Heinz Kranch was one of Heinz worst selling products. Without quick action it was at risk of being discontinued. Then Taylor Swift’s meal at an NFL game, “chicken with ketchup and seemingly ranch” went viral and we capitalized.

While countless brands made simple reactive social posts—we saw the bigger business opportunity. We did what many would consider impossible, rebranding and relaunching this struggling sauce in just 24 hours. With only $80k in production and $40k in media, we generated 6.1bn earned impressions, received coverage from TMZ, the Washington Post and the NYT, and ultimately turned around sales for Kranch.

After launching in 2019, Kranch became one of the worst performing condiments in the Heinz portfolio. Something needed to be done quickly or else this brilliant mashup of ketchup and ranch would be discontinued forever. Then in fall 2023, we saw our opportunity to save it. Social media and the press had become obsessed with following the new romance between Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, a tight end on the NFL’s most popular team, the Kansas City Chiefs. Taylor Swift’s fans (also known as “Swifties”) and sports fans alike were tracking their every move, down to what Taylor was wearing and eating at Travis’ games. When one of the most followed Taylor Swift fan accounts on Twitter 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 come up with a new idea that would drive an explosive earned conversation and make Kranch a sought-after sauce.

In September 2023, Taylor Swift’s romance with NFL player Travis Kelce took over the internet. Swifties became enthralled with every aspect of their relationship, down to the snacks Taylor ate while watching Kelce at her first NFL game. 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!" the post exploded.

Countless brands responded with reactive social posts. But we took it further.

We saw the perfect opportunity to give Kranch its long overdue moment. Plus it was a chance to make Kranch resonate with a Gen-Z audience of Swifties. Within 24 hours of the viral Taylor Swift post, we re-released Kranch, with a new name and label: Heinz Ketchup and Seemingly Ranch. Turning Kranch from a failure into the must-have item for the most devoted fanbase in the world, seemingly overnight.

In 2023, Taylor Swift was in the midst of her record-breaking world tour and whirlwind romance with Travis Kelce. We knew that 56% of Swifties are millennial or Gen Zs, making this the ideal target group for Heinz Kranch. When we found the perfect viral moment of Swift eating ketchup and ranch at the game, it allowed Heinz to insert itself among the Swifties phenomenon – expanding its audience from condiment lovers to anyone with an affinity for Taylor Swift, the Kansas City Chiefs and the “Traylor” relationship. We didn’t just ride the Swiftie wave, we relaunched a whole new product.

Acting quickly was essential, so within hours of the initial post going live, we immediately developed image assets and materials, with pitch efforts ensuing only a few short hours into the frenzy. Our key message: In honor of #Traylor, Heinz is releasing “ketchup and seemingly ranch” sauce.

The day after the Taylor Tweet went viral we announced the arrival of this new limited-edition sauce on social. Within 48 hours we launched a full campaign, including OOH in Times Square. We even got our bottles to tailgates at that week’s NY Jets vs. Chiefs game, where Taylor Swift was again in attendance. In conjunction with the launch social post, widespread media outreach kicked off to spread the word to top-tier media.

The sauce quickly became a must-have for Swifties, who sold out the bottle in minutes and even made embroidered sweaters in honor of the new sauce. We continued to follow the story—literally—bringing Heinz Ketchup and Seemingly Ranch bottles straight to Chiefs games with Swift in attendance where it naturally became a tailgate staple.

As our campaign continued to trend, Walmart reached out to order Ketchup and Seemingly Ranch as a permanent product.

We turned our underperforming sauce into a must have for the biggest, most dedicated fanbase in the world. 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 helped our first run of LTO bottles sell out almost immediately. Our launch post garnered an engagement rate 690% above benchmarks, countless fans made TikTok duets, some even fan-made embroidered sweaters with “Heinz Ketchup and Seemingly Ranch” on them.

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.