San Giorgio

The Right Way to Pasta.

DISCIPLINES

Digital & Broadcast Production, Digital Marketing, Shopper Marketing, Social Media

Challenge

San Giorgio is a dry pasta brand with primary distribution in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware and D.C. In recent years, they have been outspent and lost market share and shelf space to larger national players, primarily Barilla and Ronzoni. In order to stop the decline and build momentum, San Giorgio needed to create brand distinction in the pasta category dominated by national brands with little product/message differentiation.

Challenger Brand Solution

Symbols of Re-evaluation

Audience mapping identified our target audience as people 25-44 who love feeding their families with their own unique take on recipes; people who enjoy big, joyous meals with lots of discussion and delicious food to eat. We named them “Makers.” GKV created unique and compelling “real people” content that would speak to Makers in a more relevant and emotional way, thereby building their loyalty to San Giorgio. We reached and connected with the younger target demographic through a distinct social presence to bring the San Giorgio brand to life.

The Right Way to Pasta

For many people, cooking pasta requires knowing family secrets that have been passed down from generation to generation. And while there are many different secrets on how to achieve pasta perfection, everyone is passionate that their way is best. In short, people take making their pasta very seriously.

The resulting campaign explores the many conflicting opinions people have about cooking pasta. And while we may never agree on pasta making, we can agree that by starting with San Giorgio, the result will be great hearty pasta meals thanks to the brand’s more than 100 years of proven pasta know-how.

The creative features authentic pasta Makers commenting on their personal pasta-making methods to reinforce the authenticity of the brand.

Results

The campaign was hugely successful from an engagement perspective, with website visits up 152% (34% of visits from millennials), social engagement rates over 11%, and annual sales increasing more than 46% from the previous year.