Held every September, Negroni Week is a global celebration of the Negroni, one of the world’s most iconic and beloved cocktails. Over the years, it has evolved into a cultural highlight, bringing cocktail enthusiasts together across countries and communities around the world.
In Vietnam, Negroni Week has been celebrated for years, becoming a familiar fixture within the bartending community. In 2026, however, the event entered a new chapter, expanding in scale and diversity like never before. While it continued to resonate with cocktail aficionados, reaching a broader consumer audience, particularly younger generations, remained a key challenge.
This was the challenge Campari brought to Inspire: “Bring it closer to the end user.” To make this happen, Inspire set out to create an experience compelling enough to spark curiosity, inspire attendance and encourage people to share their moments with others. At the same time, the campaign reinforced Campari’s essential role as the soul behind the iconic cocktail’s unmistakable character, bringing its central message to life: No Negroni Without Campari.
Decoding Nightlife: The Key to Building Organic Appeal
To broaden Negroni Week’s appeal, Inspire began by looking at how young urban consumers spend their evenings. For Millennials and Gen Z, a night out at a bar is more than just entertainment. It is an opportunity to connect with friends, discover new experiences and express their individuality and personal taste.
Negroni Week already had all the ingredients to become just such an experience. In 2026, the event reached new heights, expanding its presence across markets nationwide. Guest Shift nights extended well beyond a single week, taking place throughout September and October. In Ho Chi Minh City, cocktail enthusiasts were also invited to embark on the interactive Negroni Passport journey. By visiting participating bars and collecting all 10 stamps, guests could earn exclusive access to Negroni Red Room, a night where leading bartenders and DJs came together under one roof. This series of activations offered consumers multiple ways to discover the Negroni firsthand and immerse themselves in Campari’s world of cocktail artistry.
This presented an opportunity for Inspire to position Negroni Week as a natural part of the nightlife experiences young consumers seek out and share, rather than simply another cocktail-focused event. This insight became the foundation of Inspire’s communications strategy, designed to bring the full spectrum of Negroni Week experiences to life.
Building Reach and Brand Distinction Through a Dual-Channel Strategy
Inspire adopted a dual-channel strategy, with KOLs and PR playing distinct yet complementary roles. Together, the two channels brought Negroni Week closer to consumers while preserving Campari’s premium brand positioning.
KOLs – Sparking Trends and Expanding Reach
The selected KOLs were young voices with a modern lifestyle, a distinct aesthetic sensibility and the ability to influence their surrounding lifestyle communities. Rather than simply communicating information about Negroni Week, they were invited to become part of the experience itself, immersing themselves in the venues and atmosphere while discovering the creative cocktail expressions crafted by participating bartenders.
In the lead-up to Negroni Week, KOLs sparked curiosity with initial invitations and sneak peeks on Instagram Stories, then continued documenting their experiences throughout the celebration. With the Negroni Passport, each Negroni became a new milestone in their journey of discovery. By sampling different interpretations of the cocktail across participating bars, capturing their personal impressions and sharing them with their communities, KOLs gave their audiences new reasons to seek out the experience for themselves. The journey culminated at Negroni Red Room, where they immersed themselves in the venue, cocktails and energy of the night before bringing its standout moments to their followers.
Through these authentic experiences, the Negroni moved beyond its identity as a cocktail to become part of a more accessible and compelling nightlife culture. KOL content did more than generate reach; it sparked curiosity and inspired audiences to experience Negroni Week for themselves.
PR – Bringing Brand Heritage and Values to Life
While KOLs generated widespread attention, PR added depth to the narrative, reinforcing brand heritage and conveying the essence of Negroni Week. Rather than simply reporting on the event, Inspire selected platforms that could tell a broader story of Campari, the Negroni, the art of mixology and the distinctive experiences created throughout the celebration. This approach positioned Negroni Week as more than a nightlife event, anchoring it within the wider culture of cocktails and the premium ethos that defines Campari.
For editorial coverage, Inspire partnered with two leading lifestyle publications: Vietcetera and Tatler Vietnam. With its strong connection to urban youth, Vietcetera speaks to audiences eager to explore lifestyle, gastronomy and emerging cultural trends. Tatler Vietnam, meanwhile, brings a more elevated perspective, reaching discerning readers with an appreciation for fine dining, refined drinking culture and sophisticated nightlife.
Together, these two platforms gave the campaign a more complete and multifaceted narrative. Vietcetera brought Negroni Week into the rhythm of contemporary urban life, while Tatler Vietnam reinforced the depth, distinction and premium value of the experience.
Campaign Results
The campaign featured four KOLs and two PR articles, generating approximately 8–12 pieces of content throughout the communications journey. In terms of performance, the campaign achieved 45K views, reaching 125% of its 36K target, alongside 5.3K engagements, equivalent to 133% of the 4K target.
Beyond the numbers, however, lies a more meaningful shift. Negroni Week is no longer seen solely as a cocktail-centric celebration. By combining KOL-led experiences with the deeper narratives conveyed through PR, the campaign brought the Negroni to a broader audience of consumers seeking fresh, distinctive and share-worthy nightlife experiences.
