Title	FUNKY RIGATONI BARILLA
Brand	BARILLA
Product/Service	PASTA BARILLA
Category	D04. Social Behaviour
Entrant	WE ARE SOCIAL Milan, ITALY
Idea Creation	WE ARE SOCIAL Milan, ITALY

Name	Company	Position
Alessandro Sciarpelletti	We Are Social	Executive Creative Director
Daniele Piazza	We Are Social	Executive Creative Production Director
Andrea Fumagalli	We Are Social	Creative Director
Stefano Cucinotta	We Are Social	Creative Director
Laura Venuti	We Are Social	Senior Creative
Daria Paraboni	We Are Social	Art Supervisor
Camillo Addis	We Are Social	Art Director
Annelise Papaleo	We Are Social	Art Director
Giuseppe Schiavone	We Are Social	Editorial Supervisor
Fabrizio La Ferla	We Are Social	Editor
Enrica Barberis	We Are Social	Writer
Luca Di Palma	We Are Social	Account Director
Lucia Magni	We Are Social	Account Manager
Alessia Savino	We Are Social	Account Executive
Bruno Tecci	We Are Social	Head of Strategy
Marta Prosperi	We Are Social	Strategy Supervisor
Matteo Starri	We Are Social	Research & Insight Director
Donato Falonico	We Are Social	Research & Insight Supervisor
Biagio Bleve	We Are Social	Senior Research & Insight Analyst
Marisa Bacchin	We Are Social	Senior Research & Insight Executive
Giulia Di Fiore	We Are Social	Senior Research & Insight Executive
Sandro Amabili	We Are Social	Head of We Are Social Studios
Amalia Sylos Calò	We Are Social	Agency Producer
The Blink Fish + Ocular Lab The Blink Fish + Ocular Lab	The Blink Fish + Ocular Lab	Producer
Hoodooh Hoodooh	Hoodooh	Music Production
OMD OMD	OMD	Media Agency

Why is this work relevant for Social & Influencer?

Barilla aimed to enter TikTok by creating genuine-looking content. By monitoring and listening GenZ conversations on the platform and capturing a trend dear to them and relevant for the brand (#EatABowlOfRigatoniPastaonMay242021), Barilla joined the conversation in an authentic way. The soundtrack Funkytown by Lipps Inc. was a key element of the movement that characterized almost every content produced. The brand did not come empty-handed to the party, but brought something special to enhance the fun and entertainment on TikTok platform: "Funky Rigatoni", a revisited version of the movement’s music ("Funky Town") made specifically to celebrate #RigatoniDay on May 24th.

Background

Situation: In January 2020, @jimmyrules32 posted a video on TikTok accompanied by a text inviting people to eat "eat a bowl of rigatoni pasta on May 24th 2021", to the rhythm of the song from the 70s/80s, "Funkytown". The set date, #EatABowlOfRigatoniPastaOnMay242021, was broadcasted on TikTok to the tune of the historic hit; amassing over 41 million views, giving birth to a real movement. Brief and Objectives: Barilla aimed to enter TikTok by creating genuine-looking content, so jumped on the opportunity to join this already existing TikTok trend and joined celebrations with a revisited version of the movement's official music with a Rigatoni theme.

Describe the creative idea (30% of vote)

Barilla brought something very special to the party of #EatABowlOfRigatoniPastaOnMay242021 on Tiktok: "Funky Rigatoni", a revisited version of the movement’s music "Funky Town" made specifically to celebrate #RigatoniDay on May 24th.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

Data gathering: we spotted, via Brandwatch, recurrent content featuring #eatabowlofrigatonipastaonmay242021 on TikTok. From Jan 2020 to 21th April 2020,1K conversations have in fact revolved around the topic with the main peaks happening in mid January 2020 and on 14th April 2021. Spikes were both determined by some contents remembering the “appointment” being retweeted by users. Target audience Campaign target audience were adults 18-34 yo with a specific attention to the younger demographic i.e Gen Z. Relevance to social platform TikTok as the main touchpoint since the platform where the trend stared and where the Gen Z gather the most. Approach Jump on the opportunity to join an existing trend on TikTok and celebrate #RigatoniDay on May 24th in order to build awareness and consideration for Barilla by a target audience that is strategically relevant from a marketing perspective but still not exploited from a communication point of view.

Describe the execution (20% of vote)

Implementation:Barilla launched the soundtrack on TikTok in a 15" and 60" version. The song was available on the TikTok music library for all users. The launch music, videos were graphically inspired by the world of Funk and contained a number of movement-related quotes and easter eggs, including the most popular recall account, @RigatoniPastaCountdown, followed by over 130,000 people. To kick-off the "Rigatoni Day" celebrations, Barilla as partnered with exceptional TikToker - Khaby Lame - who finally showed people how to eat the long-awaited bowl of rigatoni, with its unmistakable irony and the perfect soundtrack: Barilla’s Funky Rigatoni. Timeline and Placement: 21-23 May 2021: Twitter Barilla teaser (most conversation happened on Twitter with reminders to #EatABowlOfRigatoniPastaOnMay242021) +TikTok Barilla BRAND IN-FEED VIDEO 15’’ + BIO update (sponsored) 24 May 2021: TikTok In feed @khaby.lame video (sponsored)+TikTok ONE-DAY-MAX PLUS @khaby.lame video (sponsored)+TikTok TikTok BarillaVIDEO 60’’ 22- 24 May 2021: PR Outreach

List the results (30% of vote)

AWARENESS: How many people have seen the content? [REACH METRICS] TOTAL GROSS REACH* (all channels, owned + earned) 11.1 MLN BARILLA ECOSYSTEM REACH 4 MLN ONLINE CONVERSATIONS REACH 788 K INFLUENCERS ACTIVATIONS REACH 6.3 MLN MEDIA OUTLETS PUBLICATIONS 34 (15 Italy + 19 international)​ * Barilla Ecosystem Reach, Online Conversations Reach and Influencers Activations Reach Has the message been received? [INTEREST METRICS] VIDEO VIEWS 6” (hero video + influencer video) 2.74 MLN COMPLETED VIDEO VIEWS (hero video + influencer video) 1.28 MLN VCR (hero video + influencer video) 8.9% CLICKS (hero video + influencer video) 31 K+ ENGAGEMENT: How actively was your audience involved with the content? [ENGAGEMENT METRICS] NET SENTIMENT (owned only) +40pp ONLINE CONVERSATIONS ABOUT THE EVENT 7.1 K CAMPAIGN MENTIONS 240 INTERACTIONS (TikTok engagements + organic) 1.9 MLN ENGAGEMENT RATE 13.4% N° CONTENT USING “FUNKY RIGATONI” TRACK 8.9 K generating 27,7 M views on TikTo

Please tell us about the social behaviour that inspired the work

TikTok is the platform where the community wants to be entertained but, more importantly, it is capable of triggering a specific, shared behaviour typical of Gen Z: be part of something even if, or actually even more, it does not make any sense. Everyday the TikTok community consumes content that is apparently random but that they find funny and they make some valid point around it. Not only this, the TikTok community wants to be part of these random funny trends, giving voice to their creative soul by delivering their personal version of the trend.