A very special date featuring Ristorante and the First Dates cast, although this wasn't exactly a first date for our two lovebirds!
Reigniting romance with Ristorante & First Dates
The Big Idea
The frozen pizza market in the UK is fiercely competitive, and Dr Oetker’s Ristorante brand was eager to refresh its brand values and overcome the difficulties they were having standing out in the cluttered frozen aisle. They needed to reposition with a creative execution strong enough to persuade their centralised European team that the UK market required an independent approach, whilst maintaining their brand association with romance.
The collaboration with First Dates was the perfect opportunity to partner Ristorante, the UK’s leading thin & crispy pizza brand with a hugely popular show that reflects real life romance at its best in the UK. The campaign has enabled us to encourage consumers to ‘make tonight date night’ and showcase our Ristorante pizza as part of a truly collaborative ‘through the line’ campaign.” - Josephine Skinner, Senior Brand Manager, Dr Oetker
Making it Happen
We utilised our innovative creative process, PL4Y, to develop a concept in partnership with Dr Oetker and Wavemaker.
The team identified an opportunity in ‘reigniting romance’, using our hit show First Dates to create the ultimate surprise ‘Date Night In’ for Ristorante Pizza.
We wanted the relationship to be believable, so planned to give a ‘real’ couple the chance to enjoy a Ristorante pizza, with the full First Dates experience as a surprise in their home.
We recruited one lucky couple for the advertisement through the First Dates casting process, we received over 6000 applications but we chose Dom and Amy, whose busy lives meant they were yet to go on honeymoon.
The ad captured the moment that Dom surprised his NHS worker wife Amy, with a romantic First Dates dinner. Dom and Amy are served Ristorante pizza in their ‘home’ by Fred Sirieix and the First Dates cast. In true First Dates style, at the end of their date the couple spoke candidly to the camera about their relationship, and experience, surrounded by branding from the show. We developed a campaign that brought together the First Dates magic, Ristorante Pizza, and a real-life romance to celebrate the little kindnesses that mean so much. The ad was even captured by the production company behind First Dates to ensure further integration between the show and the brand.
To further ignite the idea of date night, we created dedicated social media content and a competition to win First Dates games. There was also an on-pack competition to visit the First Dates Hotel and personal appearances from the First Dates talent for Dr Oetker. Wavemaker also created social assets featuring the couple, used across Dr Oetker’s owned channels.
Ristorante saw a sales uplift of +10%
during the 6 week campaign
Ristorante brand value grew double
that of the total frozen pizza category during the 6 week campaign
The Results
•Ristorante saw a sales uplift of +10% during the 6 week campaign vs previous 6 weeks**
•Ristorante brand value grew double that of the total frozen pizza category during the 6 week campaign period vs the 6 weeks prior **
•3 in 4 rated the campaign 7/10 or above (vs. benchmark of 62%)*
•55% of First Dates viewers are more likely to consider Ristorante (vs. benchmark of 47%)*
•First Dates helped position Ristorante as the perfect choice for a night in together (+10% vs. pre-campaign)*
•82% felt that the campaign stood out more because of its partnership with First Dates (vs. benchmark of 60%)*
•70% felt the talent helped it stand out more (vs. benchmark of 50%)*
