We used a disruptive idea to promote the brand experience between Heinz and gamers all over the world: in order for them to eat while playing,we mapped some safe places on the best games in the world and use top streamers to spread our message.This partnership with influencers was so powerful that generated a huge buzz and attention to Heinz:it was activated in 13 locations for 15 days where gamers not only used all the spots we mapped, but also looking for other hidden places on their own—hiding, eating burgers, and showcasing our products and generating brand preference among gamers.

Heinz is an iconic brand recognized all over the world. In Latin America, Heinz is competing with the local ketchup brands: preference leaders due to tradition and familiarity. We wanted to lift brand recognition and sales with Acts-not-Ads ideas, and associate Heinz ketchup with burgers. this would position Heinz ketchup in occasions where emerging competitors are beating us across Latam - the birthplace of the campaign.

To approach the burger occasions we decided to connect Heinz with a hot topic: In 2021, 266 million new Latam gamers emerged, making a big opportunity for brands. We discovered that 80% of gamers eat and drink while playing and their favorite food is a burger - source Limelight Networks. But how do they eat while playing? They don't. There is no pause button in online games and if you bite, you die. Players can’t eat their burgers peacefully while eating them. So, we mapped spots within games where players can hide to have a burger, sponsored by Heinz. This idea was good enough so we could team up with a number of different online games: it was simple and smart, and we could use gamers to help us to map other hidden spots and spread Heinz in the game world.

First, we learned a lot about our main target: Young adults between 20 and 29 years old, who play games every day and are looking for all the media and content available about their favorite games. They are the first generation of digital natives, born or exposed very young to the internet, social networks, games, and technologies. They value online communities: 66% define“community” as a group to exchange experiences - Deloitte Gen Y e Z study. They value brands that produce experiences and surprise their routine. We decided not to go on the regular advertising way, and instead promote an immersive in-game experience, using an opportunity during gaming to promote Heinz. We looked for the best game streamers worldwide and promoted our action during their playing, using them as media to catch the gamer's attention and a very smart way, talking to the right people in the right way.

We teamed up with Call of Duty - the #1 Game in the world - to map the safest spots to eat during multiplayer games. Then we sent our delicious promotional material: the exact locations printed on burger wraps to top influencers from around the world, so they can eat, play, and invited others, making all the attention we need to promote the idea. To gamers in Brazil, we used the largest food delivery app and gave vouchers for people to order burgers and eat while playing. Influencers went live, showing their fans Heinz’s mapped spots, and looking for new ones. The campaign was activated in 13 locations: Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and South America for 15 days. In a few hours, the gaming community mapped out got hundreds of hidden spots organically not only on Call of Duty but in other games such as Fortnite, PUBG, and CS.

Gamers around the world started to find their own Hidden Spots over several games. They also used the "Hidden Spots" term as a click bait to drive more audience for those contents. As a result to all of this, we reached 29674 mentions (including retweets), 4129K interactions and 56.6M impressions for paid media; 9610 mentions (including retweets), 24.4K interactions and +150M impressions for earned media; and just for Call Of Duty, we had a partnership incl. IP usage worth U$1M and we reached 41M mentions with only 8 gamers.