Heinz was at risk of going from a globally iconic brand to a brand that couldn’t keep up with the pace of modern times. Under threat globally, inconsistent externally and uninspired internally, the organization had become stagnant in its approach and as a result the business suffered.

Though Heinz could have kept pushing functional messages and price promotions to quickly defend share, they chose the harder route. Recognizing they had untapped potential growth the Heinz team sought to urgently reset the iconic brand to ensure the 150 year old brand is relevant for another 150 years.

The challenge was to breathe new life into Heinz, to create a singular strategy that ignited every department internally and every fan of the brand externally. The singular objective was to unite every one of Heinz markets around the world, to turn the brand into a modern creative powerhouse and to drive sales growth internationally.

Armed with the objective to unite every market into a modern creative powerhouse, Heinz set out to reset priorities internally and build new teams and streams focused on creativity.

The first solution, setting one global ambition - to be the world’s most irresistible food brand.

Then, enabling the transformation through organizational design and building a culture of creativity:

--Creating the internal Accelerating Creative Excellence programme and awards to foster appetite for award-winning work

--Accelerating experimentation and innovation through a New Ventures/Agile Disruptive Innovation team, with the goal of testing and learning in-market. Utilizing incubator approaches and small runs before scaling into widely distributed products.

--Creating an in-house social agency to move at the speed of culture like never before

Establishing a Global Heinz team with members spanning different continents - Heinz for the first time had consistent stewardship

With more innovative ways to bring the brand to life, Heinz turned its efforts on consumer facing comms. Through research in local markets, Heinz shifted gears and the model, despite market volatility, by realizing a simple truth united them all; no matter where you are, people have an irrational love for Heinz. This simple thought was the single point-of-view the brand needed.