone associates Campari with), and perhaps more instrumental but since forgotten to Campari's early growth, the Americano.

Negroni. Source: Bon Appetit

There is much debate on the origins of the Negroni: pop culture says that it was invented when a certain Count Camillo Negroni wanted a stiffer drink, replacing the soda water with gin. Others mention that it was made by a French military officer Pascal-Olivier de Negroni de Cardi who did the switcheroo.

Milano-Tornio. Souce: Punch. These cocktails look awfully similar, don't they?

Either way, the Negroni were spin offs of the OG cocktail: the Milano-Torino. Said to have came from the original 1867 Caffe Campari, the cocktail was a mix of vermouth (from Turin or Torino, the said birthplace of vermouth), soda water and Campari. Legend has it that the name was changed to Americano when the cocktail was a hit amongst American tourists that weren't used to the bitter flavours of Campari but could accept it being diluted down in a long drink. 

Americano. Source: Liquor

As the 1930s rolled by, Campari pioneered what is probably the world's real first ready-to-drink. For it's time, the Campari soda was way ahead of its time - the Campari & soda was already a hit amongst the clientele in the Bar Camparino, so much so that the bar even had it's own cellar to pump cold and freshly carbonated soda water. What about bringing the convenience to the customer, where they could have a Campari soda anytime, anywhere?

Source: Artsupp

Just as you think the concept alone was a novelty (in a time where cocktails were very much a social affair held within the confines of a bar), even the design of the bottle was ahead of it's time. The shape of the bottle was distinctively futurist, made by Italian art decor and futurist designer Fortunato Depero. The conical glass bottle (let's face it, the curious bottle looks ahead of it's time even now) was first designed in a wooden mould, with "Campari Soda" embossed into it.

Schematic Diagrams by Fortunato Depero. Apparently, all the artist really did was invert the bitters glass to turn it into a bottle. Source: petrolicious.com

The textured bottle not only made it easier to hold on to, it also resembled the peel of an orange, a key ingredient in the liqueur. Lastly, the bottle was devoid of any labels of any sort (apart from the bottle cap) - showcasing the vibrant red liquid within. The first bottles of Campari Soda rolled out in 1932 - and are still in production today.

According to Campari, the only real change from the 1900s recipe to the modern day liqueur is the decision to stop using cochineal beetles for the red colouration of the liqueur.

One of the many posters made by Fortunato Depero, ~1930s.

Campari Soda è sempre giovane! by Franz Marangolo (1960s).

Campari Soda corre col tempo! (Campari Soda runs with time!) by Franz Marangolo (1960s). In the Galleria Campari museum, the team made a running animation of this bottle from what I recalled.

1940s - 1990s: Red Passion and Multimedia Advertising

Davide Campari passed on in 1936, where ownership of the bar has been handed over to the Miani family. During World War II, the bar has been heavily damaged by Allied bombing, alongside much of Campari's production capabilities.

Nevertheless, Campari persevered, springing back to life when the war was over.

Aperitivo Campari by Carlo Fisanotti (1948).

As the abstract, imaginative futurist and art-decor-esque art were fading out of style, Campari looked into more contemporary means of advertising. The post-war economic growth has led to the popularisation of television within Italy, especially so in the later half of the 1950s.

A popular type of TV programming was the "caroselli (or carosello)" - two-minute short films and cartoons that covered all sorts of topics; sometimes even subtle advertising. Being on the ball, Campari started to release versions of their own caroselli from around 1957 to 1977.

In the Galleria Campari, a projector screen broadcasted multiple carouselli, in black & white and colour, at once.

That isn't to say that Campari has forsaken print media - in fact, in a stroke of great advertising, one of Campari's most iconic modern pieces would be displayed within Milan's first subway line. Titled "Declinazione grafica del nome Campari (Graphic Declination of the Name Campari)" by Bruno Munari, the piece was displayed during the opening of Milan's first subway line M1. Coincidentally, the line was given the colour red in the subway maps.

Declinazione grafica del nome Campari, 1964. The idea is that the word Campari can be seen from moving trains within the subway. A copy can be seen in the Campari Galleria, the original at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Campari has took on many campaigns in many other media forms, but perhaps none was quite as notable as the advertisement shot by renowned movie director Federico Fellini in 1984.

Federico Fellini was famous for his fantasy and baroque style of imagery, as can be seen in this Campari ad.

1990s - : From Iconic Liqueur to Spirit Conglomerate

While Campari continues its creative projects in the realm of advertising, marketing and sales, there were ripples in the spirit industry. The spirits industry was consolidating, with big conglomerates, mergers and acquisitions taking place all across the globe. To keep up the pace, Campari too formed the Campari group in 1995.

Source: Hearstapps

The very first acquisition by Campari Group was Crodino, a non-alcoholic spritz made in Italy. Campari, by now a global brand present in over 80 countries, brought their non-alcoholic counterpart overseas, while retaining its original recipe. The next acquisition by Campari Group would be the Cinzano brand in 1999, which housed wines and liqueurs and a history that even predates the original Campari liqueur.

Source: Expatloop

Campari Group was then publicly listed on the Italian stock exchange in 2001 - and also heralded a new direction for the conglomerate. While Campari continued to acquire household aperitifs and liqueurs like Aperol, Frangelico and Grand Meunier, the group has tapped into every spirit category: acquiring SKYY Vodka, Glen Grant, Epsolon, and Bulldog Gin to name a few. The latest acquisition by the group was acquiring 100% of Courvoisier, one of the big four cognac houses. (as of 30th April, 2024).

For Campari's 150th anniversary, the Galleria Campari was opened in 2010, right at Sesto San Giovanni, Milan - the birthplace of Campari's first factory.

Escapade coming soon!

2010s - : Old Cocktails, New Scenes

Campari has stepped up its videography game as of late too. Apart from being a sponsor main film festivals such as the Venice International Film Festival and the New York Film Festival, Campari has also taken a shot at the red carpet itself - filming short movies.

Killer in Red (2017), directed by Italian filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino and starring Clive Owen.

Beyond the big screen, the craft cocktail industry experienced a boom as well. Old classics were seeing a revival - including those that made Campari famous to begin with. The Camparino also rose once again reopened its doors in 2019, fully renovated by 2021. In the same year, they were ranked No. 27 in World's 50 Best Bars.

In 2023, Campari organised Negroni Week from 18th to 24th September with the Imbibe Magazine, seeing the cocktail stirred by bars all across the globe. This year's Negroni week will be set at the same dates as well.

The Negroni Sbagliato, that replaces gin with a sparkling wine like prosecco. Source: Imbibe Magazine.

What's next in store for Campari? What we do know is that there's bound to be some passion and creativity involved in the next endeavour. With a huge sprinkling of red and artistic flair, of course.

Here's to the next negroni, classic or riff!

@vernoncelli