Tagline: No Martini, no party
The right one.
The name of the most popular vermouth in the world was given by the Italian businessman Alessandro Martini, who lived in the century before last. Ironically, Martini was not at all a brilliant inventor or a bartender who created a drink that to this day is an item of chic and luxury. Energetic Italian entrepreneur joins Вistilleria Nazionate da Spirito di Vino, a company of the same enthusiasts involved in the production of wines and wine products, when he was in his early 30s. When another employee, Luigi Rossi, who was well versed in herbs, wine and winemaking, began to cooperate with them, the finest hour came for the company, it was Luigi who came up with the recipe for the famous vermouth. A wonderful new product was in the hands of entrepreneurs, the general situation in a united Italy contributed to economic prosperity and success was not long in coming. In the 18-19 centuries, drinks with a therapeutic effect were very popular in Italy, ingredients such as wormwood, cinnamon, cola nuts were widely used, as aperitifs, drinks with such additives favorably affected the functioning of the stomach and well-being in general. It is interesting how, in general, the same processes in different countries lead to completely different results: the wine-making traditions of Italy, when mixing herbs, spices, tinctures, gave the world a wonderful alcoholic drink, and in America, the same experiments with similar ingredients led to the appearance Pepsi-Cola and Coca-Cola. But it all started here and there with a medicinal drink ...
In 1863, the company was promoted to the market leader: having received the patronage of the King of Piedmont (Piedmont), entrepreneurs create several new branches, production grows, money begins to flow like a river. The company is now called “Martini, Sola & Cia”, and at the head of it are Martini and Rossi. Alessandro Martini is engaged, as they would say today, in the promotion of a branded drink, he goes on promotional tours, praises the novelty: not only compatriots, but the whole world should appreciate the divine drink! The first boxes of the new vermouth are sent across the ocean to North America, later to South America, the capitals of Europe, Egypt, the fashion for the drink is spreading all over the world.
In 1879 the company changed its name to Martini & Rossi and becomes a recognized leader in the production of flavored wines and cocktails. Since then, two like-minded people have managed not only to build a profitable business, establish a wide supply chain, but also to introduce fashion for their offspring around the world for centuries to come. Martini was favored by aristocrats, received all conceivable and unthinkable awards (only at the end of the 19th century - more than 40 awards at world exhibitions). The fashion for cocktails, which was gaining momentum, turned out to be successful for the promotion of the drink, vermouth was an excellent basis for many of them, it is not for nothing that one of the symbols of the drink was cocktail glasses, which we know under the name “martini glasses”. In 1929, the logo is registered Marty - a famous circle on the strip, according to one version, the circle is a glass of Martini Rosso, and the strip with the inscription is a bottle tilted above it, according to another, the red circle is a symbol of the globe, which surrounds the inscription "Martini". In 2007, the company logo was updated.
Perhaps the most important thing that entrepreneurs have done to promote their offspring is the transformation of sweet vermouth into a symbol of luxury and wealth. The aristocratic and bohemian image has always been emphasized by advertising, beauties from advertising posters, elegant gentlemen from the screens called and continue to call into their world, where martinis can only be mixed in a shaker, but not shaken. There is a legend that the first drink that President Roosevelt drank after the repeal of Prohibition in America was a Martini-based cocktail.
Maybe a fine drink would have dissolved among hundreds of its kind, if it had not sold, along with alcohol, a fashionable lifestyle, a piece of the sweet life in high society. Yachts, fashion models, machos, martinis… Everything would be fine, but it’s embarrassing that martini has become a kind of symbol of an easy, so to speak, lifestyle, martini-girl is not the definition of an aristocrat or a carefree beauty, but rather a girl whose behavior is not burdened by a special morality. This perception was also facilitated by the not very successful move of marketers who proposed in the 1970s as the motto of "Martini" the phrase: "anytime, anyplace, anywhere" ("anytime, anywhere"), the slogan was supposed to approve Martini as " all day drink", but instead only evoked certain associations.
Today, the Martini brand is owned by a corporation Bacardi-Martini Ltd., which arose in 1992 by merging two largest companies Bacardi Limited and Martini & Rossi, and still remains one of the most loved and remembered alcohol brands. This will continue as long as there are people in the world who believe that a glass of martini in their hands will make you James Bond, well, at least George Clooney.
