Pasta Launch Campaign
Crafting a premium brand story for the launch of Bertolli’s new pasta line.
When Bertolli decided to expand from sauces and oils into dry pasta, the challenge wasn’t simply to introduce a new product, it was to earn a place in a category filled with strong, authentic Italian brands.
Our task was to reposition Bertolli as a premium, creative, and indulgent choice for home chefs, and to design a launch campaign that would both honor its heritage and inspire a new generation of cooks.
Client: Bertolli (concept project)
Role: Brand & Strategy Designer
Skills: Market and consumer analysis, brand positioning, campaign strategy, concept development, storytelling
Impact Proof Point:
I translated consumer research and competitive analysis into a premium brand positioning and multi-phase launch strategy that introduced Bertolli to the pasta category with a distinctive creative direction.
Overview
We created a full brand and launch strategy for Bertolli’s pasta introduction to the Dutch market: repositioning the brand, identifying its competitive space, crafting a compelling message, and designing a multi-phase campaign across TV, social media, influencers, and real-world touchpoints.
The outcome is a campaign built on a simple, powerful idea:
Our excellence, your brilliance.
Bertolli provides the premium foundation; the home chef brings the creativity.
Challenge
Bertolli is widely recognized for “Italian-made, easy, and authentic” products, but the pasta category is crowded, highly emotional, and dominated by brands with deep Italian roots.
Through consumer interviews and surveys, several tensions became clear:
Dutch consumers prioritize price and quality, over sustainability.
Many already assume Bertolli sells pasta, awareness is high, but clarity is not.
Packaging and online presence fail to signal premium Italian authenticity.
Competition from brands like Barilla and Grand’Italia is strong and well-positioned.
The challenge:
Differentiate Bertolli authentically while elevating it into a more premium, creative space.
SWOT analysis revealing Bertolli’s strengths in heritage and quality, and the strategic gaps in premium positioning.
4C analysis mapping the competitive landscape and positioning opportunities within the pasta category.
Approach
4C Analysis
We explored the company, consumer, context, and competitors to understand Bertolli’s strategic landscape. This included social trends, economic pressures, category expectations, and the rise of online food inspiration.
Brand DNA Redesign
From heritage and authenticity to premium, indulgent, creative.
We refined Bertolli’s brand DNA to target home chefs who enjoy experimenting with Italian cuisine while valuing high-quality ingredients.
Positioning Development
Using company insights , consumer motivations, and competitive gaps, we positioned Bertolli at the intersection of:
Premiumness
Creativity
This territory is underserved, and full of opportunity.
Campaign Concepting
We crafted a creative direction based on a symphony analogy: Bertolli is the expert conductor; the home chef interprets the piece in their own way.
This led us to a brand world rooted in skill, craft, and expressive cooking.
Existing Bertolli brand DNA, centered on Italian tradition, simplicity, and authenticity.
Redesigned Brand DNA positioning Bertolli within a more premium, creative, and expressive brand world.
Concept: “Our Excellence, Your Brilliance”
Purpose
Reconnect with consumers and drive action to choose Bertolli pasta.
Key Message
Bertolli brings the excellence of Italian craftsmanship; the home chef brings their own creativity, flair, and brilliance.
This empowers users to see pasta not as a commodity, but as a canvas.
Creative Expression
The campaign frames cooking as a performance:
Bertolli is the high-quality instrument
The home chef is the artist
Every dish becomes a moment of self-expression
This idea extends across media, tone, and visuals, from the TV commercial to social content.
The symphony analogy: Bertolli provides the excellence, and the home chef brings their own brilliance.
Outcome
Launch Campaign
Phase 1 — Awareness & Interest
TV commercial, out-of-home billboards, short-form social ads, online advertising, and a trial food truck in major Dutch cities.
Goal: Make consumers aware that Bertolli now sells premium pasta.
Phase 2 — Desire & Action
Influencer kits, social media challenges, online ads.
Goal: Increase relatability, spark creativity, drive trial and purchase.
Phase 3 — Retention
Cooking challenge, user-generated content, cooking class reward.
Goal: Build ongoing loyalty through community and creativity.
The campaign is designed as a rhythm, a crescendo from awareness to participation.
The final strategy delivered:
A renewed premium brand DNA
A clear positioning on quality and creativity
A multi-channel launch strategy with TV, print, social, influencer, and in-person touchpoints
A full media planning and budgeting framework
A conversion journey showing how consumers move from discovery to loyalty
A distinctive campaign architecture grounded in emotional storytelling
Together, these elements equip Bertolli to enter the pasta category with clarity, confidence, and distinction.
30 sec. TV Commercial
Launch TV commercial introducing Bertolli’s pasta through a cinematic celebration of craft and creativity.
Influencer content designed to spark creativity and position Bertolli pasta as the canvas for expressive cooking.
Out-of-home billboards reinforcing Bertolli’s premium message across key Dutch cities.
Post-launch content encouraging community participation, shared recipes, and long-term engagement.
Impact
This project demonstrates how strategic brand thinking and campaign design can:
Elevate an established brand into a new category
Connect heritage with contemporary creative cooking culture
Build emotional relevance with millennial home chefs
Turn a product launch into a moment of identity and inspiration
The campaign positions Bertolli not just as another pasta choice, but as a partner in culinary creativity.