Negroni Sbagliato: 5,640% search rise boosts Campari

The Negroni Sbagliato was the top-trending cocktail in Google searches in the US last year, boosting Campari sales, according to the marketing head of Campari America.

In 2022, an interview between HBO series House of Dragons actors Emma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke, who play Princess Rhaenyra Targaryan and Alicent Hightower respectively, went viral on Tik Tok as the pair discussed their favourite orders in a bar.

D’Arcy revealed they choose “a Negroni Sbagliato with Prosecco in it”, as co-star Cooke agreed.

The clip went viral on Tik Tok, causing a spike in searches for the Negroni Sbagliato.

“Last year in the US, the Negroni Sbagliato was the top trending cocktail in Google search (+5,640% growth in queries versus 2021), which was fuelled by the viral Tik Tok post featured House of Dragons’ Emma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke,” said Andrea Sengara, head of marketing at Campari America.

“The boost in interest had a halo effect on the classic Negroni, as the cocktail was not too far behind as the number-four trending drink (+90% versus 2021).”

‘Significant growth’

Campari America saw a direct correlation between the viral Tik Tok video and a spike in Campari searches and sales.

Senagara added: “I want to personally thank Olivia for sharing their love for that cocktail. It’s very clear when you look at the data that [the video] caused significant growth of Campari, no doubt about that. You can 100% see both searches and sales spike off the charts.

“What’s fascinating, is those at the company were already familiar with the Negroni Sbagliato, but we’d always been hesitant to put a lot of emphasis behind it.

“It’s a challenging word to say, and then to have to explain how it differs from a typical Negroni.

“But I thank Emma and Olivia for sharing their love for the cocktail; it has raised mass awareness, and I have to credit our marketing team, the customer trade team, we jumped on that very quickly to put more content out in the market.

“A cocktail kit was put in the market within two weeks, we had team members actively going to secure drink menus off the back of the trend. It’s a trend that is doing a lot for the education of the apéritif, Campari, cocktail culture in many different ways.”

The Negroni Sbagliato trend also hit the UK, with searches up by 501% in the week following the viral Tik Tok’s launch.

Sengara also told The Spirits Business that consumers in the US are more driven by occasions than categories when it comes to their choice of alcoholic beverages.