Martini Taps Jonathan Bailey to Make the Spritz a Summer Ritual

Martini has named Jonathan Bailey its new global Martini Man in a multi-year partnership launching with a short film and portrait series from New Commercial Arts.

The Bacardi-owned aperitivo brand places the actor on the coast outside Venice, where a 1970s Martini Racing car, a Maestro character, and a set of style rituals introduce him to the role.

The campaign ends with a Martini Bianco Spritz, making the drink the commercial endpoint of the brand’s Italian style story.

That product focus gives the campaign a sharper job: make Martini Bianco Spritz feel like an easy summer choice.

Martini said the U.S. spritz category is worth $402 million and has grown at a 17% compound annual growth rate over the past five years, citing IWSR.

The campaign will run across TV, streaming, digital, social, and experiential, with a summer takeover in Milan and Terrazza Martini activations in cities including Madrid, Berlin, and New York.

A Martini Man With a Product Job

Bailey first worked with Martini last summer on the brand’s "Off Script" campaign.

This new partnership gives him a larger role inside a brand character with built-in history.

The casting gives the Martini Man current pop-culture weight and keeps the celebrity campaign tied to a clear product job.

It also benefits from Bond chatter already surrounding Bailey, giving Martini a cultural shortcut into polished, cinematic masculinity.

This attention matters for Martini because the brand’s growth question is usage.

Forbes reported brand-shared figures showing annual sales of $1.6 billion, 90% global awareness, 17% market share among martini aperitifs, and 1% growth over the past five years.

Martini is already widely known. The campaign now has to make the brand feel like an easy choice for spritz-led social occasions.

The short film turns Bailey’s casting into a product lesson.

Bailey is told, "Aperitivo is a performance," before the film moves through the entrance, the outfit, the camera glance, and the final drink.

The joke about "MARTINI time" keeps the brand in the rhythm of the story before the final pour.

By the time Bailey is told to "bring effortless style to the spritz," the Bianco Spritz feels like the natural outcome of the whole initiation.

The car, the coastal setting, and the style lessons keep Martini’s heritage visible, while the final serve gives viewers a simple action to remember.

The Spritz Moves Off Screen

The rollout gives the campaign a place to live after the film.

Martini is using TV, streaming, digital, social, and experiential channels to put the Bianco Spritz inside real summer occasions.

Martini’s research found that 57% of Europeans say they rarely step outside their comfort zones, while 66% find the idea of living with an "Italian mindset" appealing.

The brand also said 64% of Europeans already embrace spritz occasions during warmer months.

Those figures explain why Martini is framing the spritz as an easy cue for aperitivo-style gatherings.

The Terrazza Martini activations give that cue a physical route into the market.

They move the brand from cinematic Italy into real gatherings where people can order, hold, photograph, and repeat the serve.

This makes the experiential marketing layer commercially important because it gives Martini a path to trial, memory, and social proof.

The campaign gives brands three useful takeaways:

• Make the role sell the use case. Celebrity works harder when the talent helps shift how people use the product.
• Let dialogue teach the ritual. A clear line can make the product behavior easier to remember.
• Move the mood into venues. Activations can turn campaign atmosphere into real-world trial.

Martini’s next test is whether Bailey can make the Bianco Spritz feel like the first drink of summer after the film ends.

Our Take: Can Bailey Make Martini Easier to Choose?

We think Bailey is a smart casting move because he brings the kind of screen presence Martini needs for this role.

The Bond comparisons add to that value because they make Bailey feel naturally connected to Martini’s polished-drink heritage.

This cultural shorthand helps the Martini Man feel familiar before the product appears, and the film gives the Bianco Spritz a clear commercial job.

The campaign works because the fantasy leads to a practical behavior.

Viewers get the car, the coast, the polished entrance, and the Italian ease. Then the campaign gives them a drink they can order, pour, photograph, and repeat at the start of a social occasion.

That handoff is the real idea. Bailey makes Martini feel desirable, and the spritz makes the brand easier to use.

If the Terrazza rollout turns that feeling into trial, Martini gets the bigger prize: a repeatable summer occasion.

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