Catelli Smart

Catelli Smart: The Health-Forward Pasta That Won Hearts

Client Category
Food & Beverage · CPG · Grocery

Services Provided
Brand Strategy · Positioning · Messaging · Campaign Creative · TV & Video · Digital · Social · Research · Media

Business Challenge

Catelli Smart had a powerful functional story — better nutrition, smarter pasta — but functional superiority alone wasn’t winning the aisle. The brand was perceived as “good for you,” not “good for your family.”

In a category dominated by tradition, nostalgia, and routine, Smart needed more than health claims.
It needed heart.

Strategic Insight

We discovered the emotional unlock:
Smart wasn’t about fibre or carbs — it was about confidence.

Parents choosing Smart weren’t making a nutritional trade-off. They were making a decision that said:
“I’m doing right for my family.”

When pasta becomes a moment of parental pride, it stops being a box on a shelf and becomes a badge of good judgment.

Creative Solution

We reframed Catelli Smart as the pasta that helps families live — and feel — just a little bit better.

Storytelling Strategy

• Warm, emotional TV anchored in real family moments
• Messaging that connected nutritional benefits to parental self-belief
• A visual world that blended comfort with confidence
• Digital content that celebrated everyday “smart choices”

Instead of selling pasta, we elevated the feeling behind choosing it.

Results

• 11% baseline sales lift when supported by TV
• +1.6pt increase in household penetration
• Strong lifts in brand trust, relevance, and emotional connection
• Reestablished Smart as the health-forward leader within the Catelli portfolio

Category Takeaway

In health-driven categories, functional superiority gets you into the cart —
emotional resonance keeps you there.

Catelli Smart became the pasta parents felt proud to serve.
That’s how heroes become kings.