Company: Barilla, Chicago, IL
Nomination Submitted by: Edelman
Company Description: The Barilla Group is a family-owned Italian food company that was founded in 1877. Over the course of more than 145 years, it has become one of the world’s leading manufacturers of pasta, ready-made sauces, bakery products and crispbreads. We attribute our longevity and success to our authentic values, which come from four generations of the family whose name is on every package.
Nomination Category: Corporate Communications, Investor Relations, & Public Relations Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Communications or PR Campaign of the Year - Food & Beverage
 Nomination Title: Barilla® Reimagines Premium Pasta with Al Bronzo
- Optional: Reference any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 250 words):
Total 43 words used.
- Sizzle Reel – Provides evidence of the total results/reach of the campaign, and showcases a deeper look into the visually-heavy touchpoint moment events and Al Bronzo sensory experiences. (to be inserted upon completion/approval)
- Supporting Document 1 - Outlines links/imagery of full coverage highlights.
- Which will you submit for this nomination, a video of up to five (5) minutes in length about the nominated PR campaign or program, or written answers to the questions? (Choose one):
Written answers to the questions
- If you are submitting a video of up to five (5) minutes in length, provide the URL of the nominated video here, OR attach it to your entry via the "Add Attachments, Videos, or Links to This Entry" link above, through which you may also upload a copy of your video.
- If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this first question: Specify the date on which this campaign or program was launched:
October 11, 2022
- If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this second question: Describe the genesis of the nominated campaign or program: the reasons it was initiated, the challenges it was created to address, the problems it was developed to solve, etc. (up to 250 words):
Total 249 words used.
In its home country of Italy, Barilla launched a new, reimagined premium pasta, Al Bronzo, made from responsibly sourced, highest quality wheat utilizing a bronze die extrusion process. Once Al Bronzo was ready to debut in the U.S., the communications team jumped in to achieve its topline goal -- position it as the premium product that reimagines pasta and builds excitement for cooking in the U.S.
Barilla would need to compete in a crowded market of pasta brands who were producing special bronze die cut pastas. Additionally, Barilla recognized that consumers had upped their culinary prowess during the pandemic through hobbies like mastering sous vide recipes, perfecting sourdough bread and making decadent croissants. In turn, Barilla wanted to generate media coverage that showed how the brand responded to the consumer need for upgraded, premium pasta experiences.
The basis for our campaign results considered the results of the initial Al Bronzo launch in Italy. We looked at previous U.S. media coverage around the Italian launch and sought to exceed those 6 placements so that Barilla Al Bronzo made an impactful splash in its U.S. launch. Our strategy was to facilitate exceptional earned media and influencer storytelling about bronze die cut pasta among Barilla’s competitors. To set the stage for these stories, we designed a campaign that allowed U.S. media and influencers to see, feel and taste the benefits of the exquisite product features and seamlessly drive significant earned awareness that resonated with U.S. consumers.
- If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this third question: Describe the development of the campaign or program: the planning process, the goal setting, the creative and media development, the scheduling, etc. (up to 250 words):
Total 246 words used.
As in-person events returned more broadly in 2022, we found opportunities to drive awareness and product trial through a three-pronged integrated earned media & influencer approach – two sensory experience events and one earned-centric press announcement – facilitating exceptional earned media/influencer storytelling to position Al Bronzo as a premium pasta.
We leveraged Barilla’s foodservice partnership with Nordstrom to create a premium-meets-premium exclusive first-taste event in NYC, introducing media/influencers to the reimagined pasta in a disruptive, unexpected way and showcasing how Barilla addressed consumers’ desires for premium pasta. We tapped two trusted brand partners who have prominent social media presences – Chef Lorenzo Boni and influencer recipe developer Dan Pelosi – to spotlight product benefits in a tableside experience, igniting the senses of reporters from top outlets like Forbes and Cosmopolitan who then first broke the news to audiences.
Supplementing the campaign with national media efforts, we secured interest and consumer awareness via a press release announcement on the national newswire and leveraged relationships with key food, lifestyle, business, retail, trade and news media beyond NYC. Media outreach through embargoed and widespread pitches dropped the product in mainstream news upon launch day.
We then extended the media buzz through National Pasta Month (October) and into the holidays through a strategic partnership with Cercone Brown’s Holiday House program, inviting reporters to an intimate two-day sensory experience crafted by Barilla’s expert chef where they tasted special recipes and took home product information, facilitating key message pull-through in consequential coverage.
- If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this fourth question: Outline the activities and concrete results of this campaign or program since the beginning of 2021. Even if your initiative started before 2021, limit your response to activities and results since the beginning of 2021 only (up to 250 words):
Total 244 words used.
Through the in-person events, we exceeded KPIs for the number of attendees, successfully engaging and educating 38 media and influencer attendees who shared the new product with their audiences. Nordstrom event influencers/media attendees reached over 26.4K followers with heavily-visual social posts (see appendix) featuring the new product.
Our team quickly followed up the event with widespread media outreach and netted online placements including mentions in Tasting Table’s headline that Barilla is “getting fancy with its new premium pasta line” and Forbes and TrendHunter mentions of Al Bronzo is “perfect for sauce retaining” and “promises to help pasta lovers elevate the taste of their homemade meals with next-level taste and texture.”
At Holiday House events, Barilla’s sessions with top outlets like Bustle, Food & Wine, and Elite Daily drove more social media engagements from attendees than any other participating consumer brand, resulting in Instagram Story posts (see appendix) from reporters at top outlets like Forbes, Better Homes & Gardens, Bustle, Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping, and People, reaching over 20K followers.
In total, social posts topped a 6% engagement rate, soaring past the 1-2% industry standard, and earned coverage exceeded the number of placements secured in U.S. media around Al Bronzo’s Italy launch, this time achieving 30 social media placements and 13 online placements generating over 84MM impressions. This coverage also successfully pulled through Barilla’s priority messaging about its reimagined, bronze die pasta features and reinforced Barilla as a leader in the pasta industry.
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