In March 2023, Heinz wanted to remind people that there’s only one true Heinz Tomato Ketchup. Realising that many restaurants dupe customers with cheaper sauces, in an iconic Heinz bottle, Heinz created an innovative solution and marketing campaign.
By identifying the exact red colour of Heinz Tomato Ketchup with the world’s universal Pantone colour scale, Heinz simply added a stripe to match it around the Heinz Tomato Ketchup label. Now when comparing ketchup inside the bottle against the label’s edge colour, there can be no mistaking whether the ketchup in the bottle is authentic Heinz or fake – if the label doesn’t match the sauce in the bottle, it’s not the original Heinz.
“Our goal was to put an end to this so called ‘ketchup fraud’ and create an innovative solution to help customers identify whether they were using the real deal or an imposter.” Onur Kutluer – Creative Director, Wunderman Thompson Turkey
This is simply brilliant. Yes, it is a little bit gimmicky, but it is also evidence of things ONLY BRANDS CAN DO!! And iconic brands can do them with bells on. The tie up with PANTONE gives another layer of authenticity and credibility – it is an expert endorsement. The quality messages are deep and relevant, but at no point do they need to shout about quality. It is simply brought to life through a discussion of colour that repositions most other ketchups as pale imitations. The colour message is powerful not just because it is the colour of the product but because it is the colour of fresh, ripe, premium tomatoes. Of even more importance and a source of credit to the Heinz brand custodians, it is not a one off. It is part of a long-term thread of messaging that never admits ketchup is a simple commodity, or that it is possible to imagine a world where all ketchups are the same. It fits alongside the fabulous ads of recent years… ‘No one grows ketchup like Heinz’. No need to over claim or over state this, just demonstrate that Heinz only uses quality natural ingredients – tomatoes. This should inspire us all, because never forget iconic brands are not born, they are created by adopting a long-term perspective and an obsessive attention to the details that matter to the people you want to buy your product.