Imbibe and Campari’s international fundraising venture goes from strength to strength in 2016 following global success of the initiative
Campari, Italy’s iconic red bittersweet apéritif, has joined forces for a third year with Imbibe Magazine to present Negroni Week, a week-long charity initiative focusing on the popular bittersweet Negroni to raise money for local causes chosen by on and off-trade supporters. This year’s event looks to build on last year’s international reach in which over 3,500 bars and restaurants within 44 countries participated.
Negroni Week 2016 will run from 6th to 12th June. Bars, restaurants and retailers will be encouraged to donate a minimum of AUD $1 of sales from all Negroni cocktails or Negroni-related products to a charity of their choice; tapping into the rising demand for the classic Negroni – an iconic mix of Campari, gin, and sweet red vermouth created in Florence around 1919 by Count Camillo Negroni.
First launched globally in 2013 with around 100 participating bars, 2015 saw Negroni Week grow to over 3,500 venues signing up from countries as far-reaching as the USA, Italy, Brazil, Australia, India and China. Since 2014, the initiative has experienced significant growth as venue participation has increased three fold and consequently, the donations raised for charities worldwide have nearly tripled. In 2015, Australia was in the top three countries that supported in Negroni Week, with 220 participating venues nationwide that raised a combined total of $16,272, the second highest amount globally. Much of last year’s success can also be attributed to a significant increase in social media activity by bartenders and consumers across the world. On Twitter alone over 159,000,000 impressions were achieved. Following last year’s success, the official website, Negroniweek.com, has been redesigned and includes a new multi-lingual functionality and updated news, events, charity and recipe sections.
Supporting the on and off-trade channels to get involved, as well as to target consumers, Campari will once again invest in a 360° marketing campaign entitled “There’s no cheers without a cause”, which will include PR, POS, display and social media to ensure maximum reach. To kick off the week, Campari and Imbibe will look to hold a series of local launch events, encouraging bars to serve both the original recipe and Negronis with a twist, in support of the bars’ choice of local charity initiatives.
Bob Kunze-Concewitz, CEO of Gruppo Campari said: “We are delighted to be partnering with Imbibe again to continue supporting Negroni Week for another year. We strongly believe that the ever-increasing demand for bitter cocktails, and the overall higher appreciation for classic cocktails, such as the Negroni, will continue to attract and delight new consumers, driving this year’s expansion, as well as supporting Negroni Week’s goal to raise money for worthy, charitable causes close to the hearts of the bartender community. With the conversation taking over social media last year, we’re looking forward to seeing even more bars, restaurants and retailers sign up, as well as asking consumers to cheers for a cause by ordering a Negroni!”
Karen Foley, Publisher of Imbibe, adds: “We are thrilled to be teaming up once again with Campari for 2016’s Negroni Week. We are tremendously proud of what we’ve all accomplished collectively through Negroni Week. To see bars across the globe raising money for meaningful causes is incredibly inspiring, and we are excited to expand our reach even further in 2016. It’s amazing to see the hospitality community join together for this international effort and we are honoured to play a part in it.”
Bars and restaurants looking to take part can find further information and sign up by visiting www.negroniweek.com from 1st April 2016 until end of May 2016 as well as following #NegroniWeek on social media. Participating bars will also be able to download supporting materials to help them create their very own activities for Negroni Week.