Hey friend – Rob here.

Cannes Lions, yay!

But did any of the work actually, er, work?

Well, this is why my favourite section of their entire affair is the Creative Effectiveness Lions.

So, i spent some time dissecting the winners and bring to you les super petit summaries over the next few weeks.

Let's start with Heinz.

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Love the Heinz body of work from the past few years.

And love to see the results now starting to be attributed to it.

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🚨 What was the problem?

Heinz brand relevance (and therefore preference) was declining among consumers and restaurants, due to low emotional connection, increased competition, supply chain issues and price rises.

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💡 How did they solve it?

• Launch "It Has To Be Heinz". This was designed as a multi-year brand campaign to regain their iconic status. They did this by showing Heinz was superior, instead of simply claiming it.
• Stay close to cultural cues. They used cultural moments to reinforce "It Has To Be Heinz", to avoid doing a "launch it and leave it".
  • Jigsaw popularity during the COVID-19 lockdown led to a 570-piece Heinz puzzle.
  • The explosion of AI images got them asking AI what ketchup looks like (it looks like Heinz).
  • Consumer frustration with uneven hot dog and bun packaging led to the "Hot Dog Pact", a petition to standardise packages and show Heinz as a consumer advocate that packs solid brand energy.
• Handle the (brand) truths. Each product campaign was born out of one of Heinz's unique qualities.
  • ​"Pour Perfectly" taught people to rotate the label at just the right pouring angle.
  • ​"Draw Ketchup" showed when people are asked to draw ketchup, they basically draw Heinz.
  • ​"Ketchup Fraud" helped them turn a negative situation into a powerful affirmation.
  • ​"Vintage Drip" turned a product flaw into a badge of honour.
• Keep solving for salience. By continuing to use social media to help people play with the brand, and hijacking the Super Bowl LVII 57, they were always somehow in the public consciousness. Y'know, like Elon tries to do, but without the ego trippin', bullshit, lies and dodgy rhetoric.
• Think cocktail (sauce). Well, not really, because ketchup alone is the real deal. The point is, in isolation, these feel like one-offs. Together, they make up a powerful cocktail that mixes a consistent brand message which gets refreshed in execution over, and over, and over again. Just like the grown-ups do!

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📊 Yeah yeah yeah, but did it work?

Sure did, boss.

• Brand:
  • +3pp in affinity, value perception and consideration
  • 'Icon' status by Kantar, which only 4% of brands have
• Business:
  • 12% sales growth globally (though unclear if this was incremental, or what the profit margin growth was, or if this growth in sales was independent from things like growth in promotions or increased distribution, but hey, this ain't The IPA, and still full credit where it's due!)
  • Grew US retail sales from $578 million in 2019 to $851 million in 2023 (see above, but also massive credit for showing long-term sales growth not just one-off spikes, This Is The Way)

So, all in all, top stuff and well done to everyone involved.

I'm kinda jealous, i think?

Also, now i feel like chips.

Damn it.

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