How Italy's favourite fresh pasta brand won the hearts of UK Northerners

Summary

Although La Famiglia Rana had successfully relaunched in the UK in 2018, sales were largely being driven in the South and they wanted to deliver near immediate sales uplift in the North on a modest budget.

By identifying the use of Regional TV & VOD to quickly build brand awareness and consideration, we were able to use our insights on shoppers’ viewer habits to create a carefully planned TV strategy that increased sales by 50%, giving the brand the confidence to launch a full national campaign in 2020.

Challenge

During La Famiglia Rana’s UK launch it became apparent there was a major issue; over 50% of Rana’s sales were being driven solely in London and the South East. As well as a more solid spread of national sales needed for sustainable long-term growth; supermarkets with a traditional larger Northern footprint were becoming concerned.

Tasked with the hefty target of increasing sales by 25% in the North on a £450,000 budget, we quickly needed to identify the best way to increase sales and continue to build great relationships with retailers.

Solution

A four-week regional campaign was recommended to quickly build brand awareness and consideration among conscious convenience shoppers, due to Northern consumers’ heavy TV consumption.

Analysis of retailers shoppers’ viewing habits fed into a carefully planned channel-selection and strong programming mix, whilst Broadcaster VOD was vital to reach lighter viewers.

Cover wraps of regional newspapers in key Northern cities were used to support the TV activity as a way to advertise close to the point of purchase and act as a reminder for those who had seen the TV advertising.

Results

After just 4 weeks on air, results were fast and impressive. Our campaign not only achieved high reach in the North but it delivered over 50% sales uplift, over double the sales uplift target, protected two hard won distribution channels, and lead to a national TV campaign in 2020.

Winner of Thinkbox Best use of small budget TV

 “Using the northern TV regions was ideal to support an important area of supermarkets stocking our products, but also provide a clear view of the impact on our business.  Needless to say, the business has been happy with the results, seeing clear and strong uplifts on base; the growth of La Famiglia Rana has accelerated.  As a result we have been encouraged to take a bigger step and increase the investment to a national campaign in 2020.”   

– Stephen Gregory (La Famiglia Rana Marketing Director)