Matthew T Sims biography of work with Gruppo Campari UK.

1. MATTHEW SIMS
Gruppo Campari Biography
London, UK
August 2011 – October 2013

2. TIMELINE

August 2011 – Employed as the first ‘Italian Spirit Specialist’ in U.K.

August-October 2011 – Received extensive training of the Campari
brands both in U.K and at the Head Office in Milan.

November/December 2011 – Building up appropriate London client
base to expand Campari brands and introduce Aperol.

January-May 2012 – Spreading the idea of Campari products and the
Aperitivo. Focus areas were influential areas such as Shoreditch, Hackney and
London Fields.

May 2012 – My client ‘Ombra’ becomes the first ‘Gold Account’ in London.
Average three cases per week of Aperol, Campari and Cynar.

June 2012 – Gruppo Campari changes distribution company from Cellar
Trends to new company Catalyst Brands.

July 2012 – I represent Gruppo Campari at ‘Imbibe Live’, the U.K’s largest
drinks exhibition.

July 2012 – I successfully spend time introducing Aperol to the Irish market.

August 2012 – I successfully reach my years target.

3. TIMELINE

August 2012 – I oversee the experiential ‘Aperol Social Garden’ at
‘Edinburgh Fringe Festival’. Three hundred cases sold in 3 weeks alongside 12
listings in surrounding bars This opens the door to Scotland for the brand and
also works as a template for all 2013 activity.

September/October 2012 – The second Italian Spirits Specialist is
relocated to Edinburgh following the success of the Aperol Social. I take over the
whole of London.

November/December 2012 – New targets are issued to us alongside
a budget to work with.

January/February 2013 – I spread the idea of Aperitivo in the on-trade
with Campari’s products for the upcoming summer period with huge success.

March/April 2013 – I work closely with Catalyst Brands new employees
assisting them in their training and transition.

May/June 2013 – I create and deliver a training package to the entire
Taylor Walker pub group. This secures menu listings across 120 sites

July/August 2013 – Training, representing at trade shows and events,
doing talks as well as securing listings and overseeing experiential events.

September 2013 – I exceed my target for 2013 by 7 Gold accounts and 31
silver accounts.

4. KEY SKILLS

Training – During my time with Campari I organized and conducted hundreds
of training sessions. Due to my education background this was one of my strong
points and not only educated the staff but helped to gain menu listings.

Networking/Relationship building – The success of Aperol and
Campari in London came down to the connections I made and the relationships I
formed

Time Management – I had very high targets to hit as well as a lot of extra
responsibilities outside of these targets. Skilled time management allowed me to
achieve this and still balance with my private time.

Commercial Awareness – A huge part of my success within this role
was understanding where to place the products in the on-trade.

Communication – Due to the business model of working through a
distribution company, open communication with my colleagues and to Head
Office were essential to move the brands forward.

Negotiation/Persuasion – With London being so competitive in the
drinks sector and a fairly small budget, I needed excellent negotiation skills to
achieve my targets

Perseverance/Motivation – I was a key component in building Aperol
up from a little known brand to a popular product in London. I spent a lot of time
being knocked back only to get back up and keep trying. I took ownership of the
brand, persevered and finally received the results.

5. SALES
• 2012 Aperol sales – 120%
2013 Aperol sales to date

6. GOLD
ACCOUNTS
Grain Store
Kings Cross, London
This site was a new opening in
newly developed Kings Cross. I
commissioned to have this fully
functional bespoke Campari
piano to sit in a high visibility
area of the site. Twice a week a
pianist entertains the crowds
who enjoy Campari cocktails
and aperitivo. Campari is the
only advertised brand in the site.

7. GOLD
ACCOUNTS
Oval Space
Hackney, London
Oval Space is an music focused event
space with a large outdoor bar and
restaurant. Due to it’s ‘hidden’ location it
was hugely popular with the trendy East
London crowd. Aperol and Campari were
the key serves throughout 2013
(Bespoke Aperol Branded Furniture)

8. GOLD
ACCOUNTS
Drake and Morgan Group
London
Drake and Morgan’s eight locations are all
heavily involved with Campari products. This
included key serves, strong menu positions
and events

9. GOLD
ACCOUNTS
69 Colebrooke Row
Islington, London
69 Colebrooke Row is a world
renowned cocktail bar in East
London. Through an on-going
relationship with owner Tony
Conigliaro, I secured this bespoke
advertising space behind the bar
as well as two Campari cocktails
on their limited menu. Campari
and Aperol are speed rail items
and are used in all events run
throughout the year.

10. GROUP SUCCESS
Taylor Walker Group
U.K Wide
I wrote and co-ordinated a training and
experiential event that was presented over
three days to the heads of 120 pub sites
within the Taylor Walker group. This
successfully secured listings across the board

11. EVENT
MANAGEMENT
Photon Event
Shoreditch, London
In trying to bring Campari to the younger
trendy crowd, I collaborated with ‘Photon
Group’ to create an event that mixed audio
and visual medias with Campari.