The brand took the negative and turned it into something positive that nobody saw coming
For any business, a copy of their product becomes a massive hindrance. Therefore, businesses patent their technology and products and even pursue legal action to prevent product copying.
However, when Heinz, one of the biggest tomato ketchup producers in the world, learnt that restaurants had found a loophole that didn’t profit the company, it implemented a brilliant marketing strategy.
Kraft Heinz once said, “Three out of four North Americans prefer Heinz Ketchup when eating out.”
Therefore, in the majority of American restaurants, every table has a bottle of Heinz ketchup.
However, in 2016, an employee in a Nando’s restaurant was caught pouring cheap alternatives into Heinz ketchup bottles, deceiving people.
It became apparent that Nando’s wasn’t the only one filling Heinz bottles with cheaper alternatives. Several other restaurants had been receiving customers.
When Heinz learnt about the fraud, they turned this negative incident into a positive campaign with the help of Toronto's Rethink ad agency.
In a campaign, the ad agency showed three restaurant staff pouring local ketchup into Heinz bottles and wrote, “EVEN WHEN IT ISN’T HEINZ, IT HAS TO BE HEINZ.”
A genius masterstroke, isn’t it?
