Gruppo Campari Q4 & FY 2016 results – Preview

Ahead of the release tomorrow of Gruppo Campari’s results for the fourth quarter and the 12 months of 2016, here’s a look at the events that shaped the three months to the end of December for the Milan-headquartered group.

• The quarter started with the 2016 roll-out of the company’s annual limited edition packaging concept for the Campari brand. Centring around the brand’s relationship with the Negroni cocktail, the packaging was available for about six weeks across Europe, Canada, Japan, China, the US, Australia and New Zealand.
• Also in October, the group confirmed its plan to close the annual calendar marketing activation, again for brand Campari. The calendar, which was launched in 1999, has been replaced by ‘Campari Red Diaries’, a project comprising 12 short films that will be released throughout the year. The first film, entitled Killer in Red, runs for seven minutes and features British actor Clive Owen.
• just-drinks sat down with the founder & CEO of Bulldog London Dry Gin in October, and heard first-hand about the brand’s distribution tie up with Campari. “It’s great,” Anshuman Vohra told us. “Today, we’re in about 95 countries, with Campari handling around 80 of them,” before adding: “They have an option to acquire us in 2020.” Fast forward to earlier this month …
• Speaking after the release of results for the year-to-date in November, CEO Bob Kunze-Concewitz confirmed the group’s intention to take sole control of its distribution in South Africa. “We’ve always viewed South Africa as the launch pad for Africa and our brands have done particularly well in the past few years there,” he said. “We believe strongly in the continent, as well as the potential of our global priority and certain regional priority brands in Africa.”
• In late-November, the company lined up a sizable investment in its J Wray & Nephew Jamaican rum subsidiary. Around US$10m will be spent on creating “one of the largest tourist attractions on the south coast” of Jamaica, Campari said.
• Then, towards the end of the month, Campari readied the divestment of its entire Italian still wines stable to Terra Moretti. The sale of the Azienda Vinicola Tenute Sella & Mosca and Teruzzi & Puthod assets will net around US$65m for the group.

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