Episode 162 - Heinz Tattoo Label Ad Reviewed by Formula 1, Pulse Advertising and Unilever
It’s tough to beat Heinz when you talk about ketchup - and several episodes of Advertisers Watching Ads have seen the brand advertise this exact fact. So, how do they innovate and what activations are left for Heinz?
In this week’s episode, we look at the niche Tattoo Label ad, chosen for us by Contagious. It speaks to brand loyalty beyond food, at a level that’s ultimately about advocacy, fandom, and pride.
Our guests Alesha Griffiths-Kidd (Customer Acquisition Manager at Formula 1), Rhoda Sell (Chief Operating Officer of Automated Creative), Christoph Kastenholz (Co-Founder & CEO of Pulse Advertising), and Adrian O’Brien (Health and Wellbeing General Manager Europe at Unilever) analyse this PR stunt in the context of Heinz’ data driven marketing efforts and let us know if they love it or hate it. Do you?
Episode 162 - Heinz Tattoo Label Ad Reviewed by Formula 1, Pulse Advertising and Unilever
Transcript
This is automatically generated, so it’s not 100% accurate.
Tom Ollerton 0:00
Hello and welcome to Advertisers Watching Ads. My name is Tom Ollerton. I'm the founder of Automated Creative, the creative effectiveness adtech platform, and this is a weekly show where brands watch other brands' ads.
So before we get to this week's creative, let's meet this week's guests.
Alesha Griffiths-Kidd 0:42
Hi, I'm Alesha. So I work at Formula One as an Acquisition Marketing Manager.
Rhoda Sell 0:46
I'm Rhoda. I work in Operations, and I'm on Automated Creative.
Christoph Kastenholz 0:49
I'm Chris. I'm the co-founder of Pulse Advertising.
Adrian O'Brien 0:51
And I'm Adrian O'Brien. I lead Unilever's health and wellbeing business in Europe.
Tom Ollerton 0:55
Right... What a panel! There will be no stone left unturned.
On a scale of one to five, give this a vote. One, two, three... Woah... That is a, that is a, a strong contender for Ad of the Year. Well done, Heinz. So, Alesha, what is going on here?
Alesha Griffiths-Kidd 1:42
From what I've understood, there was a big sort of PR campaign over in Brazil with a lot of people actually getting their tattoo, there being some sort of health concerns around red ink. So then they've almost taken that and actually created their own ink. And I think in their global campaign, they've then taken that iteration and made it into this big campaign in press, media, all sorts. And the idea is people are big fans. I think you've got Ed Sheeran who's actually famously known to have a Heinz tattoo, and they've sort of taken it and then put the label to life in a way.
Tom Ollerton 2:08
So just a bit of context from me, actually. Also, Heinz, are the most discussed brand on Advertisers Watching Ads. So I think one, two, three, four, like, five... They asked an A.I. to draw a ketchup bottle and it would just draw lots of Heinz. This kind of thing is very common for Heinz is that they will do these kind of low cost PR kind of stunts, but Chris, I'm keen to know from a sort of influencer perspective, what's your take on this?
Christoph Kastenholz 2:32
I mean, this is clearly recognizing consumers, right? Recognizing the people that believe in the brand, in Heinz. And I think people want belonging, people want connection, and people want to be seen. So I think addressing those people and empowering that image and that relationship to a broader audience. I love ketchup, but I didn't expect people to do this so much. And to the extent to broadcast that message of that community, of that belonging. I think that's what it's essentially about, what it amplifies. I think it's a fantastic stunt as part of this whole campaign that covers so many things.
Adrian O'Brien 3:04
It talks really nicely to the brand lovers that are in love with Heinz, but I'm actually interested in, in kind of considering how it goes a bit beyond that. So it's probably not that many of us that will tattoo a brand's logo onto, onto us, but they're using that as the creative dramatization of that, that kind of love for the brand, but beyond that, I think it's talking about no replacement. It's talking about quality. It's talking about number one. And if you look at that A.I. campaign, there was nothing to do with tattoos, but it was the same thing saying that we are the number one. We are clearly the best ketchup out there. And even the campaign they've run in the last year, which was that even when it isn't Heinz, it has to be Heinz and you had all the takeaways filling up, you know, tubs of Heinz with generic ketchup. I think consistently they're using different touch points to try and bring to life this idea of Heinz being the number one undisputed across the board.
Christoph Kastenholz 3:54
Sure. Right now, it's the leading. There is no alternative where you pick Heinz, but how do you sustain that across decades? And I think elevating that all the time, it's not about awareness. I don't think it's about awareness. It's consideration. It's what does it stand for? How clear is that number one positioning to sustain it ahead of other brands, doesn't go to the details of nutrition or other things, right? It's really brand.
Rhoda Sell 4:16
It's just accepting that you're kind of, the people who don't like ketchup on their food are not going to convert to having condiments with their food suddenly. This is for the diehard fans and the diehard fans love this stuff. You can order the limited edition bottle. I don't know if they make any money off that, like... The PR part is a big part of it, but there are those people that are like collectors. I think there's a guy in one of their ads. It's like a collector of things that do Heinz. So I wonder if it like, captures a more broader audience that if you're looking in the soup aisle, are you more likely to buy Heinz soup because you've seen this Heinz loyalty campaign, and yes, it's ketchup related. And yes, they must own that market share, but I think this is a brand loyalty across their portfolio which is much wider.
Tom Ollerton 4:51
What's the cognitive step here? It's so weird that I don't know what the link is.
Alesha Griffiths-Kidd 4:57
Yeah. I think it's... There's definitely an element of shock in a way. For example, I wouldn't even know that people got Heinz tattoos. So I think it's an element of, "Oh, this is happening." But then there's that top of mind awareness. We see these rogue ads. They're going to stand out in our minds just a little bit more. That top of mind awareness, you're then going to get off the back of it so that when you're next in the supermarket, maybe you want it to look at the supermarket brand or what have you, but because you've got that in your mind, "No, the ketchup I need to get is Heinz." That's just cementing them in people's minds when they are grocery shopping, when they are out and about. So I think that's kind of what they're going for.
Adrian O'Brien 5:29
I think it has to be about driving that superiority, doesn't it? We can't really be talking to the people that want tattoos. As a business opportunity segment wise for ketchup has got to be too small. So it's got to be just about drive in continual superiority against own label brands, against kind of trade offerings, that type of stuff.
Christoph Kastenholz 5:46
You either buy the budget option, right? The household brand of that supermarket or you buy the actual main brand and then you pick Heinz, but you don't pick the second best. Either you pay for Heinz or you buy the budget one. But we don't buy the, the interim mid-level thing in between, I would say. Make it number one. Pick Heinz.
Alesha Griffiths-Kidd 6:04
I was wondering, is it something as sort of random as "We're that great," or "We're the best that people will even tattoo us." So there's that building that sort of like connection between the two.
Adrian O'Brien 6:13
If you look at it in the, the theme of the adverts consistently that they've been going for, it's ultimately about advocacy. As in even A.I. is telling you it has to be Heinz. Even the lunatics that are getting brands tattooed will only choose Heinz. Even the fast food restaurants that are cheating the consumers know it has to be Heinz. So everyone is saying it has to be Heinz, which is their end line. So I think you get to these multiple different executions, the old dial up to the same point of advocacy of, "There cannot be another choice."
Rhoda Sell 6:43
It wouldn't sound that mad for your friend to say, "Oh, it has to be Heinz." And you wouldn't be like, "Are you just saying the slogan?" Because it is true. Like, if somebody hands you like... I can’t... It's mad that I can't think of any other brand apart from the supermarket-owned or Heinz. So that kind of sums us up right now to use the example. But if someone did hand you, you'd be like, "Ooh."
Adrian O'Brien 6:59
And they've done it before in beans, right? Beans means Heinz. We all know that as well. If you grew up in the UK and it's another example of them kind of cementing their place as kind of number one in the category. No need to question.
Rhoda Sell 7:13
The tattoo part is just one part of the whole absolute, like, fandom state. People are proud to be fans of stuff and if it's weird, it's almost more pride in it nowadays. I think Marmite was the first true example of kind of playing into fandom, but I feel like TikTok's kind of expanded that, like, fandom view. Where like being proud of you being a bit of a mad person about a certain thing. You can take pride in that like nerdiness of how random it is. And that's where the tattoo thing comes in.
Tom Ollerton 7:37
So what are you guys going be taking back to your teams?
Christoph Kastenholz 7:37
They want to own the category of ketchup brands. They go for brand. They don't talk about anything beyond logo and brand, and then they own it with the most extreme you can do and tapping something that's fundamental to people. Seeking connection, seeking belonging, wanting to be seen, and recognizing all of that.
Alesha Griffiths-Kidd 7:44
Don't be afraid to explore the sort of niche interests of your fans and just see where it takes you. We've got so many different people we're speaking to and there's probably some sort of common ground that could be really interesting as an angle.
Tom Ollerton 8:10
If you were Hunt's, if you were the number two ketchup brand, what would you be doing to combat this?
Rhoda Sell 8:16
Have to go for price point, surely, in the current market. Just have to undercut them. Heinz is significantly more expensive than the next. I think it's like £3 versus a, like £1 or under.
Christoph Kastenholz 8:26
The next best alternative, I would say, is the blind tasting comparison of Pepsi and Coke, maybe you've seen that, of people sitting and all people are saying, "I love this Coke," and later on, you see how the sleeve of the Coke goes down and actually it's Pepsi and people feel like it's the same. I feel like that's a comparison that maybe would relate to what would the second best or second most popular or whether it's the best food or not.
Adrian O'Brien 8:46
I think what would be really interesting if you were that brand is to consider what is your brand difference because that's the game that Heinz are playing. So kind of where are you on that? Do you get to a place where you make Heinz feel quite sort of too mainstream or too passé or too 1990s? Or do you want to follow the crowd and have Heinz or do you want to have the more artisan, bespoke ketchup? Is there a role for you to carve out a brand positioning? If you want to have an interesting personality you need to have an interesting ketchup.
Tom Ollerton 9:15
I think that's a beautiful line to end it on. Would you sign off this campaign as it stands, yes or no? One, two, three... Thank you so much, guys. We'll see you all next week.
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