Heinz is a cultural icon. It’s not just ketchup, it’s THE ketchup. But as prices soared for the whole category, people began to question if Heinz was worth it. In late 2023, value perceptions started rapidly declining.

To re-establish the value of Heinz, we needed to assert our core brand truth: It Has to Be Heinz. But just saying it ourselves wouldn’t mean much. Instead, we needed to tap into our greatest asset: our core fans who irrationally love the brand. We had a modest production budget of only $100k and an ask to build a campaign around our fans unwavering commitment, all in an effort to prove to all ketchup buyers that there’s nothing like Heinz.

Hundreds of people have Heinz tattoos. But most of them are far from perfect. So we set out to turn our iconic keystone label into a functional tattoo label – ensuring that Heinz ketchup tattoos could be as perfect as Heinz ketchup itself.

We reworked our most iconic brand assets – the Heinz glass bottle and keystone label – into a peelable tattoo stencil designed to make it easy for artists to perfectly match the iconic Heinz label.

We gave our tattoo bottles to super fans, and made them a fixture in tattoo parlors, ensuring that if someone wants to rep their love of Heinz for life, they can do it up to brand standards.

To re-establish the value of Heinz, we needed to assert our core brand truth: It Has to Be Heinz. But just saying it ourselves wouldn’t mean much. Instead, our strategy was to tap into our greatest asset: our core fans who irrationally love the brand.

And Heinz lovers are some of the most dedicated fans out there. They hoard ketchup packets, shamelessly cover all foods in ketchup, and can always tell when a restaurant has refilled a Heinz bottle with the generic stuff. Their commitment is next level, with some even going as far as getting the Heinz keystone permanently tattooed on their body.

So using one of our most iconic assets - our keystone label - we engaged our fans and their unwavering love for the brand to remind the world that there's nothing like Heinz.

By creating the Heinz Tattoo Label bottle, the ultimate act of brand devotion was now easier than ever. Fans were empowered to take action by bringing one of these iconic bottles into a tattoo parlor, where they could easily peel off the stencil and hand it to the artist.

To ensure fan response and engagement, we launched the Heinz Tattoo Label bottle campaign on social media with a compelling OLV featuring a real fan getting inked. In addition, we used high-impact OOH advertising in New York and Chicago, using images of real Heinz tattoos instead of traditional product shots. Our limited run of Heinz tattoo stencil bottles was sent to superfans who pledged to adorn themselves with our label.

As demand reached its peak, we announced pop-ups at tattoo parlors where Heinz fans could directly get a brand-perfect Heinz tattoo using our new label.

Our campaign was an overnight success. It garnered 65M earned impressions through placements like AdAge, Design Taxi, the Drum, Brand Innovators and Trendhunter and our hero social asset had an engagement rate 500% above portfolio benchmarks. These channels provided extensive exposure, amplifying the visibility of the Heinz brand. Most significantly, our fans’ commitment and enthusiasm were confirmed through the 115,000 visits to our campaign landing page and the 39,000 people who signed up to get the 100 limited edition Heinz Tattoo Label Bottle. The unique and engaging nature of the campaign helped generate buzz and re-establish the conversation surrounding the brand value.