Barilla re-platforming

Barilla, the world’s largest producer of pasta, has long been a mainstay in the international food market, with its creation of pasta, sauces and brands. Since it was founded by brothers Guido, Luca and Paolo as a small bakery in Parma, Barilla has become a global group that strives to make quality products for people and the planet. 
  
Our challenge was to build and optimise a site for a well-renowned brand in a competitive market, on an international scale. To support the brand’s growth, Barilla needed an engaging website that reflected its mission and brand identity, whilst driving performance and conversions. Barilla is present in more than 100 countries, so strong visibility and an immersive digital experience is key. It also faces fierce competition from other pasta brands. 
  
As a team, we sat down and outlined a plan for building a scalable website. We wanted to improve the online experience for Barilla’s recipe pages to make an instant positive impression on customers. Working closely with Contentful, we were able to implement content and deliver a digital experience that expresses the personality of the brand. 

Understanding what motivates: Human Drivers

With pasta being one of the most popular foods in the world, we needed to create an engaging experience that enabled customers all over the world to feel connected to the brand. In this diverse market, audiences have different needs. Our challenge was to create nutritional information and informative journeys to meet user needs, but also other needs like recipe ideas and product information. Our goal was to express the brand and create a valuable experience that made customers more aware of nutrition.

Food plays a massive role in building connections and relationships. As an agency, we’re always working to understand drivers of human behaviour for a product or a brand. We believe the answer lies in the desire for shared experiences and comminuty. With Barilla, we wanted to create a brand that reflects the joy of good food and to capture the power of healthy eating by showcasing different receipes that appeal to the target audience.  

Creating ideas that inspire action: effective creativity.

Using design and digital experiences, we’ve been able to blend the tradition and heritage of the brand, with useful utility that speaks directly to the customers across multiple touchpoints. This includes recipes that function perfectly on mobile devices and answer nutritional needs, and the needs of an international audience where certain ingredients are more prominent. Ultimately, we constructed a web design that served different audiences and fulfilled the needs of the business. 

Defining the solution

Our objective was to create several differences for Barilla and to serve its other brands. We knew we needed a system that allowed us to streamline content and use nutritional data in lots of different customer journeys. That’s why we worked with our headless CMS partner Contentful to make this platform simple to manage and maintain, while also assisting with search engine optimisation. With Contentful, we were able to build a platform that allows Barilla’s digital ecosystem to connect with audiences in ways that resonate. As the brand evolves, we’ll have more opportunity to create targeted recipe content for customers and professional chefs, showcasing an array of nutrition options – and creating a quality branded experience in the process. 

The Barilla project is currently still in progress. We have clear targets and a long tail optimisation programme, which involves analysis of performance and user data, and conducting AB testing to ensure a successful user experience. 

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