Leveraging one of the fastest events on US TV – the Pennzoil 400 NASCAR race – the Kraft Heinz Company promoted its flagship Heinz Ketchup product by contrasting the speed of the cars with the slowness with which the thick and rich tomato sauce drops from the bottle through a half-second ad that needed to be slowed down to be seen properly.
Developed in harness with agency Rethink, the fast/slow contrast campaign dropped on 5 March during the Pennzoil 400 (at the Las Vegas Speedway) across Instagram and TikTok led by what the agency described as a ‘custom, hyper-targeted video’ hosted on a microsite that allowed consumers to slow-down the super-quick spot to be in with a chance of redeem a hidden DoorDash delivery code.
The 0.57-second spot featured a hidden DoorDash code for $5 off your next order which was only revealed when the video was played slowed down.
“If any brand can appreciate the value of slow, it’s Heinz,” explained Heinz Senior Brand Manager Jacqueline Chao. “With our new spot, we’re excited to reward those who appreciate slowing things down – including our famously slow-pouring ketchup.”
Rethink CCO Mike Dubrick added: “Of course it’s important to find new ways to capture people’s attention in broadcast, but the role of the brand and why you’re doing it matters just as much. Heinz has been famously slow for over 100 years. So who better to pull something like this off? Figuring out how to get a 0.57 second spot on air was the challenge. So it’s been great working with our media partners to break new ground in broadcast and bring this to life.”
The campaign was created for the Kraft Heinz Company by a team at agency Rethink which included Chief Creative Officer Aaron Starkman, Chief Creative Officer Mike Dubrick, Chief Strategy Officer Sean McDonald, Creative Director Zachary Bautista, Creative Director Geoff Baillie, Copywriters Geoff Baillie, Phil Coulter and Shawn Weidman, Art Director Zachary Bautista, Art Director Stefan D’Aversa, Strategist Julian Morgan, Strategist Emma Bayfield, Producer Tricia Lapidario, Producer Kate Spencer, Business Lead Adam Ball, Account Director Jamie Sutherland Account Director, David Greisman Account Manager, Jamie Flatow and Account Manager Rachel Cloth.
The campaign was produced by Free Society with Directpr Shanghoon, Executive Producer Tony DiMarco and Head Of Production Dan Arki.
Comment
This creative approach – much like Guinness’ tried and tested tactic of turning the wait due to its comparatively slow pouring process – turns a perceived product negative into a positive.
By hijacking the race’s extreme speed, Heinz continues to reward those who take it slow through an ad that flashes past at the speed of a, well, a stock car.
Heinz has been full of inventive, sport-linked marketing in recent weeks and another of its stand-out sports initiatives in the US included the clever (perhaps inevitable) ‘LVII Means 57’ campaign leveraging Super Bowl LVII.
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