S. Pellegrino, the Nestlé-owned sparkling mineral water brand, is aiming to connect with the culinary world with a new earned media campaign.
A three-minute video follows Montreal chef Danny Smiles as he competes for the 2014 S. Pellegrino Cooking Cup in Venice. The two-day cooking competition and sailing regatta sees 10 chefs from around the world compete for the title of S. Pellegrino Young Chef of the Year. It was the first time a Canadian chef participated in the competition.
“One of our goals is to recapture the hearts and minds of the culinary world, so we’re building those relationships with chefs and restaurants,” said Jennifer Semley Robert, marketing manager, international brands at Nestlé Waters Canada.
Connecting the brand to the culinary world also taps into the growing foodie culture. “Culinary shows and home cooking are very popular… so we thought showing what the S. Pellegrino cooking competition was all about would be really valuable to consumers,” said Semley Robert. “And it reminds people that the brand is from Italy.”
Toronto PR firm Polaris developed the campaign and brought in Fifth Story (formerly News Canada) to create the video.
There are two versions of the video: a promotional one for use across S. Pellegrino’s owned media channels, and an editorial version that will be distributed across Fifth Story’s earned media network, including Yahoo News Canada, MSN News and DailyMotion.com.
“It’s all earned media, and that just builds off the interest level that we know our consumer has,” said Semley Robert. “When they’re surfing on those sites, hopefully they’ll [watch the editorial video] and they’ll see the connection to the brand.”
S. Pellegrino is also running a trade advertorial series called “The Tastemakers,” which focuses on chefs and where they source their products. The first video in the series features Grant van Gameren from Toronto’s Bar Isabel; he discusses which products he trusts and why S. Pellegrino is part of the fine-dining experience.
