Heinz’s new “It Has To Be Heinz” masterbrand platform was created to celebrate the love and sometimes irrational loyalty customers have for the brand, and that was something the company quickly found was apparent no matter where it looked.
The Kraft Heinz company wanted to future-proof the Heinz brand and set it up to be a continued engine of growth for the company. As it developed the new platform – a process that took a year of work – it became apparent that across different markets, the brand actually has more similarities than it has differences, says Megan Lang, head of Heinz brand communications. “And as a company that is consumer-obsessed, we saw an opportunity that was there for the taking to unite the brand under one global creative platform.”
The campaign focuses on the love that generations of people globally have for Heinz and the occasionally eccentric ways they express that love, be it sneaking bottles of ketchup into a sushi restaurant, breaking up with someone due to a different brand of ketchup being in a fridge, or Heinz tattoos and vanity license plates.
“As we studied and met with consumers across the world in pursuit of this platform, it became apparent that because Heinz products are made with such care and obsession, people show their love in irrational ways,” Lang says, adding that the campaign goal was to celebrate and humanize quirky Heinz consumer experiences and interactions (the company claims all of the scenes shown in the campaign are based on true stories sourced from the news, social media, word of mouth and observed behaviour).
This kind of universal idea helps Heinz create consistency in its brand experience, fully utilizing its global scale and speed to market with big ideas, Lang explains.
“One of the reasons we knew we landed on the right platform is that it’s proven to be big enough and flexible enough to be global, long-lasting and dynamic in nature,” Lang says. “So, whether a consumer is encountering an online video, a piece of content on TikTok or engaging with point-of-sale, it should all link back to the same big idea.”
The campaign is backed by what Kraft Heinz says is the biggest media spend in the company’s history, which in Canada will be led by Carat (U.S. AOR Wieden+Kennedy led creative). It will live across channels, from social (showing up on platforms like Snapchat, TikTok and Instagram), to online video and streaming, to traditional broadcast and OOH.
“We continue to evolve our media strategy to ensure we’re reaching and engaging our growth target for the brand,” Lang says.
Besides having huge goals to grow the Heinz brand and business over the next decade, the biggest ambition is for Kraft Heinz as a whole to lead the “future of food.”
“Agile innovation rooted in real consumer insights is at the core of everything we do at Kraft Heinz,” Lang points out. “In the U.S., we are on the heels of debuting the Heinz Hot Varieties, a line-up of three Spicy Ketchup flavors and Heinz Hot 57 Sauce, each boasting unique pepper
bases and heat levels to meet consumers’ evolving tastes and provide creative experiences.”
