After launching in 2019, Kranch became one of the worst performing condiments in the Heinz portfolio. But in fall 2023, we saw an opportunity to save it. Social media and the press had become obsessed with following the new romance between Taylor Swift and NFL player, Travis Kelce. Fans were tracking their every move, down to what Taylor was wearing and eating at Travis’ games. When one Twitter account shared a photo of Taylor at the game with the caption "Taylor Swift was eating a piece of chicken with ketchup and seemingly ranch!" it created the perfect moment to relaunch Kranch with a new name: Heinz Ketchup and Seemingly Ranch.

In 2019, Heinz launched Kranch - a ketchup-ranch mashup. Despite the world’s love for ketchup and ranch, sales suffered. The Washington Post labeled it “...the latest condiment mash-up we didn't need,” and in 2023, it became one of the worst performing sauces in the Heinz portfolio. To unlock the sales potential of this struggling sauce, we needed to reach a new audience of Gen Zs and drive cultural relevancy. Our objective was to create an explosive PR conversation to turn Kranch from a failure to a sought-after sauce.

Our objective was to get Kranch, one of Heinz worst performing condiments, into the zeitgeist to connect with a younger audience, ignite relevancy and drive sales. We needed to create conversation, but didn’t have new news about the product. Instead, our strategy was to hijack a cultural moment to transform Kranch into a sought after sensation.

When the Taylor Swift “ketchup and seemingly ranch” Tweet took over the internet, tons of brands were trying to take advantage of this moment. But only one truly belonged in this ketchup-ranch conversation: Heinz Kranch. Most brands shared posts, we relaunched a product. We knew that 56% of Swifties – the most diehard dedicated fanbase in all of music – are millennial or Gen Zs, making this the perfect opportunity to reach this group. Keeping things simple would be the best way to breakthrough and achieve impact, so we transformed our entire product with nothing more than a name and label change: Heinz Ketchup and Seemingly Ranch.

A swift label change transformed one of Heinz worst performing sauces into a highly sought after cultural sensation. And this rapid response to culture allowed us to make a profound and lasting impact on Kranch. From an internal Kraft Heinz perspective, we prevented this mashup from becoming a delisted product that got taken off shelves altogether. It also allowed Heinz to reach a new, untapped audience: Swifties. Re-launching Kranch as Heinz Ketchup and Seemingly Ranch allowed this group to engage and be a part of a viral cultural moment, as these committed fans made countless TikTok duets with Heinz Ketchup and Seemingly Ranch and even fan-made embroidered sweaters with our new name and label on them.

Heinz Ketchup and Seemingly Ranch wasn’t just a flash in the pan moment. It was a high-impact, long term relaunch that solved a challenging business problem and saved a failing product.

We turned our underperforming sauce into a must have for the biggest, most dedicated fanbase in the world. We achieved our objective of creating an explosive conversation, as our campaign generated over 6.1B earned impressions—the highest ever for Kraft-Heinz — receiving coverage from TMZ, The Today Show, Stephen Colbert, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and CNN. Heinz was mentioned in 63% of articles covering Taylor and Travis’ relationship, and across over 2,200 placements, we received 99% positive/neutral sentiment. Swifties played a critical role in our campaign, as they helped our first run of LTO bottles sell out almost immediately and enabled our launch post to garner an engagement rate 690% above benchmarks.

Our Heinz Ketchup and Seemingly Ranch campaign was also highly efficient from an operational perspective. We didn’t need to create a whole new sauce or change anything in Kraft Heinz production – we just needed a simple name and label update for Kranch.

And when Walmart added “Ketchup and Seemingly Ranch” as a permanent item, sales rose 320%. In fact, we saw 5x the sales growth of Heinz iconic ketchup. To this day, Walmart still sells Heinz Ketchup & Seemingly Ranch nationally.