The Perla Nera phenomenon, the midi watermelon with dark rind and few seeds, particularly sweet and crunchy, produced exclusively by OP Francescon, Peviani SpA and OP La Mongolfiera, is about to write a new chapter always in the name of innovation. The new communication strategy is ready to debut with many new features - in continuity with the path of emancipation of Perla Nera from commodities followed so far - but with new life both in terms of creativity and positioning.
"The story of Perla Nera begins in 2015”, recalls the President of the Consortium Bruno Francescon, "with a test of the Fashion variety of watermelon, which gave us excellent results. I thought about it for two years, not understanding why no one would take into consideration a unique watermelon, both for the color of the rind and for the exceptional characteristics from an organoleptic and visual point of view. We know well that you can only create a brand if you find a distinctive product, so I decided to take this variety exclusively, but I knew that to give substance to the project I would need partners, because together we can go further. It was there that the idea of involving Peviani and Giardina was born and that is how today Perla Nera is the largest watermelon supply chain in Italy".
The “black skin” of the coolest midi watermelon ever is the center of the new creative campaign Perla Nera designed for the Consortium, together with the new payoff “It always has its reason,” da Connectia, the marketing & communication brand of the MarTech Company Retex.
“A campaign with an engaging rhythm that, through a very well-known musical motif and some summery snapshots, tells all the reasons why Italians choose Perla Nera: a unique and valuable product that, with its premiumness, manages to emerge in a decidedly competitive category context.”, highlights Richard Catagnano, Executive Creative Director of Connexia.
In fact, Perla Nera boasts an exceptional and guaranteed quality, thanks to over 100 companies that grow it from north to south following a strict production specification and thanks to an external body that controls its quality in warehouses and sales points. Grown in carefully selected production areas, located in different Italian areas that allow for a wide seasonality of the product, Perla Nera is the fruit symbol of summer: good, pulpy, red and crunchy.
"Some products also play a role as a “reminder” in people's lives: Perla Nera triumphantly announces to all of us that Summer is upon us. And so are holidays, lightheartedness, the joy of being together, the freshness of a slice of freshly cut watermelon. So many whys, all full of positivity, that make us desire and want Perla Nera and, with it, all the beauty of summer”, continues Catagnano.
Perla Nera is in fact a true marketing phenomenon, not only in the world of fruit and vegetables but in the entire agri-food sector”, recalls Roberto Della Casa, professor at the University of Bologna, who christened the project, selecting the name together with Francescon.
"Perla Nera boasts a spontaneous notoriety that has gone from 7,9% in July 2019 to 33,9% in October 2023, and which reaches 73% as total notoriety, with peaks of 83% in the north-west. There has therefore been an almost linear relationship over time between investments and notoriety. 60% of Italians who know it have tried it in 2023, 59% of them once, 41% several times*. 40% of those who consume it trust it and 35% judge it to be of above-average quality **. A product for everyone that has already marked the history of this fruit and is about to reach new goals".
"The new creativity allows us to really raise the bar and implement an integrated communication strategy, that is, launch content that is coherent with each other on all communication channels." points out Andrea Peviani, Commercial Director of the company of the same name member of the Perla Nera Consortium.
"The new spot aims to strengthen our brand identity, thanks to a jingle arranged on the notes of a famous song that becomes the summer hit, making everyone sing and dance, thus obtaining a memorable effect. Furthermore, we wanted to distance ourselves from traditional summer settings (sea, swimming pool, etc.): in the video, Perla Nera brings joy during insidious summer situations and thanks to its freshness and goodness it saves from the summer heat. We are sure that this, together with a greater effort in terms of investments in marketing and communication, will help us to expand and retain our consumers even more, reaching new targets as well.t”, Peviani details.
“The 2024 Perla Nera ADV plan will be full of new features”, it echoes him Sergio Giardina, owner of La Mongolfiera, another member of the Consortium. “Perla Nera will be present on Mediaset with a rich advertising campaign, with weekly flights on air from June to August and will sponsor Battiti, the most followed summer music program in Italy, broadcast on channel 5.
It will also preside over the Formula 1 and Moto GP motorsport events on Sky channels. 2024 for Perla Nera will not only be TV but also Radio. The spot will be on air on all Mediaset radios (Radio 105, R101, Virgin Radio, Radio Monte Carlo and Radio Subasio) and on Radio Deejay, M2O and Radio Capital. In addition, Perla Nera will be present at Party like a Deejay on June 8 and 9, where music, sports and entertainment mix in the heart of Milan giving life to a unique event on the national scene.
