Campari Group

Campari launches loyalty program to protect Aperol

Campari Group has launched a loyalty program in its domestic Italian market to ensure bars serve authentic Aperol Spritz and to counter look‑alike competitors. The initiative, titled "Aperol Spritz: L'originale", began in Padua and involves over 2,000 bars that commit to using Aperol in the canonical Spritz recipe; participating venues receive promotional material, bartender training and a certification sticker. Aperol generates around €785 million worldwide and Campari Group reports total revenue of €3.05 billion. The company continues legal actions to protect its trademark (an EU office barred the name "Aperbitter") while discount retailers such as Aldi, Lidl and Penny sell lower‑priced alternatives like Apice or Bitterol. Campari emphasizes consumer and trade loyalty and benefits from strong visual marketing via platforms like Instagram and TikTok.

AI Agents Favor Established Brands, Threaten Weaker Ones

Mark Ritson argues that agentic AI and large language models are reinforcing, not eroding, brand advantages. Using an anecdote about the Claude assistant recommending familiar bitter‑spirit brands, Ritson outlines research and industry metrics showing that chatbots and agents tend to prefer well‑known products — a phenomenon framed as popularity bias or incumbent advantage. Because agents often provide a single recommendation or small set of answers, the author warns they amplify visibility for already salient brands while stripping unearned margin from me‑too or weak brands. Ritson revisits past predictions that perfect information would kill brands and contends those forecasts overlooked brands’ role as time‑saving shortcuts; agentic AI may deepen that dynamic and reshape how marketers think about visibility, discovery and share of demand.

Silverpush Expands Leadership Amid Rapid DACH Growth

Silverpush, a contextual intelligence company, announced on September 9, 2025, an expansion of its leadership team in the DACH region with Nasir Khawaja named Vice President DACH and Donovan Anwander as Sales Director DACH. Khawaja brings over ten years in advertising technology and previously led go-to-market efforts at Ogury Germany, with prior roles at Sizmek Germany and OMD Düsseldorf. Anwander will continue to lead sales in DACH, reporting to Paul Briggs, SVP Europe. The move follows record-level growth in Germany since Silverpush entered the market earlier this year and underlines the DACH region as a strategic European cornerstone, soon the second-largest market for Silverpush in Europe. The company cites strong demand for its Mirrors AI contextual technology and notes acquisitions of Bayer AG, DWS-Investment, and Campari Group as factors in regional growth. Mindshare’s Daniela Schindler emphasizes collaboration with Silverpush in this context.