Dolmio's Puppet Family Returns With a 4.9-Star System1 Score
Dolmio has brought back its puppet family after almost a decade away, and the new T&P-made ad scored a Strong 4.9 Stars with System1 — the top 4% of its category, against a 3.3-Star average.
A 4.9-Star score puts Dolmio in the top 4%
Dolmio's decision to bring back its iconic puppet family after almost a decade away has paid off with consumers. The brand's new TV advert scored a Strong 4.9-Star Rating in effectiveness testing by System1, placing it among the top 4% of ads in the Condiments, Sauces, Oils, Spices & Spreads category.
That sits well clear of the 3.3-Star category average and points to strong potential to drive long-term brand growth. The advert also achieved an “Exceptional” Spike Rating of 1.35, signalling short-term sales impact as well — the rarer combination of the two.
Looking backwards to move forwards
The campaign, created by T&P, marks Dolmio's 40th anniversary and returns Papa, Mama, Sophia, Carlo, Nina and Nico to screens alongside the familiar “When's Your Dolmio Day?” line. It forms part of the brand's biggest marketing push in more than a decade, spanning TV and video-on-demand, social, influencer activity and OOH.
According to System1, a major factor behind the advert's performance is exactly that decision to look backwards in order to move the brand forwards: reviving distinctive characters and a platform audiences already know, rather than starting again with an entirely new creative identity.
The evidence behind brand characters
The strategy leans on well-documented effectiveness data. Research conducted by System1 and Effie Worldwide found that campaigns featuring brand characters are twice as likely to report profit growth or market share gain as campaigns without them.
The same analysis found campaigns using characters are 50% more likely to report gains in differentiation and three times more likely to report gains in distinctiveness, while adverts featuring characters are on average 26% more emotional.
Why the family works so hard for Dolmio
Characters are powerful partly because they impose discipline. They encourage brands to remain consistent over time, allowing the same distinctive assets and associations to compound in consumers' memories rather than being replaced with each new campaign.
For Dolmio the family fulfils all three roles at once. The characters are instantly associated with the brand, they provide a recognisable personality, and they give the advertising an entertaining story that works without relying on a hard product sell.
“Dolmio didn't need reinventing, it needed remembering”
Andrew Tindall, Chief Growth Officer – Advertising at System1, said: “Dolmio didn't need reinventing, it needed remembering. Bringing the family back is a deliberate bet on culture over category noise. You'll see them everywhere: life size on the street, loud and colourful on outdoor, consistent across social and TV. No hard sell, just the characters doing what they've always done best.”
Marketing Minute's read: the asset was never broken
Our take: the expensive mistake in FMCG is rarely bad advertising. It is discarding distinctive assets that still work. Dolmio spent close to a decade not using the most recognisable thing it owns, and the 4.9 Stars are less a reward for new creative than a receipt for equity that was sitting there the whole time.
It is also a reminder that fame is not the same as freshness. Marketing teams get bored of their own assets years before the public does, and the brief that says “we need something new” is often solving the marketer's problem rather than the buyer's.
What businesses should take from it
Before commissioning a new brand platform, audit what you already own that people can recognise in a second: a character, a line, a colour, a sound. Reviving one is almost always cheaper and faster than building recognition from nothing.
And if you do have a distinctive asset, the discipline is repetition. Consistency across TV, social and outdoor is what turns a character into a memory structure, which is precisely what Dolmio is now doing at scale.
Quick FAQ
What did Dolmio's new ad score with System1?
A Strong 4.9-Star Rating, placing it in the top 4% of ads in the Condiments, Sauces, Oils, Spices & Spreads category against a 3.3-Star average. It also achieved an “Exceptional” Spike Rating of 1.35 for short-term sales potential.
Who made the Dolmio campaign?
It was created by T&P and marks Dolmio's 40th anniversary, returning Papa, Mama, Sophia, Carlo, Nina and Nico alongside the “When's Your Dolmio Day?” line across TV and VOD, social, influencer activity and OOH.
Do brand characters actually improve effectiveness?
System1 and Effie Worldwide research found campaigns using brand characters are twice as likely to report profit growth or market share gain, 50% more likely to report differentiation gains and three times more likely to report distinctiveness gains, with character-led ads 26% more emotional on average.
Dolmio's puppets were never the problem — not using them was. Nearly ten years of shelving the most recognisable thing you own is an expensive way to keep a brand team entertained. The 4.9 Stars aren't really a score for new creative; they're a receipt for equity that had been sitting in a drawer. — Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing Ltd and Marketing Minute
Before you build a new brand asset, check whether you already own one and simply stopped using it.
What distinctive asset has your brand retired that customers would still recognise instantly?
If you would like to know more about this topic, please contact us on danieln@merxmarketing.co.uk
Sources: System1; Effie Worldwide (system1group.com).
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Written by Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing Ltd and Marketing Minute
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