• by Karlene Lukovitz , July 15, 2011

Bertolli Olive Oil has launched a campaign that integrates all worldwide advertising under the same theme: "Where Flavor Comes From."

In the U.S., key elements of the campaign are a cooking/entertainment iPad app from celebrity chef Fabio Viviani, an associated sweepstakes, and a new "WhereFlavorComesFrom" Web site. The U.S. efforts also incorporate significantly expanded social media outreach components.

Bertolli's primary goal in the U.S. is to take its efforts to educate consumers about its three different olive oil varieties to a new level, reports Maria Hernandez-Procaccini, Brand Manager for Bertolli Olive Oil, whose parent company Deoleo, S.A. (formerly Grupo SOS) is operated in the USA via its wholly owned subsidiary, Med Foods Inc. Bertolli is a trademark of Unilever and is used under license.

While U.S. consumers are aware that olive oil has antioxidant and other healthful benefits, the best uses of Bertolli's different types of olive oil are considerably less well understood, explains Hernandez-Procaccini.

For instance, Bertolli Extra Virgin has a full-bodied flavor and is recommended for use in its "raw" (uncooked) state in salads and pasta, as well as in cooking bread and sauces. The brand's Classico is a mildly flavored, all-purpose cooking oil, while its Extra Light has just a hint of olive taste and is designed as a substitute for butter and other vegetable oils, particularly in high-heat cooking such as frying, sautéing and searing.

The HD-format iPad app, "Let's Cook!," offers more than five hours of content, including Viviani's step-by-step guides to preparing 16 different recipes, more than 100 additional step-by-step-formatted (and searchable) recipes, menu suggestions, a favorites list function, wine pairings, the ability to email ingredients for easy shopping, detailed entertaining tips, and links to share content through Facebook and Twitter.

While the recipes call for using Bertolli's olive oils, and the content includes a thorough guide to understanding olive oils, the branding approach is intentionally low-key, says Hernandez-Procaccini. Bertolli is offering the app in Apple's App Store for $2.99. The brand made a careful analysis of available iPad cooking apps, including branded/sponsored apps, and found that many with considerably less extensive and useful content are being offered for higher prices ($4.99 to $5.99), says Hernandez-Procaccini.

"Our goal is to realize the broadest possible reach for the app," she says, and attaching a minimal price to it, as opposed to making it a free download, should achieve that objective while not undermining perceptions of the value of the app's content. iPhone and iTouch versions of the app are also in the works, and those will be lower-priced, in line with other apps in those platforms (the iPhone version will cost $1.99).

The app also includes information about Bertolli's "Cooking Lessons with Chef Fabio Viviani Sweepstakes," which offers prizes including the "Let's Cook!" app, iPad 2's, and Bertolli Olive Oil products, as well as a grand prize of a trip for two to Los Angeles for one-on-one cooking lessons with Viviani. The sweeps is running through Aug. 31.

Viviani, who has been Bertolli's spokesperson for two years, will continue to make appearances and give cooking demos for the brand at a variety of culinary events across the country -- and post about those events and the app and sweeps on his personal Facebook and Twitter accounts.

For its part, Bertolli is ramping up the posting and engagement activities in its Facebook and Twitter presences to drive awareness of the app, sweeps, new site and the brand messaging and educational goals of its new campaign, reports Hernandez-Procaccini. One example: a "fun" but educational quiz that poses a daily question relating to Bertolli's olive oil varieties or other olive-oil relevant facts. Answering (correctly or incorrectly) qualifies users for an entry in the sweepstakes.

"We are putting much more focus on two-way communications" with consumers, sums up Hernandez-Procaccini.

Other media components include ads in Apple's iAd mobile advertising network, advertising in targeted culinary sites and print vehicles including Food Network Magazine, Good Housekeeping and Cooking Light, and in-store/point-of sale-promotional materials.

Bertolli's agency of record, FKM, is handling all aspects of the campaign, including creative and public relations.