Situation: In 2022, Heinz unveiled a new global brand strategy: Heinz inspires irrational love. Grounded in real consumer behaviors around the world, the strategy celebrates the extreme lengths Heinz fans go for the brand: from permanently tattooing the logo on their bodies to smuggling Heinz products across international borders.

Brief: Drive even more irrational love for Heinz across the United States.

Objective: Drive brand fame for Heinz.

Budget: 160k

Scale: National

Insight

From art to coins and stamps, collecting culture has become a love language of devoted fandoms. The Heinz packet, our iconic on-the-go staple, is no exception. Heinz fans across the country irrationally collect packets in their homes, bags and cars to ensure they’re always on hand in case of a condiment emergency.

Idea: The United States of Saucemerica

To pay homage to this irrational fan behavior, we created Saucemerica, overhauling the 8.8 billion-plus sauce packets Heinz produces annually with unique, hometown pride–evoking state foods.

Saucemerica designs drew inspiration from polling and research on the most beloved dishes from each of the fifty states. And it was more than just ketchup. From a Maryland Crab Cake-inspired Tartar Sauce packet to Texas Brisket BBQ Sauce, we paired each state with the Heinz condiment that best enhances the spotlighted state’s dish.

The 8.8 billion packets were available all summer long across the country at restaurants, drive-thrus, theme parks, movie theaters, stadiums, and more. Every participating operator received a mix of states throughout June, July, and August, depending on which of the seven HEINZ condiment varieties they feature on their menu.

What began as a broad activation brief resulted in massive brand fame, retail sales, and significant lift in sentiment scores.

- Heinz fans went to extreme lengths for the brand. They crossed state lines to collect Saucemerica packets, made Facebook and Reddit communities to acquire them, and even bought and sold them on eBay (as of this entry, there's an eBay listing for all 50 packets for $595 including global shipping). The packets also sparked heated debates about local state foods across multiple subreddits such as r/Kansas, r/NewJersey and many more.

- More than doubled our total branded impressions goal with 573MM impressions, including 304MM organically.

- Drove +21MM lift in gross sales volume and even grew in total pounds (+11% vs PY).

Nearly tripled our net sentiment score at 52% (3x the current score).