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.

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.

•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.

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

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 TikTok