All New Pasta-Bilities: Why This Canadian Brand Invites You to the Claymation World of ‘Pastaland’
Let’s be honest, we’ve all seen plenty of pasta ads that revolve around, or end up showcasing a family sitting around a table, enjoying bountiful portions of saucy noodles. It’s reliable, consistent… and largely played out. And, it’s for this reason that Canadian pasta brand Catelli, in partnership with creative agency LG2 knew they had to do something different when launching the company’s newest platform. After all, for as poignant as food imagery is, it’s very much something that can be misattributed to just about any brand.
Enter ‘Pastaland’. Created via claymation in partnership with Little Giant, the brand introduced a joyous new world spanning everything from sprawling spaghetti fields to perfect penne shaped crops. Headlined by a new 30-second spot called ‘Fork’ ('Fourchette' in French), an uplifting soundtrack from Grayson Music scored this new world, which represented the brand’s decision to not only focus on the humble, artisanal qualities of the product, but also, importantly, the power of imagination and play - especially when brought together at mealtime.
LBB’s Josh Neufeldt sat down with LG2 creative director Jeff Cheung, account director Stuart Milligan, senior integrated producer Christine Malacas, and Catellie brand manager Alistair Senn to find out more about this pasta-tively amazing new world and platform.
LBB> What was the brief for this campaign, and what immediate ideas came to mind?
Alistair> We wanted to bring ‘All Natural Ingredients’ to life in a breakthrough way that would cut through the clutter of the media landscape; something that wasn’t the same old ‘family sitting around a table’ that can be misattributed to any brand. We also wanted something iconic that could last many years. LG2 was a no brainer for this as they have helped us redefine our brand positioning, packaging and been with us all the way through this new journey for the brand.
Stuart> Because we wanted to stand out from the traditional live-action spots, claymation was one of the first things that came to mind. It’s a lot of fun and offered us a wide range of possibilities, while looking different. We had actually discussed claymation previously and were waiting for the right time to use it, so when the master brand campaign came up, we went for it.
LBB> Tell us more about how ‘Pastaland’ came to life! Where did the name and idea come from, and why was this the right way to showcase the brand?
Jeff> Not only were we looking for a way to house the claymation world we were creating, but our goal for the ad was to showcase how Catelli’s all natural pasta is humble yet fun. So, when we started to think about fun during meal time, we thought back to being a kid and that level of imagination you have playing at the table. An imaginary, creative place is the core of where ‘Pastaland’ came from. It might sound unusual for a pasta brand, but that was the point. When you have an imagination, something as simple as pasta can turn into an entire new world.
Alistair> We wanted a platform that had longevity. So, when a world of pasta was pitched, it fit the bill as both a great campaign we could break through with now, and also one with room to build future campaigns from. ‘Pastaland’ also fit well with our core messages of ‘All Natural Ingredients’ and ‘Made in Canada’, because we could build the world from scratch. Everything was designed with our messages in mind.
LBB> Obviously, the main talking point is the use of claymation, which is awesome! What made this the right medium for the creative, and had you ever worked with it before?
Jeff> We knew claymation was the right medium, not only because it has a strong visual impact, but because it allows you to push things further than a live-action shoot – there are fewer limits. Neither Catelli nor our team had worked with claymation at that time, but that didn’t deter us. The idea was strong so we went for it, and working with the animation experts at Little Giant made the process smooth.
Alistair> I had never worked with claymation before, but I had seen great executions with it from Chipotle and Koodo. However, with a food brand, it was a big risk. We felt though that the visuals would allow us to achieve a breakthrough regardless of the medium – TV, OOH, digital, social, etc. For example we can literally bring the same characters to life on digital or OOH.
LBB> How did you work to incorporate various types of noodles into the scenery, and what was the writing process like? Why was dialogue-free the right approach?
Jeff> The original idea we sold through was a world made of pasta, so we wanted to integrate as many of Catelli’s products as possible. Not everything in Pastaland is made of pasta - like the barn and the people – but the landscape was designed around the different lines and shapes available.
Stuart> We talked about having a voice-over early on, but as we moved along in the process, we didn’t think we needed it. Removing that element shows off more of the landscape and the pasta that built it, and we wanted ‘Pastaland’ to come to the forefront.
LBB> And what was the actual claymation process like? How long did it take for the spot to come together, and are there any elements you’re especially proud of?
Jeff> The animation work with Little Giant was about a four-month process that included weekly meetings (sometimes more) between the studio, us, and the client. Since it's not live action, it can be hard to imagine how exactly everything would look, so it took a lot of collaboration to make sure everyone was on the same page. Like any animation project, we started from sketches to figure out the visuals for the characters and environment, before moving to digital compositions. A majority of the time was spent crafting and finessing the details together.
I’m most proud of how we were able to produce the ad remotely with none of us in the same room, while still aligning everyone’s vision. Since it was claymation, there was no need to go in the studio, plus Little Giant’s team was based out of Portland. The project really goes to show you what you can achieve when there is a strong relationship with the client. It requires a lot of trust to do something new, but once we started, it was a free-flowing process.
LBB> The soundtrack is also brilliant! What made Grayson the right partners for the job, and what was the composition process like?
Christine> We’ve worked with Grayson Music a lot in the past and have a great relationship with them. They are experts at creating original compositions with emotion. When we sent them the script, they jumped on board right away and sent demos that fit the tone of playful wonder we were going for. They worked closely with us all throughout the animation phase to tailor the track so that it worked perfectly with the story.
LBB> This campaign also featured the release of accompanying OOH. Tell us about how this came to life! What was the process like?
Stuart> Since the ad has been performing well, Catelli wanted to take ‘Pastaland’ into the real world. We wanted to capitalise on the reach that digital OOH could offer, so we placed it on screens at Union Station in Toronto. We had to adapt the video to custom sizes to better fit some of the placements.
LBB> What challenges have you faced during this project? How did you overcome them?
Stuart> It was our first time working with claymation, so there was some learning we all had to do together. It’s a different process than producing a live-action spot, but the final product was worth it!
Alistair> Initially, selling a creative concept that was solely claymation was challenging, as we couldn’t deliver appetite appeal and it was moving away from the traditional spot of a family eating around a dinner table. Instead, we had to sell the idea that in a highly-fragmented food category, we needed to go for a breakthrough if we were to capture more than our fair share of stomach – competing with rice, pizza and taco occasions.
LBB> What lessons have you learned in the making of this campaign?
Jeff> When you have a great idea for a brand but the timing isn’t right, just be patient. Don’t give up on the concept.
Alistair> Be willing to take risks. As a food brand, we were concerned with not featuring mouth-watering pasta recipes in the creative – appetite appeal had always been critical. Instead, we chose to focus on breakthrough visuals that brought to life our core message, and it truly disrupted the consumers when they were watching and reading our content. We saw the highest video completion rates for our 30-second spot in the history of our ad tracking!
LBB> Beyond this, how have people reacted to this campaign?
Stuart> Really positively! We’ve seen great results from its TV and digital placements; even on social media the 30-second spot was outperforming, despite being twice as long than the typical social post.
Alistair> Consumer response has been fantastic, and we have seen strong growth in message recall for our core messaging. We also saw statistically significant improvement in our top of mind and unaided awareness levels
LBB> How does this campaign fit into Catelli’s branding for 2023, and what we can expect from ‘Pastaland’ in 2024?
Alistair> This will be the new visual identity for the brand, and will be leveraged across all assets from 2024 and beyond. We also hope to utilise the creative for at least two years before building on this fantastic work with additional content in ‘Pastaland’ in 2025 and beyond.
