To launch a brand new glowing water within the U.S., Nestlé Waters turned to the nation’s most well-known “love affair” with Italy (because the model’s international CMO places it): The Sopranos.
The marketing campaign — that includes Sopranos stars Michael Imperioli (Christopher) and Steve Schirripa (Bobby) — highlighted “the craft” of making the brand new beverage, Sanpellegrino CIAO!, from harvested citrus in Sicily, stated Elisa Gregori, who was promoted six months in the past to international CMO Nestlé Waters & Premium Drinks. The advert, in partnership with Ogilvy, gained a Bronze Lion at Cannes for Movie Craft (Script), and was shortlisted for Movie (Microfilm) this 12 months.
TikTok — this f****n’ man
Whereas TikTok nonetheless faces a pending ban within the U.S., Gregori stated constructing content material for the short-form video platform flexes “a brand new muscle” that the model hasn’t fairly discovered. And the staff is hesitating to take action due to the pending ban and since the channel creates the necessity for a particular sort of content material to achieve success — “the best way TikTok must be performed,” Gregori stated. And although TikTok is reportedly constructing a standalone app for the U.S., there’s nonetheless an excessive amount of up within the air to make the channel a should for Nestlé Waters & Premium Drinks content material.
“We aren’t actively constructing this content material creation up due to the uncertainty on what will be the long run,” Gregori stated. As a substitute the staff, is maintaining a tally of what occurs “to grasp if the race is on or not.”
AI? Fuggedaboutit.
Lively in additional than 100 markets, Gregori acknowledged that AI is “vital” to adapting campaigns to be quick and environment friendly. For this marketing campaign, nevertheless, Nestlé Waters was versatile sufficient to storyboard and movie materials that AI didn’t infiltrate the artistic course of. “In terms of pure promoting and craft, we nonetheless needed to have a whole lot of human contact,” she stated, noting that the previous Sopranos forged members helped have a good time the Lion win in Cannes.
“These guys have been extremely enjoyable and there was nothing we may have anticipated with the machine [learning] as a result of it was a part of their artistic strategy of being there and enjoying with these characters,” she stated. “It was like their playground.”
How [you doin’?] to introduce a brand new model to crowded cabinets
“Launching a brand new product is more durable than ever,” stated Luis Miguel Messianu, co-founder & CCO, MEL, a artistic company, in an e mail. “Corporations are going through unstable markets, provide chain complications, fast-changing know-how, and rising expectations from shoppers who need manufacturers to face for one thing actual and sincere.”
It’s not a straightforward time to face out from the noise, notably in a unstable and divided geopolitical local weather and as President Trump continues his tariffs conflict.
“We acknowledge that the state of affairs might be fairly heavy for the time being for among the U.S.,” Gregori stated. “That is about bringing some light-hearted messaging, bringing you the solar. We’re bringing you the Italian air. A second of humor.”
Execs noticed a aggressive benefit by introducing a marketing campaign that was “true to the DNA” of the model, harnessing celeb standing and nostalgia. The U.S. marketing campaign generated over 1.2 billion earned media impressions throughout 74 placements, and over 840 million digital impressions, in response to the model.
Nestlé Waters started working the marketing campaign in April throughout a wide range of channels: Amazon Prime to dabble in leisure and introduce the model, investments on Meta, and billboards in New York to remind shoppers as harvest season ramped up this 12 months. Gregori didn’t share particulars of the precise spend, however stated the model’s investments matched the manufacturing cycle of the product itself.
Retail media spend particularly fluctuates to multiple third of the model’s general spend throughout harvest season, Gregori stated, with out revealing gross sales income. The beverage has been on cabinets within the U.S. since February.
Todd Sommers, president, advert company O.H. Companions, conceded that the beverage aisle and its new merchandise might be “overwhelming” to shoppers — however methods together with model collaborations, new OOH codecs and loyalty packages may assist win over prospects.
“With the growing adoption of self-checkout and at-home supply providers, product discovery is much more difficult,” stated Sommers. “Manufacturers and retailers must discover new methods to interact shoppers and supply worth.”
