During Italy’s lockdown in mid April, two teens from Finale Ligure – Vittoria Oliveri and Carola Pessina – played socially distanced tennis from their neighbouring apartment building rooftops and the video of their match blew up socially passing 10m Twitter views.
Pasta brand Barilla and ambassador Roger Federer were so inspired by the girls and their viral tennis sensation that they set up a once-in-a-lifetime experience for the pair when the men’s singles Grand Slam record holder surprised them for a rooftop rematch.
Working with agency We Are Social (Milan) learned that the duo were huge Federer fans so decided to arrange for the super star to make a surprise visit for another rooftop game once Italy’s lockdown was lifted.
Federer, Carola and Vittoria played out an unusual rooftop match and ended their memorable day with a bowl of pasta and a chat together under the Italian sun (reinforcing the brand’s message that ‘pasta brings people together’).
The resulting 4-minute film, ‘The Rooftop Match With Roger Federer’, starts with the two girls taking part in what they think is a media interview about their viral fame before, to their surprise and delight, Federer appears and challenges them to play a match.
The hero film, made in July in compliance with COVID-19 safety gudidelines, was supported by additional content such as a ‘making of’ style spot and linked via the hahstags #Barilla #RogerFederer #TheRooftopMatch.
“Personally, for me, it was a special moment in my career as a tennis player, to surprise fans like I have been able to do with Carola and Vittoria,” said Federer.
Luca Barilla, VP of Barilla Group, added: “Roger is like this: he is a man, a father, an extraordinary athlete that, when you meet him, he widens your eyes with amazement for his humanity and ‘lightness’ in the way he behaves, as well as for the smile that never fades on his face. We are honored to have him by our side.”
The campaign was created by agency We Are Social (Milan) where the team was led by Executive Creative Director Alessandro Sciarpelletti, Executive Creative Production Director Daniele Piazza, Associate Creative Directors Stefano Cucinotta and Andrea Fumagalli, Senior Art Director Daria Paraboni, Senior Creative Laura Venuti, Art Director Alice Martinucci, Senior Editor Giuseppe Schiavone, Group Account Director Sandro Amabili, Account Director Luca Di Palma, Account Manager Ginevra Locatelli and Writer Francesco Pierucci, with BRW Filmland Executive Producer Luca Orlando, Line Producer Viviana Biondolillo, Scenografo Eugenia Tartarelli, Montaggio Tex – Paolo Forestale.
Post Production was by Tex and Fonovideosynch with Regia Beppe Tufarulo and DOP Johan Florez, plus media handled by OMD and PR by Hill+Knowlton Strategies and Omnicom Public Relation Group.
Outcome:
With 2.7m views on Twitter, 2.5m on YouTube, plus a further 394k on Instagram and a 14k on Facebook in the first four days since it was posted on 31 July, it seems there is plenty of appetite for a marketing takeover of a spontaneous consumer viral.
Impressive social statistics for a pasta brand.
Comment:
The ad, shot in Finale Ligure in July 2020, was created in compliance with COVID-19-relevant safety guidelines
The Italian schoolgirl friends and neighbours came up with a creative way of entertaining themselves and staying fit during lockdown and their rooftop hit went viral globally and even featured in Nike’s recent ‘You Can’t Stop Us’ split screen epic (see case study).
Just incredible to see
Liguria, Italy#tennisathome pic.twitter.com/dh8bqlvFhj
— ATP Tour (@atptour) April 18, 2020
Links:
Barilla
https://www.youtube.com/user/barilla
https://www.facebook.com/Barilla
https://www.instagram.com/barilla/
We Are Social
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