Dr. Oetker SA’s leading oven-to-table pizza brand, Ital Pizza, was due for a refresh. The brand has been a consistent performer for the company. Still, research indicated that the brand would benefit from more emotive positioning. The main objective was to defend and grow its middle-premium market positioning against a growing raft of smaller, independent players/house brands.
Beyond Ital Pizza, Brand Spanking Marketing has long served Dr. Oetker’s family of brands like Ristorante Pizza, Nice ‘nEasy Meals, Green Valley, Château Gâteaux Cakes, Happy Days Pizza and Dr. Oetker Patisserie Baked Cheesecake Slices. As the lead agency, we were thrilled to have the opportunity to refresh South Africa’s best-loved frozen pizza brand.
Services Offered:
Desktop research and brand audit
Repositioning recommendations – including strategic insights, gaps and new positioning territory we can occupy to deliver on the brief.
Design – refreshed campaign and Ital Pizza visual language recommendations.
The Solution:
We realised that Ital Pizza is the only frozen pizza brand topped with ingredients designed to thrill the South African palate. We prefer stronger cheeses, meatier toppings and local favourites like Peppadew (sweet, mild peppers unique to Mzansi). After a rigorous strategic review process, we developed the new brand positioning around being “Authentic Afritalian Pizza” – and that Ital puts the ZA in pizza.
Result:
The new positioning and refreshed visual language has been activated in the market. The brand has seen an over 100% increase in sales???? over 2020. This was due, in part, to lockdown and our thoughtful marketing tactics, which helped us capitalise on the opportunity to launch our new brand into many homes in SA.
2021 Campaigns Thus Far:
The new positioning has been applied successfully to several above and below the line advertising campaigns, including:
• Ital Pizza MmmmmmZAsi Memory Challenge – Jan/Feb 2021 – We built an online game in which users would compete to win their share of a large cash prize.
• Ital Pizza EastZA Hunt – March/April 2021 – We developed a series of complex images in which users are tasked to identify the object hidden in the graphics to win 1 of 6 airfryers.
