De Cecco x Jannik Sinner
Turning a Global Sports Partnership Into Measurable U.S. Retail Growth
Media Strategy · Digital Media · Retail Media · Audience Strategy · Campaign Measurement
Overview
De Cecco partnered with QNY Creative to amplify its relationship with Jannik Sinner during the 2025 U.S. Open and translate a high-profile global sponsorship into measurable growth in the United States.
The brand needed a targeted trade-awareness strategy that could increase visibility among American shoppers, strengthen De Cecco's association with premium quality and elite performance, and drive purchase across priority retail markets.
QNY developed an integrated digital and retail media campaign designed to connect the cultural impact of the U.S. Open with consumers actively shopping the pasta category. The strategy reached premium pasta buyers, lapsed De Cecco customers, and competitive-brand shoppers while connecting campaign exposure to verified retail sales.
Outcomes
From Global Sponsorship to U.S. Shopper Relevance
The partnership between De Cecco and Jannik Sinner created a natural connection between two expressions of Italian excellence: premium pasta and elite athletic performance.
The opportunity was to make that relationship commercially relevant for the U.S. market.
Rather than treating the sponsorship as a standalone awareness moment, QNY built a media strategy around the consumer journey. The campaign used geo-targeted digital media to build broad visibility while retail media placements brought the message closer to the point of purchase.
Audience planning focused on consumers with a demonstrated connection to the category, including premium pasta shoppers, lapsed De Cecco buyers, brand switchers, and purchasers of competing brands.
The result was a campaign that made the partnership visible during a major cultural moment while giving American shoppers a clear path from discovery to purchase.
Turning Awareness Into Retail Performance
QNY connected digital exposure with closed-loop retail measurement to understand how the campaign influenced real shopping behavior.
The campaign reached more than 4.36 million shoppers and delivered 14.4 million impressions, outperforming its original awareness goal by 20%. It also generated approximately $1.75 million in measurable brand sales and delivered a blended return on advertising investment of $18.37.
The strategy proved particularly effective in attracting competitive-brand shoppers. New-to-brand acquisition included consumers previously purchasing Barilla, Ronzoni, San Giorgio, DeLallo, and other established pasta brands.
Retail media complemented the broader awareness campaign with shoppable placements designed to convert shoppers closer to purchase. Competitive-conquesting audiences delivered particularly strong acquisition, with a significant majority of sales coming from new-to-brand buyers.
By connecting sponsorship visibility, precision audience strategy, retail activation, and measurable sales, QNY transformed the U.S. Open partnership into a proven growth platform for De Cecco.