2020 Winner

CASE SUMMARY

Challenges and Goals

For the past 150 years, Heinz Ketchup has been a household name and a leader in the condiment category. However, being in the leadership position comes with the risk of becoming complacent. And with new competition entering the market, Heinz was no longer the obvious choice for Canadians. The company began to lose share, brand affinity scores were down, and there was a real chance the brand could go from iconic to old-fashioned. Consumers loved the product and the taste, but were falling out of love with the brand.

The goal was to reignite consumers’ love for Heinz in simple and ownable ways in order to cement its place as an iconic brand and Canada’s #1 ketchup.

Insights and Strategy

The strategy was to leverage a brand truth that all Canadians would understand and remind them of why they loved Heinz in the first place. After all, ketchup is a staple many grew up with. The challenge became using that storied past without playing into nostalgia and risk being perceived as old or irrelevant.

The agency scoured the internet for inspiration using social listening to better understand current consumer insights. One thing quickly stood out: many people continue to struggle with getting Heinz Ketchup out of the glass bottle.

Searching for “the best way to get ketchup out of the bottle” yields over 74 million results. News sites, blogs and youtube videos gave familiar tips like shaking, knife-poking and tapping the bottle. After 150 years, it was time to break the silence and officially tell people the best way to pour Heinz Ketchup.

Execution

The agency created a limited-edition glass bottle with the iconic label repositioned at an angle of 31.578 degrees – the angle that most easily allows the ketchup to pour from the bottle. The bottles were placed in-store and in restaurants. Not only did they give Canadians the answer they’d been after for decades, but the label’s tilted angle also created a breakthrough design on cluttered grocery shelves where attention is at a premium.

Results

The campaign launched on social and immediately generated consumer buzz. Within a few weeks, the “Pour Perfect” Bottle was picked up by over 340 news stations globally, including notable outlets such as CNN, Fox News, Ad Age and New York Daily News. Worldwide search interest for Heinz Ketchup increased by 400%. With a production spend of $15,000, the campaign garnered 238 million earned media impressions. The concept was deemed so successful that it was extended into newspaper print.

Credits

Executive Creative Director: Chris Staples, Ian Grais
Creative Director: Mike Dubrick, Joel Holtby, Aaron Starkman, Christina Yu
Art Director: Hayley Hinkley
Writer: jacquelyn Parent
Illustrator: Erin Maguire
Strategist: Julian Morgan, Sean McDonald
Producer: Alex Butt
Production Coordinator: Spencer Houghton
Print Producer: Narine Artinian
Production Company: FUZE Reps, Crimson Fish
Photographer: Adrian Armstrong
Retoucher: Adora Beatty
Editor: Dustin Gamble
Production House: R+D Productions
On-Line: R+D Productions
Grading: Alter Ego
Colourist: Conor Fisher
Audio House: Vapor RMW
Account Services: Amy Greenspoon, Kai De Bruyn Kops, Sarah Shiff